Cross-promote apps with SKOverlay

In iOS 14, Apple has added a new way to apps cross-promotion with a new SKOverlay. It is similar to the one you see in the App Store.

UIKit

SKOverlay is quite straightforward, you initialize it and call present method and passing UIWindowScene that you want the overlay to show over.

func displayOverlay() {
    guard let scene = view.window?.windowScene else { return }

    let config = SKOverlay.AppConfiguration(appIdentifier: "YOUR_APP_ID", position: .bottom)
    let overlay = SKOverlay(configuration: config)
    overlay.present(in: scene)
}

Users can dismiss the overlay by swipe down. If you want it to always stay there, you can set config.userDismissible = false to prevent dismissal.

func displayOverlay() {
    guard let scene = view.window?.windowScene else { return }

    let config = SKOverlay.AppConfiguration(appIdentifier: "YOUR_APP_ID", position: .bottom)
    config.userDismissible = false
    let overlay = SKOverlay(configuration: config)
    overlay.present(in: scene)
}

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SwiftUI

SwiftUI also get native support for SKOverlay, with new .appStoreOverlay modifier.

import SwiftUI
import StoreKit

struct ContentView: View {
    @State private var showOverlay = false

    var body: some View {
        Button("Show Overlay") {
            showOverlay = true
        }.appStoreOverlay(isPresented: $showOverlay) {
            let config = SKOverlay.AppConfiguration(appIdentifier: "YOUR_APP_ID", position: .bottom)
            config.userDismissible = false
            
            return config
        }
    }
}

Behavior

As far as I know, there are three states of the overlay.

Installed

If the app is already installed, you will see an open action that will open the specified app. Tap anywhere other than the open button would bring you to the App Store detail page.

Installed with a pending update

If the app is already installed and has a pending update, you will see an option to update it. Tap an update will begin an update within the current app without a need to redirect to the App Store.

No app installed

If there is no specified app in the device, you will see an install action, and like an update action, you can install the app within your app without any redirection.

Error

There is an error in Xcode 12 beta that prevents you from presenting the overlay if you use SwiftUI with the UIKit life cycle. You would get the following error when presenting.

Attempting to present an appStoreOverlay without being in the hierarchy.

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Related Resources

• What’s new with in-app purchase
• SKOverlay
• appStoreOverlay