What should be the expected user experience from an app that uses CloudKit/Sync

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Created Dec ’21

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I have a SwiftUI app where I would like to enable NSPersistentCloudKitContainer to start using CloudKit and be able to sync the content of the app between multiple devices, but I'm not sure how to handle the user experience. Should this be a feature that the user turns On and Off in the app settings screen or does the user expects the syncing mechanism to work by default without having to do anything, can someone please share your experience on how you implemented CloudKit/Sync in your app.

Do I need to offer a login mechanism so the user logs in?
Should I include an On/Off option so the user decides if they want the sync option or not?

In general, can someone be so kind and explain what the user experience should be when an app provides ClouldKit/sync?

FYI - I'm not asking how to implement CloudKit sync I already know what it is and how it works. I just need to know what the expedition is from an app the provides that feature.

Thanks!

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Answer 1

digitalglen OP

Dec ’21

The following is an opinion. Informed, but still an opinion.

1a. If your app's core functionality requires iCloud and the user is not signed into iCloud, display a clear message telling the user that they'll need to sign in to iCloud to use your app and include a button to take them to the system page for signing in. Do not simply display an alert, but rather show it in an attractive, polite, and modeless/full-window presentation.

1b. If your app includes a non-essential feature that requires iCloud and the user is not signed into iCloud, display a modeless notification/affordance to indicate that the feature is inactive and will remain so until they sign into iCloud. The notification might take the form of a special icon positioned where that feature is normally accessed. Tapping that icon (or hovering, on a Mac) might pop up a brief explainer. If the feature's importance warrants it, a more prominent notification might be used. Modeless is better than modal.

Sync should be automatic. Users will expect this if they use your app across multiple devices. Making it automatic may also clarify what you choose to sync. User data should certainly sync, but user settings may not. If I set my background color to blue to match my blue iPhone, I might not appreciate that my silver iPad's background color is now blue as well. Resist the temptation to ask the user whether they'd like to sync this or that. Rather, make that determination yourself after carefully considering the value to the user.

Also, if possible give the user a way to initiate a manual sync—it's reassuring—and display an indicator like a green checkmark to indicate that the sync completed successfully or failed. One common way to provide a manual sync is by including a pull-to-refresh on the scrollview containing the user's content.

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