Apple SwiftUI iOS Design Best Practices

A builder's guide for implementing Apple-quality iOS interfaces in SwiftUI, grounded in two foundational design texts:

• Ken Kocienda — Creative Selection (empathy for the user, craft in coding, taste in choosing the best solution, demo culture of iterative refinement)
• John Edson — Design Like Apple (systems thinking, the product is the marketing, design out loud, design with conviction)

Contains 62 rules across 8 principle-based categories. Each rule identifies a specific anti-pattern, grounds the fix in a named principle, and provides the correct iOS 26 / Swift 6.2 SwiftUI implementation.

Scope & Relationship to Sibling Skills

This skill is the building and implementation guide — it teaches how to construct new SwiftUI interfaces from scratch using Apple-quality patterns. When loaded alongside

ios-ui-refactor

ios-ui-refactor

Clinic Architecture Contract (iOS 26 / Swift 6.2)

All guidance in this skill assumes the clinic modular MVVM-C architecture:

• Feature modules import

  Domain

  +

  DesignSystem

  only (never

  Data

  , never sibling features)
• App target is the convergence point and owns

  DependencyContainer

  , concrete coordinators, and Route Shell wiring

• Domain

  stays pure Swift and defines models plus repository,

  *Coordinating

  ,

  ErrorRouting

  , and

  AppError

  contracts

• Data

  owns SwiftData/network/sync/retry/background I/O and implements Domain protocols
• Read/write flow defaults to stale-while-revalidate reads and optimistic queued writes
• ViewModels call repository protocols directly (no default use-case/interactor layer)

When to Apply

Reference these guidelines when:

• Building new SwiftUI views and screens from scratch
• Choosing between semantic colors, system typography, and spacing grids (Edson's Systems Thinking)
• Managing state with @State, @Binding, @Observable, @Environment (Kocienda's Craft)
• Selecting the right component: List vs LazyVStack, Sheet vs FullScreenCover (Kocienda's Taste)
• Composing views with @ViewBuilder, custom modifiers, and value types (Kocienda's Creative Selection)
• Implementing navigation with NavigationStack, TabView, sheets (Edson's Conversation)
• Laying out content with stacks, grids, frames, and adaptive layouts (Edson's Design Out Loud)
• Ensuring VoiceOver, touch targets, Dark Mode, and reduce motion support (Kocienda's Empathy)
• Adding transitions, loading states, and animation polish (Edson's Product Is the Marketing)

Rule Categories by Priority

empathy-

system-

craft-

compose-

taste-

converse-

layout-

product-

Quick Reference

1. Empathy in Every Pixel (CRITICAL)

Kocienda: "Empathy — trying to see the world from other people's perspectives." Edson: design begins with the person holding the device.

• empathy-semantic-colors

  - Use semantic colors, never hard-coded values

• empathy-dark-mode

  - Support Dark Mode from day one

• empathy-foreground-style

  - Use foregroundStyle over foregroundColor

• empathy-safe-areas

  - Always respect safe areas for content

• empathy-voiceover-labels

  - Add VoiceOver labels to every interactive element

• empathy-touch-targets

  - Ensure 44x44 point minimum touch targets

• empathy-reduce-motion

  - Always provide reduce motion fallback

• empathy-readable-width

  - Constrain text to readable width on iPad

2. The Visual System (CRITICAL)

Edson: "Zoom out to see relationships between objects." Kocienda: convergence — many decisions narrowing toward one coherent whole.

• system-typography

  - Use system typography styles, never fixed sizes

• system-visual-hierarchy

  - Establish clear visual hierarchy through size, weight, and color

• system-spacing-grid

  - Use a 4pt base unit for all spacing

• system-material-backgrounds

  - Use material backgrounds for depth and layering

• system-sf-symbols

  - Use SF Symbols for consistent iconography

• system-gradients

  - Apply gradients for visual depth, not decoration

• system-standard-margins

  - Use system standard margins consistently

• system-stack-config

  - Configure stack alignment and spacing explicitly

3. Craft: State as Foundation (CRITICAL)

Kocienda: "Craft — applying skill to achieve a high-quality result."

