Developing Kanzi applications for iOS

You can use the Kanzi application framework (appfw) to develop Kanzi applications for iOS. You write application and plugin code in C++ and build the application using CMake and Xcode. Before you begin, check the Requirements for iOS application development with Kanzi.

Kanzi Studio generates a ready-made iOS CMake configuration and a helper script for generating the Xcode project when you create a project using one of these templates:

• Application

• Application with data source plugin

• Application with Kanzi Engine plugin

iOS project structure

The <ProjectName>/Application/configs/platforms/ios/ directory contains:

• CMakeLists.txt – applies iOS and Xcode-specific settings to the executable target. This includes:

  • XCODE_ATTRIBUTE_INSTALL_PATH set to output. Combined with DSTROOT=$(PROJECT_DIR) passed to xcodebuild install, this places the built application in <Application>/output/.

  • XCODE_EMBED_FRAMEWORKS – embeds the Vulkan and MoltenVK frameworks into the application bundle.

  • XCODE_EMBED_RESOURCES – embeds the kzb binary files that you export from Kanzi Studio.

• Info.plist – defines the launch screen, supported orientations, and the UIApplicationSceneManifest that wires the application to the SceneDelegate provided by the iOS application shell.

• Assets.xcassets – contains the application icon.

• src/ – the iOS application shell that hosts KanziView:

  • main.m – UIApplicationMain entry point.

  • app_delegate.h,m – UIApplicationDelegate that selects the default scene configuration.

  • scene_delegate.h,m – UIWindowSceneDelegate that creates the UIWindow and installs the root ViewController.

  • view_controller.h,m – fullscreen UIViewController whose root view is a KanziView. This is where you embed the Kanzi view inside the iOS view hierarchy.

The Application folder also contains generate_cmake_xcode_ios_project.sh, which generates the Xcode project using the CMake Xcode generator and the Kanzi iOS toolchain.

The iOS platform package ships KanziView and KanziViewRepresentable in the KanziAppFwKit XCFramework. The generated CMake configuration links your application target against KanziAppFwKit and embeds the XCFramework in the application bundle.

To learn how to build and deploy your application to an iOS device, see Deploying Kanzi applications to iOS.

KanziView

KanziView is a UIKit UIView subclass that hosts Kanzi rendering inside an iOS view hierarchy. You place KanziView anywhere in your UIKit view hierarchy alongside native iOS content.

In addition to rendering, KanziView:

• Drives the Kanzi application lifecycle. Attaching KanziView to a window starts the Kanzi application. Detaching KanziView shuts the application down.

• Pauses Kanzi when the iOS application resigns active state, and resumes Kanzi when the application becomes active again.

• Forwards touch events to Kanzi.

Note

Only one KanziView can exist in a process at a time.

Application factory

KanziView requires a C++ createApplication() factory function that returns the Application instance to run, with the same signature as on every other Kanzi platform. For example:

#include <kanzi/core.ui/application/application.hpp>

class MyApplication : public kanzi::Application
{
    // Override onProjectLoaded, onConfigure, and so on.
};

kanzi::Application* createApplication()
{
    return new MyApplication();
}

Link this translation unit into your application target alongside KanziAppFwKit. KanziAppFwKit calls createApplication() once per view attach and deletes the returned instance when the view detaches.

Note

On iOS, Kanzi does not receive command-line arguments — KanziAppFwKit owns the application entry point and calls createApplication() without argc/argv. As a result, SystemProperties is default-initialized. To configure your application, use application.cfg or override Application::onConfigure. See Application configuration reference.

Adding a Kanzi view in UIKit

To add a Kanzi view to a UIKit application, import KanziAppFwKit and place a KanziView in your view hierarchy. You can instantiate KanziView:

• From code:

  1. Override loadView (or viewDidLoad) in your UIViewController.

  2. Assign a KanziView instance.

  Objective-C

  #import <kanzi_view.h>
  
  @implementation ViewController
  
  - (void)loadView
  {
      KanziView* kanziView = [[KanziView alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectZero];
      kanziView.autoresizingMask = UIViewAutoresizingFlexibleWidth | UIViewAutoresizingFlexibleHeight;
      self.view = kanziView;
  }
  
  @end
  

  Swift

  import KanziAppFwKit
  import UIKit
  
  class ViewController: UIViewController {
      override func loadView() {
          let kanziView = KanziView(frame: .zero)
          kanziView.autoresizingMask = [.flexibleWidth, .flexibleHeight]
          view = kanziView
      }
  }
  

• From a storyboard or XIB:

  1. In Interface Builder, drop a plain UIView onto your scene.

  2. In the Identity Inspector, set the Class to KanziView.

  3. Set the Module to KanziAppFwKit.

  KanziView initializes from initWithCoder:, so storyboard-loaded views work the same as code-instantiated ones.

Adding a Kanzi view in SwiftUI

To embed Kanzi content in a SwiftUI hierarchy, use KanziViewRepresentable, a UIViewRepresentable wrapper around KanziView. Place it like any other SwiftUI view — you can size it, position it, and compose it with native SwiftUI views.

import KanziAppFwKit
import SwiftUI

struct ContentView: View {
    var body: some View {
        KanziViewRepresentable()
            .ignoresSafeArea()
    }
}

See also

Using kzb files

Deploying Kanzi applications to iOS