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Interactive notification user interfaces in Xamarin.iOS

  • Article

Notification content extensions, introduced in iOS 10, make it possible to create custom user interfaces for notifications. Starting with iOS 12, notification user interfaces can contain interactive elements such as buttons and sliders.

Notification content extension Info.plist file

In the sample app, the Info.plist file in the RedGreenNotificationsContentExtension project contains the following configuration:

<!-- ... -->
<key>NSExtension</key>
<dict>
    <key>NSExtensionAttributes</key>
    <dict>
        <key>UNNotificationExtensionCategory</key>
        <array>
            <string>red-category</string>
            <string>green-category</string>
        </array>
        <key>UNNotificationExtensionUserInteractionEnabled</key>
        <true/>
        <key>UNNotificationExtensionDefaultContentHidden</key>
        <true/>
        <key>UNNotificationExtensionInitialContentSizeRatio</key>
        <real>0.6</real>
    </dict>
    <key>NSExtensionMainStoryboard</key>
    <string>MainInterface</string>
    <key>NSExtensionPointIdentifier</key>
    <string>com.apple.usernotifications.content-extension</string>
    <key></key>
    <true/>
</dict>
<!-- ... -->

Note the following features:

  • The UNNotificationExtensionCategory array specifies the type of notification categories the content extension handles.
  • In order to support interactive content, the notification content extension sets the UNNotificationExtensionUserInteractionEnabled key to true.
  • The UNNotificationExtensionInitialContentSizeRatio key specifies the initial height/width ratio for the content extension's interface.

Interactive interface

MainInterface.storyboard, which defines the interface for a notification content extension, is a standard storyboard containing a single view controller. In the sample app, the view controller is of type NotificationViewController, and it contains an image view, three buttons, and a slider. The storyboard associates these controls with handlers defined in NotificationViewController.cs:

  • The Launch App button handler calls the PerformNotificationDefaultAction action method on ExtensionContext, which launches the app:

    partial void HandleLaunchAppButtonTap(UIButton sender)
{
    ExtensionContext.PerformNotificationDefaultAction();
}

    In the app, the user notification center's Delegate (in the sample app, the AppDelegate) can respond to the interaction in the DidReceiveNotificationResponse method:

    [Export("userNotificationCenter:didReceiveNotificationResponse:withCompletionHandler:")]
public void DidReceiveNotificationResponse(UNUserNotificationCenter center, UNNotificationResponse response, System.Action completionHandler)
{
    if (response.IsDefaultAction)
    {
        Console.WriteLine("ACTION: Default");
        // ...

  • The Dismiss Notification button handler calls DismissNotificationContentExtension on ExtensionContext, which closes the notification:

    partial void HandleDismissNotificationButtonTap(UIButton sender)
{
    ExtensionContext.DismissNotificationContentExtension();
}

  • The Remove Notification button handler dismisses the notification and removes it from Notification Center:

    partial void HandleRemoveNotificationButtonTap(UIButton sender)
{
    ExtensionContext.DismissNotificationContentExtension();
    UNUserNotificationCenter.Current.RemoveDeliveredNotifications(new string[] { notification.Request.Identifier });
}

  • The method that handles value changes on the slider updates the alpha of the image displayed in the notification's interface:

    partial void HandleSliderValueChanged(UISlider sender)
{
    Xamagon.Alpha = sender.Value;
}