This skill provides context and instructions on how to implement the Plaud Embedded iOS SDK.
When To Use This Skill
Use this skill when a user wants to connect their native iOS app with Plaud recording devices (Plaud NotePin S and Plaud Note Pro).
Before getting started with this skill, make sure the user has the following prerequisites
Prerequisites
- Already has their Plaud Embedded credentials (
CLIENT_ID,CLIENT_SECRET, andAPI_KEY) from their Plaud Developer Portal - Has a way to retrieve their User Token via Plaud's Authentication API
If a user does not have both of these prerequisites, use the plaud-embedded-project-setup-skill for instructions
Getting Started
Follow the instructions in the Installation Guide
Compatibility Requirements
| Requirement | Value |
|---|---|
| iOS deployment target | 14.0+ |
| Xcode | 16.0+ (the SDK is built with Swift 6.0.3) |
| Architecture | arm64 physical devices only — the iOS Simulator is NOT supported |
The SDK ships as pre-built frameworks, cloned from plaud-sdk-public at sdk/ios/:
| Framework | Xcode action |
|---|---|
PlaudBleSDK.framework |
Embed & Sign |
PlaudWiFiSDK.framework |
Embed & Sign |
PlaudDeviceBasicSDK.framework |
Embed & Sign |
PlaudDeviceBasicSDK.bundle |
Copy Bundle Resources |
Please Note the entitlements necessary for the Embedded SDK for iOS — WiFi Fast Transfer requires the Hotspot Configuration entitlement. See the sample xCode config for how to include the bundle, frameworks, and entitlements.
Choose Your Integration Path
The Embedded SDK is a native iOS SDK, but there are multiple ways to use it depending on the user's stack:
| User's stack | Path | Where to go |
|---|---|---|
| No existing app | Deploy Plaud's iOS Starter App | "How to Deploy the Plaud Starter App" below |
| Existing native iOS app | Implement the SDK directly | "How to Implement the Embedded SDK for iOS" below |
| React Native app | Plaud's Expo Native Module | React Native docs · embedded-react-native |
| Flutter app | Plaud's plaud_sdk Flutter plugin |
Flutter docs · embedded-flutter |
| Web app | Wrap into a native iOS app with Plaud's Capacitor plugin | Web app wrapper docs · embedded-capacitor |
The React Native, Flutter, and Capacitor plugins implement the basics (device connection, file sync, transcription). For advanced usage like WiFi Fast Transfer, add methods to the plugin or use the native iOS SDK directly.
How to Deploy the Plaud Starter App
The Plaud Starter App is a fully built out iOS app with the Embedded SDK already implemented.
The Starter App comes with many built-out features the user can immediately use.
Direct the user to clone the Starter App repo and go through the steps in the Starter App Guide
IMPORTANT: PlaudTemplateApp.xcodeproj is not in source control — it is generated from project.yml. The user must install XcodeGen (brew install xcodegen) and run xcodegen generate before opening the project, and re-run it after any project.yml edit.
Credentials go in PartnerConfig.xcconfig (USER_ACCESS_TOKEN, PLAUD_CLIENT_ID, PLAUD_API_KEY). For local development, create a gitignored PartnerConfig.local.xcconfig alongside it, which overrides the placeholders.
How to Implement the Embedded SDK for iOS
The Embedded SDK is an iOS library for :
- Connecting (binding) and unbinding Plaud devices to the user's iOS mobile app
- Syncing audio from Plaud devices to the user's mobile app — via BLE or WiFi Fast Transfer (~10x faster), including batch download of all recordings
- Exporting audio in multiple formats —
.pcm(0),.mp3(1),.wav(2),.opus(3). Recommend.mp3— it plays everywhere and is accepted directly by the transcription upload API - Firmware over-the-air (OTA) updates for connected Plaud devices
The two high-level facades are PlaudDeviceAgent (BLE lifecycle, file sync, firmware) and PlaudWiFiAgent (WiFi Fast Transfer), both reached through their .shared singleton. Initialize once with initSDK(userAccessToken:customDomain:), where customDomain is the Plaud domain without the https:// prefix (e.g. platform-us.plaud.ai).
The SDK is delegate-driven — you implement protocols (PlaudDeviceAgentProtocol, AudioExportCallback, PlaudWiFiAgentProtocol) to receive device events, transfer progress, and results.
IMPORTANT: Plaud devices can only be bound to one application at a time. Warn the user to unbind the device before uninstalling their app — otherwise it cannot be bound to another app (or the Plaud app) until it is recovered.
NOTE: When binding and unbinding devices, use the SDK method first before calling the API. This ensures that cloud state reflects the device's true state. If the device bind/unbind fails, do not call the API.
Use the iOS SDK documentation for the key methods and protocols included in the SDK.
For behavior the high-level facades don't expose, see the Advanced iOS SDK usage docs, which cover the low-level BleAgent, WiFiAgent, and PlaudPartnerApiManager. High-level and low-level facades can be mixed, but the high-level facades should stay the main driver — they handle the partner pre-handshake, E2EE decryption, audio format conversion, and parameter validation that the low-level agents do not.
For further reference, explore:
- The SDK repo to view the header files in the SDK
- The Plaud Starter App with the iOS Embedded SDK fully implemented
- The most relevant files to use as reference in the Starter App are:
Definition of Done - Completed Implementation of the Embedded SDK
When the user can:
- Connect Plaud devices to their mobile app
- Sync audio files from Plaud devices to their app via BLE or WiFi fast transfer
- Unbind a Plaud device from their app (over both cloud and BLE)