• craft-state-local

  - Use @State for view-local value types

• craft-state-binding

  - Use @Binding for child view mutations

• craft-state-environment

  - Use @Environment for shared app-wide data

• craft-state-observable

  - Use @Observable for model classes

• craft-avoid-body-state

  - Never create state inside the view body

• craft-minimize-scope

  - Minimize state scope to reduce re-renders

• craft-state-bindable

  - Use @Bindable for @Observable bindings

4. Creative Composition (HIGH)

Kocienda: "Creative selection — great software is built through composition and recombination."

• compose-body-some-view

  - Return some View from body, never concrete types

• compose-custom-properties

  - Use properties to make views configurable

• compose-modifier-order

  - Apply view modifiers in the correct order

• compose-viewbuilder

  - Use @ViewBuilder for flexible slot-based composition

• compose-prefer-value-types

  - Prefer value types for view data

• compose-prefer-composition

  - Prefer composition over inheritance for view reuse

5. Taste: The Right Choice (HIGH)

Kocienda: "Taste — refined judgment, the ability to choose the one right solution." Edson: commit to one approach and perfect it.

• taste-list-vs-lazyvstack

  - Choose List for system features, LazyVStack for custom layouts

• taste-sheet-vs-fullscreen

  - Choose sheet for tasks, fullScreenCover for immersion

• taste-picker

  - Choose the right picker style for the data type

• taste-grid-vs-lazygrid

  - Choose Grid for aligned data, LazyVGrid for scrollable collections

• taste-button

  - Use button styles that match the action's importance

• taste-textfield

  - Configure text input with the right keyboard and content type

• taste-alerts

  - Use alerts only for critical, blocking information

• taste-action-sheets

  - Use confirmation dialogs for contextual multi-choice actions

6. Navigation as Conversation (HIGH)

Edson: "Design is a conversation between the product and the person." Kocienda: demos as conversations about whether the interface speaks clearly.

• converse-navigationstack

  - Use NavigationStack for programmatic, type-safe navigation

• converse-tabview

  - Organize app sections with TabView for parallel navigation

• converse-sheet-item

  - Use item binding for data-driven sheet presentation

• converse-dismiss

  - Use environment dismiss for modal closure

• converse-toolbar

  - Place toolbar items in the correct semantic positions

• converse-tab-bar

  - Use tab bar for top-level section navigation

• converse-nav-bar

  - Configure navigation bar to communicate context

• converse-hierarchy

  - Design clear navigation hierarchy before writing code

• converse-search

  - Integrate search with the searchable modifier

7. Design Out Loud: Layout (HIGH)

Edson: "Design Out Loud — prototype relentlessly until layout feels inevitable." Kocienda: the intersection of technology and liberal arts.

• layout-stacks

  - Use stacks instead of manual positioning

• layout-spacer

  - Use Spacer for flexible space distribution

• layout-frame-sizing

  - Use frame() for explicit size constraints

• layout-zstack

  - Use ZStack for purposeful layered composition

• layout-grid

  - Use Grid for aligned non-scrolling tabular content

• layout-lazy-grids

  - Use LazyVGrid for scrollable multi-column layouts

• layout-adaptive

  - Use adaptive layouts for different size classes

• layout-scroll-indicators

  - Show scroll indicators for long scrollable content

8. The Product Speaks (MEDIUM)

Edson: "The product itself is the marketing." Kocienda: every animation and loading state built to survive Steve Jobs' scrutiny.

• product-transitions

  - Use semantic transitions for appearing views

• product-loading-states

  - Show honest loading states, not indefinite spinners

• product-with-animation

  - Use withAnimation for explicit state-driven animation

• product-matched-geometry

  - Use matchedGeometryEffect for contextual origin transitions

• product-list-cells

  - Design list cells with standard layouts

• product-content-unavailable

  - Use ContentUnavailableView for empty and error states

• product-segmented

  - Use segmented controls for visible, mutually exclusive options

• product-menus

  - Use menus for secondary actions without cluttering the interface

How to Use

Read individual reference files for detailed explanations and code examples:

• Section definitions - Category structure, principle sources, and impact levels
• Rule template - Template for adding new rules

Reference Files