Files
buzz/CONTEXT.md
Tom Brow 2b428f56b8 feat(mobile): share into Buzz from the iOS share sheet (#9433)
Lets people share screenshots, screen recordings, photos, URLs and text
from any iOS app into Buzz. Today Buzz doesn't appear in the share sheet
at all.

- **Plain Buzz icon:** opens a new Solo chat with the items in its
composer.
- **Suggested conversation:** iOS offers channels and DMs the person
recently sent top-level messages in. Choosing one opens that
conversation with the items in its composer. When the conversation is
already open, the share goes to that page's composer instead of opening
a second one; if another page covers it, Buzz stays where it is and
shows "Go back to that conversation to finish sharing", and the items
join the draft when the person goes back.
- The share extension has no UI and sends nothing. It copies the items
into the app group and opens Buzz, which prefills the normal composer,
so drafts, attachments, mentions and failed-send handling all stay the
app's (see [the
ADR](https://github.com/block/buzz/blob/mobile-share-extension-design/docs/adr/0003-share-hands-off-to-the-conversation.md)).
- If the conversation already has a draft, Buzz asks whether to add the
shared items to it or replace it.
- A share to a conversation that's no longer available (a removed
community or channel, or an unreadable share) shows "That conversation
isn't available". A share while signed out shows "Sign in to share".

Suggestions come from an outgoing `INSendMessageIntent` the app donates
after a top-level send or a new Solo chat. The notification extension no
longer donates incoming messages, so receiving a message never makes a
conversation a suggestion; it still turns the push into a communication
notification with the sender's avatar. Both use the same conversation
identifier, now the plain community and channel IDs instead of a hash,
because the extension needs to hand the identifier back to the app.

| Before | After |
| --- | --- |
| <img alt="Share sheet without Buzz"
src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/452fac1b-7e87-44c3-a442-099f78d0e07b"
width="300"> | <img alt="Share sheet with Buzz"
src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/54b9775d-29b4-49a5-8ab9-5fda8718a02f"
width="300"> |

| Buzz icon: new Solo chat | Suggested DM with a draft | After Add |
| --- | --- | --- |
| <img alt="New Solo chat with the shared photo"
src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/c5da4d8b-1dd8-4e30-9e92-9dba515b3623"
width="250"> | <img alt="Add to your draft prompt"
src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/2f879f8a-3b9f-48e0-b963-2828e90dc9fe"
width="250"> | <img alt="Draft with the shared link and photo added"
src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/12832006-85c5-4447-98b5-62932552c931"
width="250"> |


https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/b9d380fa-e802-4ed7-89a8-592a03784c8f

### Regressions

- Nothing changes for people who never use the share sheet, except that
sending a top-level message or starting a Solo chat now makes one local
`INInteraction.donate` call (skipped while the age restriction is on,
which still purges every interaction).
- Communication notifications look the same. Dropping the incoming
donation removes work (and a deletion fence) from the notification
extension's time budget.
- The share hand-off reuses the existing deep link dispatcher. A share
link is a new link type; notification and message links take the same
paths as before.

### Validation

- Added tests:
- Dispatcher hand-off: a share to a suggested channel opens it with the
shared text and files; shares to a removed community, an unlisted
channel, an unknown manifest version or a missing manifest show the
error and delete the pending share; share links accept only the
extension's UUID ids.
- Composer delivery: with an existing draft, Add appends the shared text
on a new line and attaches the file, Replace clears the draft first, and
the app group copy is deleted either way.
- Notification presenter: specializes the notification from the intent,
or falls back to the ordinary content when that throws (replaces the
donation and deletion-fence tests).
- Full mobile Flutter suite and BuzzPushKit Swift tests pass.
- Automated app run on an iPhone 17 Pro simulator (iOS 27, dev relay
test community), recorded above: sent a DM, shared a photo from Photos
with the Buzz icon from a cold start (new Solo chat with the photo
attached), then handed a link and photo to a DM that had a draft and
chose Add. Also checked that a share's pending files are deleted after
delivery.
- Limitation: the iOS simulator never shows share-sheet conversation
suggestions (it has no `coreduetd`), so the suggested-DM step in the
video is staged by writing the same pending share and link the extension
writes. Choosing a real suggestion still needs a check on a device.
- Known gaps, all confined to sharing: suggestions have no avatar image
yet; a suggestion for a conversation left after signing out shows "isn't
available"; choosing Later in the unfinished-chat dialog keeps the share
until the next new chat; and a pending share the app never receives (for
example when Buzz doesn't open) stays in the app group.

