---
title: "Getting started with real-time collaboration on iOS | Nutrient iOS SDK"
canonical_url: "https://www.nutrient.io/guides/ios/pspdfkit-instant/getting-started/"
md_url: "https://www.nutrient.io/guides/ios/pspdfkit-instant/getting-started.md"
last_updated: "2026-05-14T16:53:43.868Z"
description: "Learn how to integrate real-time collaboration into your iOS application using Nutrient Instant. Enable concurrent document editing and interaction for your users."
---

# Integrating real-time collaboration into your iOS application

Nutrient Instant facilitates adding real-time collaboration features to your Nutrient-powered apps, enabling your end users to share, edit, and annotate PDF documents across Android, iOS, and web apps. This article will guide you through integrating Nutrient Instant into your application.

## Requirements

- Nutrient Instant requires the latest stable version of [Xcode](https://developer.apple.com/xcode/) available at the time the release was made.

- A Document Engine instance and one of our example backends. See the [example projects](https://www.nutrient.io/guides/document-engine/example-projects.md) guide to get an instance up and running.

- The PSPDFKit, PSPDFKitUI, and Instant frameworks from Nutrient iOS SDK. These frameworks can be integrated into your application using [Swift Package Manager](#swift-package-manager), [CocoaPods](#cocoapods), or [manually](#manual-integration) by downloading the latest release from [my.nutrient.io](https://my.nutrient.io/download/binary/ios/latest).

## Getting started with an example project

Nutrient Instant comes with a [source-available iOS example project](https://github.com/PSPDFKit/pspdfkit-ios-instant-example), which connects to either one of our example server apps.

1. Run Document Engine locally using one of our [example projects](https://www.nutrient.io/guides/document-engine/example-projects.md).

2. In a web browser, log in to the example app with the same user ID the iOS app uses in [`AppDelegate.swift`](https://github.com/PSPDFKit/pspdfkit-ios-instant-example/blob/master/Instant-iOS-Example/AppDelegate.swift), which, by default, is `test`.

3. Add a document to the server using the **Upload PDF** button.

4. Select the document to view it with Nutrient Web SDK and add some annotations. You can also create a new layer on the same document to switch between different sets of annotations on the same document.

5. Open `Instant-iOS-Example.xcodeproj` in Xcode.

6. Build and run the `Instant-iOS-Example` scheme on iOS Simulator. After launching, the app will load the list of all documents with all their respective layers from the server.

7. Tap any layer in the app to download it and show it in an `InstantViewController`.

8. Add annotations in the iOS app or in the browser to see annotation syncing.

To run on an iOS device instead of the simulator, replace `localhost` in the `serverURL` and `baseURL` in [`AppDelegate.swift`] with the hostname or address that the server can be reached at. This is your Mac’s local IP address, which you can see by option-clicking the Wi-Fi icon in the macOS menu bar.

### Troubleshooting

If `Instant-iOS-Example` doesn’t build, make sure you’re using the latest stable version of Xcode; expand the `Frameworks` group in the Project Navigator; and check that the `PSPDFKit.xcframework`, `PSPDFKitUI.xcframework`, and `Instant.xcframework` frameworks aren’t missing. If the app runs but no documents or layers appear, make sure the `userID` in [`AppDelegate.swift`](https://github.com/PSPDFKit/pspdfkit-ios-instant-example/blob/master/Instant-iOS-Example/AppDelegate.swift) matches the name you entered in the browser when logging in to the example app, and that the server and example app are running on your machine.

## Integrating Nutrient Instant

There are three ways to integrate Nutrient Instant: with Swift Package Manager, with CocoaPods, and manually. They’re outlined below.

### Swift Package Manager

If you’re using Swift Package Manager, add Nutrient Instant to your project as follows:

1. [Integrate the Nutrient Swift package](https://www.nutrient.io/sdk/ios/getting-started//?project=existing-project&package-manager=swiftpm).

2. Integrate the Nutrient Instant Swift package using the public repository URL.

```shell

https://github.com/PSPDFKit/Instant-SP

```

### CocoaPods

If you’re using CocoaPods, add Nutrient Instant to your project by adding the following to your `Podfile`:

```ruby

use_frameworks!

target :YourTargetName do
	pod 'PSPDFKit',
	    podspec: 'https://my.nutrient.io/pspdfkit-ios/latest.podspec'
	pod 'Instant',
	    podspec: 'https://my.nutrient.io/instant/latest.podspec'
end

```

Then run `pod install`.

### Manual integration

To integrate manually:

1. [Integrate Nutrient iOS SDK](https://www.nutrient.io/sdk/ios/getting-started.md).

2. Drag `Instant.xcframework` into the **Frameworks, Libraries, and Embedded Content** section of your target.
---

## Related pages

- [Client authentication in Nutrient Instant](/guides/ios/instant-synchronization/authentication.md)
- [Streamline PDF annotation syncing on iOS](/guides/ios/pspdfkit-instant/syncing.md)
- [Adding comments to PDFs on iOS](/guides/ios/comments/introduction-to-instant-comments.md)
- [PDF collaboration library for iOS](/guides/ios/instant-synchronization.md)
- [Frequently asked questions](/guides/ios/instant-synchronization/faq.md)
- [Nutrient Instant and the document state](/guides/ios/pspdfkit-instant/instant-document-state.md)
- [Nutrient Instant and iOS data protection](/guides/ios/pspdfkit-instant/data-protection.md)
- [Seamless offline PDF annotation and synchronization](/guides/ios/pspdfkit-instant/offline-support.md)
- [Create PDF annotation layers on iOS](/guides/ios/pspdfkit-instant/instant-layers.md)
- [Nutrient Instant usage](/guides/ios/pspdfkit-instant/usage.md)