IOS Color Palette

iOS Color Palette — Semantic Colors + Liquid Glass

1. iOS 26 Semantic Colors

Use system semantic colors. They adapt automatically to Light/Dark Mode, accessibility settings, and glass surfaces.

Backgrounds

Labels (Text)

System Colors

Color.red, .orange, .yellow, .green, .mint, .teal, .cyan, .blue, .indigo, .purple, .pink, .brown — all adapt to Light/Dark automatically.

Separators & Fills

2. Liquid Glass Color Behavior

Glass surfaces are translucent — the background bleeds through. This changes how color works:

• .tint() on glass: Adds a subtle color wash to the glass surface. Use your accent color here.

  .glassEffect(.regular.tint(.blue))
  

• Vibrancy: Text and symbols on glass automatically get vibrancy treatment. Use .foregroundStyle(.primary) — the system handles the rest.
• Don't fight the glass: Avoid opaque backgrounds behind glass elements. The translucency IS the design.
• Test over different backgrounds: Glass looks different over light content, dark content, and images. Verify readability across all.

3. Palette Construction Rules

The One-Accent Rule

• Choose one accent color for your entire app
• Set it in asset catalog as AccentColor or via .tint() at the app level
• Use it for: primary buttons, active tab icons, links, toggles, selection highlights
• Everything else uses semantic system colors

Color Constraints

• No oversaturated neons — keep saturation below 80% in HSB
• No pure black (#000000) — use Color(.systemBackground) which is near-black in Dark Mode
• No pure white (#FFFFFF) for backgrounds — use Color(.systemBackground)
• No custom grays — use Color(.secondaryLabel), Color(.systemFill), etc.
• Tinted shadows carry the background hue — use .shadow(.drop(color: .accent.opacity(0.15), radius: 8))

Contrast Requirements

• Accent color must pass WCAG AA (4.5:1 ratio) against both light and dark system backgrounds
• Test with Accessibility Inspector in Xcode
• Body text on glass: use .foregroundStyle(.primary) — the system ensures contrast via vibrancy
• Small text (caption/footnote): needs even higher contrast — use .foregroundStyle(.primary), never .tertiary

4. Light/Dark Mode

Asset Catalog Setup

1. Create a Color Set in Assets.xcassets
2. Set Appearances to "Any, Dark"
3. Define both variants

Code Pattern

// Asset catalog color (automatically adapts)
Color("BrandAccent")

// Programmatic adaptive color
extension Color {
    static let accent = Color("BrandAccent")
}

// Inline adaptive (rare — prefer asset catalog)
@Environment(\.colorScheme) var colorScheme
let tint = colorScheme == .dark ? Color.blue : Color.indigo

Glass in Both Modes

• Light Mode: glass is bright, subtle tints show clearly
• Dark Mode: glass is darker, tints are more muted
• Always test .glassEffect(.regular.tint(.yourAccent)) in both modes
• If tint looks too strong in one mode, consider using a semantic color that adapts

5. Quick Reference

Color Modifier Patterns

// Text color
.foregroundStyle(.primary)
.foregroundStyle(.secondary)
.foregroundStyle(Color.accentColor)

// Hierarchical foreground (primary + secondary in one view)
.foregroundStyle(.blue, .blue.opacity(0.5))

// View tinting (buttons, controls)
.tint(.blue)

// App-wide accent
// Set AccentColor in asset catalog — no code needed

// Background
.background(Color(.secondarySystemBackground))
.background(.ultraThinMaterial)  // pre-iOS 26 glass alternative

// Shapes with fill
RoundedRectangle(cornerRadius: 12)
    .fill(Color(.secondarySystemGroupedBackground))

Color Debugging

// Temporarily visualize color tokens
.border(Color.red) // layout debugging
.background(Color.yellow.opacity(0.3)) // hit area debugging