Ios design

iOS Design

HIG-derived rules plus lessons from real apps (FloDoro, SpeakSavvy-iOS). Research context: docs/research/2026-04-13-mobile-ui-best-practices.md.

Navigation

• Tab bar: 3–5 mutually exclusive top-level areas; never actions. iOS 26 tab bars float as Liquid Glass capsules
• NavigationStack (not deprecated NavigationView) for hierarchical drill-down
• Toolbar: contextual actions for current view; distinct from tab bar
• Modal (.sheet, .fullScreenCover): only for tasks that must complete or cancel
• Large titles (.navigationBarTitleDisplayMode(.large)) collapse inline on scroll — standard for top-level screens

Colors

• Use Color.accentColor / tintColor for interactivity — never hardcoded blue
• Color(.systemBackground), Color(.label), Color(.secondaryLabel), Color(.separator) for hierarchy
• Four label levels: primary / secondary / tertiary / quaternary — match to hierarchy tier
• Fill colors: .systemFill → .quaternarySystemFill for overlays
• Never hardcode hex that needs to survive dark mode or accessibility contrast

Typography

• .font(.body), .title, .headline — not .system(size: 17)
• Body default = 17pt SF Pro; SF Pro auto-switches Display ≥20pt, Text ≤19pt
• Dynamic Type: support xSmall → xxxLarge (7 standard) + AX1–AX5 (5 accessibility, up to ~310% scale). Test AX3+ — layouts must reflow, not clip
• @Environment(\.dynamicTypeSize) to react

SF Symbols

Use SF Symbols for every system icon. They auto-scale with Dynamic Type, auto-tint with accent, have filled/circle/square/slash variants, and ship with the OS — no image assets needed.

Touch targets

44×44 pt minimum for every interactive element. Applies even on curved watch edges and under Live Activities.

Haptics

• UIImpactFeedbackGenerator: .light / .medium / .heavy / .soft / .rigid — match weight to visual weight
• UINotificationFeedbackGenerator: .success / .warning / .error — only for task outcomes
• UISelectionFeedbackGenerator: discrete value changes (pickers)
• Don't overuse; don't retain generators long-term (Taptic Engine idle state affects battery)

Dark mode + materials

• Semantic colors adapt automatically — test both appearances
• SwiftUI materials: .ultraThinMaterial → .thickMaterial
• iOS 26 Liquid Glass: new translucent material system with real-time reflection/refraction. Verify exact SwiftUI modifier names against live Xcode docs before quoting

Dynamic Island + Live Activities

• Three states: compact / minimal / expanded
• Content must be concentric with the pill shape (rounded inner margins)
• Dynamic payload ≤ 4 KB
• Use relevance score when multiple activities compete
• Lesson from FloDoro: paused activities set staleDate to .distantFuture so they don't disappear

Dynamic Type + VoiceOver

• Every interactive element: accessibilityLabel + accessibilityHint when purpose isn't obvious
• Test with VoiceOver on — trap focus is a bug
• Rotor support where appropriate

SwiftData + CloudKit gotchas (from FloDoro)

• Do NOT use @Attribute(.unique) — CloudKit fails silently
• Do NOT require non-optional properties without defaults — CloudKit fails silently
• Lightweight migration only; append-only session records for timer/workout state
• Raw runtime state stays device-local — only sync persistent records
• iCloud "Data on iCloud" toggle-off can delete local data — warn user + keep local backup

WatchConnectivity (if watchOS target)

Use WCSession for iOS ↔ watchOS sync. iPhone acts as bridge — no direct Mac ↔ Watch connection. Channel selection and implementation patterns are in apple-platform.

Speech API (iOS 26+) — lessons from SpeakSavvy-iOS

• Prefer SpeechAnalyzer if asset installed — check via AssetInventory.status(forModules:) == .installed
• Fall back to SFSpeechRecognizer if model unavailable
• CRITICAL: enable .transcriptionConfidence in SpeechTranscriber.attributeOptions to populate per-word confidence — without it, segmentConfidences is empty (incident INC_DEPENDENCY_20260407)
• Never feed raw audioEngine.inputNode.outputFormat to SpeechAnalyzer without format negotiation — causes SIGTRAP in preRunRecognition

HealthKit essentials (from FloDoro)

• Parallel fetches with async let task groups
• Baseline cache (HR, HRV) pre-session; aggregate queries post-session
• Register HKWorkoutSession during focus/workout sessions
• macOS compiles as empty (no HealthKit) — isolate with #if os(iOS) or #if !os(macOS)

Apple documentation — canonical entry points

Link to these in code comments and design docs; Apple keeps them current.

HIG:

• HIG hub
• HIG Color
• HIG Typography
• HIG Layout
• HIG Motion
• HIG Materials
• UI Design Dos and Don'ts
• SF Symbols / Fonts

HealthKit:

• HealthKit (main)
• Setting up HealthKit
• Authorizing access to health data
• Configuring HealthKit access in Xcode
• HealthKit updates feed

Live Activities:

• ActivityKit — Displaying live data

TestFlight + distribution:

• App Store Connect (hub)
• TestFlight (hub)
• TestFlight Overview (ASC Help)
• Invite external testers
• ASC — Upload builds

Device deployment:

• Distributing to registered devices
• Distributing for beta testing and releases
• Preparing your app for distribution
• Signing & Capabilities workflow

Lesson (from SpeakSavvy-iOS): Use xcodebuild with authenticationKeyPath, keyID, issuerID for automated signing — no interactive Xcode GUI needed. Xcode 26.0+ required for iOS 26 features; check SpeechAnalyzer availability at runtime to gracefully degrade on older devices.

Anti-patterns

• Hardcoded font sizes → breaks Dynamic Type
• Hardcoded colors → breaks dark mode + accessibility
• Missing VoiceOver labels on icon buttons
• Modal sheets for non-interrupting content
• Retaining haptic generators long-term
• SwiftData @Attribute(.unique) with CloudKit
• Feeding raw audio format to SpeechAnalyzer without negotiation

Related Skills

• apple-platform: Architecture patterns, SwiftData, concurrency, CI/CD, TestFlight. How to build it.
• ios-design-router: Archetype classifier and design option catalogs. Routes to domain-specific references for navigation, lists, buttons, color, motion, task economy.