### Before merge

- [x] On a real iPhone, choose a suggested conversation in the share
sheet and confirm the shared items open in that conversation's composer
(the simulator can't show suggestions). Waived before merge: the managed
test iPhone shows no share-sheet suggestions for any app, so this will
be checked on a personal phone after landing.

---------

Signed-off-by: Tom Brow <tomb@squareup.com>
Co-authored-by: Tom Brow <tomb@squareup.com>
2026-11-12 22:57:21 -08:00

4.0 KiB

Buzz domain language

Shared terminology for Buzz product behavior. This glossary currently covers mobile push suppression, the notification body, mobile builds and sharing; it is not a complete model of Buzz.

Notifications

Mobile push notification

A notification directed to a user's mobile installation through the platform's push service.

Notification body

The text a mobile push notification shows for a message: the message's text with its Markdown syntax removed, cut only where the platform would cut it. See ADR 0002.

Push suppression

Withholding an otherwise eligible mobile push notification based on desktop activity and a working connection to the relevant community. It does not depend on whether desktop alerts can be shown.

Avoid: Read receipt, mark as read, mute

Desktop activity

User interaction with the computer running Buzz, including interaction with another application. It is the interaction itself, not a state that lasts afterward, and does not imply that a particular Buzz message was displayed or read.

Avoid: Message visibility, read activity

In-app activity

User interaction inside Buzz. Recent in-app activity remains evidence of desktop activity after Buzz loses focus; current window focus is a separate condition.

Desktop inactivity

The state reached when the duration specified in the spec has elapsed since the last observed desktop activity.

Additional notification delay

A waiting period after desktop inactivity begins before mobile push notifications resume. This is distinct from the inactivity threshold itself.

Suppressed message

A message whose otherwise eligible mobile push notification was withheld. The term refers to its notification, not withholding the message itself, and says nothing about whether the message has been read.

Suppression activity signal

Information communicated for deciding whether desktop activity warrants push suppression. It is distinct from visible presence and is not a read receipt.

Visible presence

The availability status shown to other members, such as online, away, or offline. A chosen visible presence status does not necessarily reflect actual desktop activity.

Suppression renewal

A suppression activity signal that extends how long push suppression applies based on activity on one desktop.

Inactivity cutoff

The time of the last observed desktop activity plus the duration specified in the spec, when desktop inactivity begins. New desktop activity moves this cutoff forward.

Mobile builds

Internal build

A mobile app an organization distributes only to its own members, for example through device management. It uses only that organization's Builderlab and reaches only that organization's community.

Avoid: Dogfood build, enterprise build, org build

Public build

The mobile app distributed through the App Store and TestFlight. It uses only the public Builderlab and cannot reach any organization's community.

Avoid: App Store build, external build

Sharing

Share

Bringing content such as a screenshot, screen recording, URL or text from another app into a Buzz conversation through the system share sheet. A share ends in that conversation's composer, where the person adds their own text and sends it.

Avoid: Forward, post

Share target

A conversation offered among the share sheet's suggested destinations: an existing channel or DM, or a new Solo chat. Share targets are learned from top-level messages a person sends in a conversation; thread replies and incoming messages never count.

Avoid: Recipient, contact, suggestion