How to Resolve Laggy Animation Effect When Using SLServiceTypeFacebook Sharing Views

Understanding the Laggy Presentation of SLServiceTypeFacebook

As a developer, we’ve all encountered issues with animations and presentations in our apps. In this article, we’ll delve into a specific problem related to the presentation of SLServiceTypeFacebook sharing views, which causes a laggy animation effect only when the image picker is used.

What is SLServiceTypeFacebook?

SLServiceTypeFacebook is a service type provided by Apple’s Social Media framework, which allows users to share content on Facebook. The SLComposeViewController class is used to create and present this sharing view.

Understanding the Problem

The problem arises when using an image picker (UIImagePickerController) to select an image before presenting the Facebook sharing view. When the image picker is displayed, everything seems fine, but once the sharing view is presented, it exhibits a laggy animation effect. This issue persists even when the image picker is dismissed or presented on a different thread.

Analyzing the Code

To understand the problem better, let’s analyze the code snippet provided:

[self.portraitPicker setDelegate:self];

In this line of code, we’re setting the delegate of the portraitPicker instance to ourselves. This means that our view controller will receive notifications from the image picker.

The Issue with Image Picker Delegation

The problem seems to be related to the fact that the portraitPicker is presented on a separate thread (the main app thread). When this happens, any changes made to the UI on that thread are not automatically updated on the main app thread. In this case, when we dismiss the image picker and present the Facebook sharing view, the laggy animation effect occurs.

Resolving the Issue

To resolve this issue, we need to ensure that all UI updates are performed on the main app thread. One way to achieve this is by using a dispatch queue or a serial execution of code.

One possible solution is to delay the presentation of the sharing view on the main app thread:

[picker dismissViewControllerAnimated:YES completion:^{
    if ([SLComposeViewController isAvailableForServiceType:SLServiceTypeFacebook])
    {
        self.facebookController = [SLComposeViewController composeViewControllerForServiceType:SLServiceTypeFacebook];
        [self.facebookController setInitialText:@"Some text"];
        [facebookController addImage:pickedImage];
        dispatch_after(dispatch_time(DISPATCH_TIME_NOW, (int64_t)(10 * NSEC_PER_SEC)), dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^{
            [self presentViewController:self.facebookController animated:YES completion:nil];
        });
    }
}];

In this code snippet, we’re using dispatch_after to delay the presentation of the sharing view by 10 seconds. This ensures that any UI updates are performed on the main app thread.

Another possible solution is to show the sharing view asynchronously:

[picker dismissViewControllerAnimated:YES completion:^{
    if ([SLComposeViewController isAvailableForServiceType:SLServiceTypeFacebook])
    {
        self.facebookController = [SLComposeViewController composeViewControllerForServiceType:SLServiceTypeFacebook];
        [self.facebookController setInitialText:@"Some text"];
        [facebookController addImage:pickedImage];
        [self presentViewController:self.facebookController animated:NO completion:nil];
        dispatch_async(dispatch_get_global_queue(DISPATCH_QUEUE_PRIORITY_DEFAULT, 0), ^{
            // perform any asynchronous tasks here
        });
    }
}];

In this code snippet, we’re using dispatch_async to show the sharing view asynchronously. This ensures that any UI updates are performed on a background queue.

Another possible solution is to show the sharing view from a different view controller:

- (void)showSharingView {
    if ([SLComposeViewController isAvailableForServiceType:SLServiceTypeFacebook])
    {
        self.facebookController = [SLComposeViewController composeViewControllerForServiceType:SLServiceTypeFacebook];
        [self.facebookController setInitialText:@"Some text"];
        [facebookController addImage:pickedImage];
        [self presentViewController:self.facebookController animated:NO completion:nil];
    }
}

// in your image picker delegate method
[self showSharingView];

In this code snippet, we’re showing the sharing view from a separate showSharingView method. This ensures that any UI updates are performed on the main app thread.

Additional Considerations

When dealing with complex animations and presentations, it’s essential to consider additional factors such as:

Async vs Synchronous: When should you show your views asynchronously versus synchronously? Async can help improve performance but also introduces complexity.
Thread Safety: How do you ensure that all UI updates are thread-safe?
Error Handling: What happens when something goes wrong during the animation or presentation process?

Conclusion

In this article, we’ve explored a common problem related to the presentation of SLServiceTypeFacebook sharing views. By analyzing the code and considering additional factors, we can resolve this issue by ensuring that all UI updates are performed on the main app thread.

Remember, when dealing with complex animations and presentations, it’s crucial to consider multiple approaches and test them thoroughly to find the best solution for your specific use case.

Last modified on 2023-09-28