Human Interface Guidelines

The HIG contains guidance and best practices that can help you design a great experience for any Apple platform.

Design fundamentals

Explore the principles that guide design across Apple platforms. For more, see Getting started.

Design principles Explore fundamental principles that guide design across Apple platforms.

Designing for iOS People depend on their iPhone to help them stay connected, play games, view media, accomplish tasks, and track personal data in any location and while on the go.

Designing for macOS People rely on the power, spaciousness, and flexibility of a Mac as they perform in-depth productivity tasks, view media or content, and play games, often using several apps at once.

Foundations of design

Discover key concepts that shape every great experience. For more, see Foundations.

Accessibility Accessible user interfaces empower everyone to have a great experience with your app or game.	App icons A unique, memorable icon expresses your app’s or game’s purpose and personality and helps people recognize it at a glance.	Color Judicious use of color can enhance communication, evoke your brand, provide visual continuity, communicate status and feedback, and help people understand information.
Layout A consistent layout that adapts to various contexts makes your experience more approachable and helps people enjoy their favorite apps and games on all their devices.	Materials A material is a visual effect that creates a sense of depth, layering, and hierarchy between foreground and background elements.	Typography Your typographic choices can help you display legible text, convey an information hierarchy, communicate important content, and express your brand or style.

New and updated

Review recent additions and updates to design guidance. For more, see What’s new.

Menus A menu reveals its options when people interact with it, making it a space-efficient way to present commands in your app or game.	Scroll views A scroll view lets people view content that’s larger than the view’s boundaries by moving the content vertically or horizontally.	Search fields A search field lets people search a collection of content for specific terms they enter.
Sidebars A sidebar appears on the leading side of a view and lets people navigate between areas of your app or top-level collections of content, like folders and playlists.	Siri People use Siri to help them with the things they need to find, know, or do every day.	Snippets When someone performs a task with Siri or an App Shortcut, a snippet shows the result or asks for confirmation.

Contents

• Getting started
  • Design principles
  • Designing for iOS
  • Designing for iPadOS
  • Designing for macOS
  • Designing for tvOS
  • Designing for visionOS
  • Designing for watchOS
  • Designing for games
    • Launching
    • Onboarding
    • Loading
    • Layout
    • Typography
    • Going full screen
    • Game controls
    • Gestures
    • Pointing devices
    • Accessibility
    • Inclusion
    • Game Center
    • iCloud
    • In-app purchase
• Foundations
  • Accessibility
  • App icons
  • Branding
  • Color
  • Dark Mode
  • Icons
  • Images
  • Immersive experiences
  • Inclusion
  • Layout
  • Materials
  • Motion
  • Privacy
  • Right to left
  • SF Symbols
  • Spatial layout
  • Typography
  • Writing
• Patterns
  • Charting data
  • Collaboration and sharing
  • Drag and drop
  • Entering data
  • Feedback
  • File management
  • Going full screen
  • Launching
  • Live-viewing apps
  • Loading
  • Managing accounts
  • Managing notifications
  • Modality
  • Multitasking
  • Offering help
  • Onboarding
  • Playing audio
  • Playing haptics
  • Playing video
  • Printing
  • Ratings and reviews
  • Searching
  • Settings
  • Undo and redo
  • Workouts
• Components
  • Content
    • Charts
    • Image views
    • Text views
    • Web views
  • Layout and organization
    • Boxes
    • Collections
    • Column views
    • Disclosure controls
    • Labels
    • Lists and tables
    • Lockups
    • Outline views
    • Split views
    • Tab views
  • Menus and actions
    • Activity views
    • Buttons
    • Context menus
    • Dock menus
    • Edit menus
    • Home Screen quick actions
    • Menus
    • Ornaments
    • Pop-up buttons
    • Pull-down buttons
    • The menu bar
    • Toolbars
  • Navigation and search
    • Path controls
    • Search fields
    • Sidebars
    • Tab bars
    • Token fields
  • Presentation
    • Action sheets
    • Alerts
    • Page controls
    • Panels
    • Popovers
    • Scroll views
    • Sheets
    • Windows
  • Selection and input
    • Color wells
    • Combo boxes
    • Digit entry views
    • Image wells
    • Pickers
    • Segmented controls
    • Sliders
    • Steppers
    • Text fields
    • Toggles
    • Virtual keyboards
  • Status
    • Activity rings
    • Gauges
    • Progress indicators
    • Rating indicators
  • System experiences
    • App Shortcuts
    • Complications
    • Controls
    • Live Activities
    • Notifications
    • Snippets
    • Status bars
    • Top Shelf
    • Watch faces
    • Widgets
• Inputs
  • Action button
  • Apple Pencil and Scribble
  • Camera Control
  • Digital Crown
  • Eyes
  • Focus and selection
  • Game controls
  • Gestures
  • Gyroscope and accelerometer
  • Keyboards
  • Nearby interactions
  • Pointing devices
  • Remotes
• Technologies
  • AirPlay
  • Always On
  • App Clips
  • Apple Pay
  • Augmented reality
  • CareKit
  • CarPlay
  • Game Center
  • Generative AI
  • HealthKit
  • HomeKit
  • iCloud
  • ID Verifier
  • iMessage apps and stickers
  • In-app purchase
  • Live Photos
  • Mac Catalyst
  • Machine learning
  • Maps
  • NFC
  • Photo editing
  • ResearchKit
  • SharePlay
  • ShazamKit
  • Sign in with Apple
  • Siri
  • Tap to Pay on iPhone
  • VoiceOver
  • Wallet

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Source: https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guidelines