iOS Inter-app Services and Actions

We would all love the ability for apps to be more useful to each other, and for third party apps to be able to access and affect the core OS. This is a concept for how Apple could integrate inter-app services. Sort of a combination of the dock, the services menu and right click actions in OS X.

Check the attachment for the whole process.

In this concept the multitasking tray would double up as an actions menu, with each app displaying the number of services or actions available to the current app you're in.

Here you can see that Tweetbot has x4 actions available. Tap the icon to show the list of options. Actions would open on top of the current app where relevant, to keep you near the relevant content.

Another idea is that the service icon would remain in the corner of the app until dismissed.

Just working through this idea has highlighted tonnes of flaws and potential roadblocks, so it's completely understandable why this kind of thing has never been in iOS, and may never be. Still, this is only a concept.

BTW @Mark Jardine no offence or infringement intended by using Tweetbot, only love :)

Posted on Nov 24, 2012

More by Robert Cooper

View profile