Mobile IOS Design

iOS Mobile Design

Master SwiftUI and the Apple Human Interface Guidelines (HIG) to build modern, adaptive iOS applications that feel native on iPhone and iPad. This is the iOS twin of the mobile-android-design skill.

When to Use This Skill

• Designing iOS app interfaces following the Human Interface Guidelines
• Building SwiftUI views, layouts, and reusable components
• Implementing iOS navigation patterns (TabView, NavigationStack, sheets)
• Adding a bottom-tab navigation with Feedback + About tabs (house style — see below)
• Creating adaptive layouts for iPhone and iPad (size classes, NavigationSplitView)
• Theming with semantic colors, SF Symbols, Dynamic Type, and dark mode
• Building accessible iOS interfaces (VoiceOver, contrast, hit targets)

Core Concepts

• SwiftUI-first, declarative. Describe UI as a function of state; hoist state with @State / @Binding / @Observable (or ObservableObject pre-iOS 17). Keep views small and composable.
• Semantic over literal. Use system materials and a central Theme of color tokens, never raw Color(red:…) scattered inline — this is what gives automatic dark-mode support.
• SF Symbols for iconography (Image(systemName:) / Label) — they scale with Dynamic Type and adapt to weight and color automatically.
• HIG layout rhythm. Respect safe areas, use system spacing, 44×44pt minimum hit targets, grouped rounded-card surfaces, and large navigation titles for top-level screens.

Deeper material is split into references/ to keep this body small:

• references/swiftui-components.md — cards, lists, forms, buttons, the quick-start component.
• references/ios-navigation.md — TabView, NavigationStack, and the full Feedback + About bottom-nav reference implementation.
• references/hig-theming.md — Theme tokens, dark mode, SF Symbols, Dynamic Type, accessibility.

Bottom-tab navigation with Feedback + About (house style)

Add a root TabView with the app's content as the first tab, plus Feedback and About tabs in the Tertiary Infotech Academy house style. (Full code: references/ios-navigation.md.)

• Feedback tab: Title + Message fields and a Send via WhatsApp button that opens https://wa.me/6588666375?text=<title + message>. Build the URL with URLComponents / URLQueryItem (never string-concatenation) so the text is percent-encoded correctly. The wa.me https link works whether or not WhatsApp is installed — no LSApplicationQueriesSchemes.
• About tab: an app card (name + description), a Developer card ("Tertiary Infotech Academy Pte Ltd" + tertiaryinfotech.com link), an optional Data source card (mandatory when surfacing government/official data — doubles as App Review attribution), and a Version row read from Bundle.main.infoDictionary (CFBundleShortVersionString + CFBundleVersion).

// MainTabView.swift — make this the root: WindowGroup { MainTabView() }
struct MainTabView: View {
    var body: some View {
        TabView {
            ContentScreen()                                   // your existing first tab
                .tabItem { Label("Home", systemImage: "house.fill") }
            FeedbackView()
                .tabItem { Label("Feedback", systemImage: "bubble.left.and.bubble.right.fill") }
            AboutView()
                .tabItem { Label("About", systemImage: "info.circle.fill") }
        }
        .tint(Theme.accent)            // selected-tab color from the central Theme
    }
}

On a deployment target < iOS 18 use the classic .tabItem { Label(...) } API (the Tab("…", systemImage:) initializer is iOS 18+). The Feedback TextEditor needs .scrollContentBackground(.hidden) to show a custom background (iOS 16+).

Best Practices

1. Use a central Theme: reference color tokens (Theme.accent, Theme.card), never raw Color literals — guarantees consistent dark mode.
2. Semantic colors & materials: prefer .background(.regularMaterial) and system colors so contrast adapts automatically.
3. SF Symbols + Label: pair an icon with text; symbols scale with Dynamic Type.
4. Dynamic Type: use text styles (.body, .title3) not fixed point sizes; test at XXL.
5. Hit targets: minimum 44×44pt for every interactive control.
6. Safe areas: respect them; only ignore deliberately for full-bleed backgrounds.
7. State hoisting: lift state to make views reusable and previewable.
8. #Preview: add previews in light + dark and a large Dynamic Type size.
9. Adaptive: use size classes / NavigationSplitView for iPad instead of hardcoding widths.

Common Issues

• No dark mode: caused by raw Color literals — route everything through Theme.
• Tab init won't compile: Tab(_:systemImage:) is iOS 18+; below that use .tabItem.
• TextEditor shows default background: add .scrollContentBackground(.hidden).
• Broken WhatsApp/links text: build URLs with URLComponents, not string concatenation.
• Janky long lists: use List/LazyVStack, not a plain VStack in a ScrollView.
• VoiceOver gaps: add .accessibilityLabel to icon-only buttons; group related elements.
• Layout fights safe area: prefer safeAreaInset/padding over magic numbers.

Verify

If the project is XcodeGen-based, run xcodegen generate, then a Debug build (xcodebuild -scheme <Scheme> -destination 'platform=iOS Simulator,name=iPhone 16' build) before shipping. Pair with ios-feedback-about for a turn-key Feedback/About drop-in.