Swiftui Performance Audit

SwiftUI Performance Audit

Overview

Audit SwiftUI view performance end-to-end, from instrumentation and baselining to root-cause analysis and concrete remediation steps.

Workflow Decision Tree

• If the user provides code, start with "Code-First Review."
• If the user only describes symptoms, ask for minimal code/context, then do "Code-First Review."
• If code review is inconclusive, go to "Guide the User to Profile" and ask for a trace or screenshots.

1. Code-First Review

Collect:

• Target view/feature code.
• Data flow: state, environment, observable models.
• Symptoms and reproduction steps.

Focus on:

• View invalidation storms from broad state changes.
• Unstable identity in lists (id churn, UUID() per render).
• Heavy work in body (formatting, sorting, image decoding).
• Layout thrash (deep stacks, GeometryReader, preference chains).
• Large images without downsampling or resizing.
• Over-animated hierarchies (implicit animations on large trees).

Provide:

• Likely root causes with code references.
• Suggested fixes and refactors.
• If needed, a minimal repro or instrumentation suggestion.

2. Guide the User to Profile

Explain how to collect data with Instruments:

• Use the SwiftUI template in Instruments (Release build).
• Reproduce the exact interaction (scroll, navigation, animation).
• Capture SwiftUI timeline and Time Profiler.
• Export or screenshot the relevant lanes and the call tree.

Ask for:

• Trace export or screenshots of SwiftUI lanes + Time Profiler call tree.
• Device/OS/build configuration.

3. Analyze and Diagnose

Prioritize likely SwiftUI culprits:

• View invalidation storms from broad state changes.
• Unstable identity in lists (id churn, UUID() per render).
• Heavy work in body (formatting, sorting, image decoding).
• Layout thrash (deep stacks, GeometryReader, preference chains).
• Large images without downsampling or resizing.
• Over-animated hierarchies (implicit animations on large trees).

Summarize findings with evidence from traces/logs.

4. Remediate

Apply targeted fixes:

• Narrow state scope (@State/@Observable closer to leaf views).
• Stabilize identities for ForEach and lists.
• Move heavy work out of body (precompute, cache, @State).
• Use equatable() or value wrappers for expensive subtrees.
• Downsample images before rendering.
• Reduce layout complexity or use fixed sizing where possible.

Common Code Smells (and Fixes)

Look for these patterns during code review.

Expensive formatters in body

var body: some View {
    let number = NumberFormatter() // slow allocation
    let measure = MeasurementFormatter() // slow allocation
    Text(measure.string(from: .init(value: meters, unit: .meters)))
}

Prefer cached formatters in a model or a dedicated helper:

final class DistanceFormatter {
    static let shared = DistanceFormatter()
    let number = NumberFormatter()
    let measure = MeasurementFormatter()
}

Computed properties that do heavy work

var filtered: [Item] {
    items.filter { $0.isEnabled } // runs on every body eval
}

Prefer precompute or cache on change:

@State private var filtered: [Item] = []
// update filtered when inputs change

Sorting/filtering in body or ForEach

List {
    ForEach(items.sorted(by: sortRule)) { item in
        Row(item)
    }
}

Prefer sort once before view updates:

let sortedItems = items.sorted(by: sortRule)

Inline filtering in ForEach

ForEach(items.filter { $0.isEnabled }) { item in
    Row(item)
}

Prefer a prefiltered collection with stable identity.

Unstable identity

ForEach(items, id: \.self) { item in
    Row(item)
}

Avoid id: \.self for non-stable values; use a stable ID.

Image decoding on the main thread

Image(uiImage: UIImage(data: data)!)

Prefer decode/downsample off the main thread and store the result.

Broad dependencies in observable models

@Observable class Model {
    var items: [Item] = []
}

var body: some View {
    Row(isFavorite: model.items.contains(item))
}

Prefer granular view models or per-item state to reduce update fan-out.

5. Verify

Ask the user to re-run the same capture and compare with baseline metrics. Summarize the delta (CPU, frame drops, memory peak) if provided.

Outputs

Provide:

• A short metrics table (before/after if available).
• Top issues (ordered by impact).
• Proposed fixes with estimated effort.

References

Add Apple documentation and WWDC resources under references/ as they are supplied by the user.

• Optimizing SwiftUI performance with Instruments: references/optimizing-swiftui-performance-instruments.md
• Understanding and improving SwiftUI performance: references/understanding-improving-swiftui-performance.md
• Understanding hangs in your app: references/understanding-hangs-in-your-app.md
• Demystify SwiftUI performance (WWDC23): references/demystify-swiftui-performance-wwdc23.md

Technique Map

• Code-first review — Collect view code, data flow, symptoms; because many issues visible without profiling.
• View invalidation storms — Broad state changes; narrow scope; because one @Published can invalidate entire tree.
• Unstable identity — id churn, UUID() per render; use stable ID; because ForEach rebuilds everything when identity changes.
• Heavy work in body — Formatting, sorting, image decode; move out; because body runs frequently.
• Layout thrash — Deep stacks, GeometryReader, preference chains; because complex layout recalculates often.
• Guide to profile — SwiftUI template, Time Profiler, repro steps; because code review has limits.
• Downsample images — Before render; because UIImage(data:) decodes on main thread.

Technique Notes

References: optimizing-swiftui-performance-instruments, understanding-improving-swiftui-performance, demystify-swiftui-performance-wwdc23. Output: metrics table, top issues, proposed fixes with effort. Verify on device after remediate.

Prompt Architect Overlay

Role Definition: SwiftUI performance auditor. Diagnoses slow rendering, janky scroll, high CPU/memory, excessive updates, layout thrash. Code review and Instruments guidance.

Input Contract: Accepts performance complaint, code snippet, or "why is this slow?" Symptoms, reproduction steps. Optional: trace or screenshots.

Output Contract: Code-first analysis with likely root causes. Suggested fixes. If inconclusive: Instruments guidance (SwiftUI template, capture steps). Remediation checklist. Verification request (re-capture, compare metrics).

Edge Cases & Fallbacks: If code review inconclusive→request trace/screenshots. If image-heavy→suggest downsampling. If observable model broad→narrow state scope. If ForEach unstable→stabilize identity. If layout complex→reduce depth or use fixed sizing.