Explore the art and science of app design. Discuss user interface (UI) design principles, user experience (UX) best practices, and share design resources and inspiration.

Learn about designing great app and game experiences

Posts under General subtopic

Post

Replies

Boosts

Views

Activity

Layer to SVG script
In the video ”Create Icons with Icon Composer”, the presenter mentions that Apple has created a layer-to-SVG script for Illustrator that‘s available for download: Once the artwork is in a good place, next we want to export the layers as SVGs. For every tool, this can look a bit different. For those using Illustrator, we've created a layer to SVG script that will automate this for you, which you can download. Exporting out the canvas size ensures everything drops right into position in Icon Composer. Here‘s the link to the mention: https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2025/361/?time=377 I can’t find any place to get this script, and my designer is very interested in using it to import our Illustrator icon into Icon Composer. Can someone point me to it?
Topic: Design SubTopic: General
1
3
1.3k
Nov ’25
How to create a custom SF Symbol using Affinity Designer
When I first tried to create a custom SF Symbol using Affinity Designer, I encountered difficulties because of two problems which have cumulated: SVG files created by Affinity Designer cannot be directly imported into the SF Symbols app because Affinity Designer totally recreates the content of tag <g id="Notes">, making so the file incompatible for later import into the SF Symbols app. So I had to manually fix that tag via a text editor in order to make the file compatible with the SF Symbols app. Because I was so focused on fixing manually the SVG file, I did not see that the actual content of my SVG file did not follow all Apple recommendations. As a consequence, I have posted this question on the forum: Struggling creating a custom SF Symbol: The provided variants are not interpolatable Finally I have found a way to create an SVG file compatible with SF Symbols using Affinity Designer, meeting the Apple recommendations, and at last perfectly suitable for further use in Xcode. You will find the solution in my reply to this post below which is actually a quasi copy/paste of my final own reply to my original post. Marc
Topic: Design SubTopic: General Tags:
1
0
196
Jun ’25
Always use new animation in Stage Manager, why not?
The brand new animation in Stage Manager greatly reduced dizziness. However, don’t know why it ONLY applies when no window was presented. What would be the problem elsewhere? Stage Manager is one of pretty few motion pictures that annoyed me and forced me to turn on Reduce Motion, or stop using Stage Manager. Big pity… macOS 26.0 (25A5346a) wont use ipad to post…
Topic: Design SubTopic: General
1
0
704
Sep ’25
Set the ui resources for the face id page
I am developing an app that requires calling the iPhone's Face ID module to scan users' facial data. Where can I find Apple's design resources and guidelines for Face ID? The Face ID resources available in Figma are incomplete, and I need more support. For example, in the iPhone settings, the scenario: the UI interface for scanning the user's face to collect data, specifically the circular design in the "How to Set Up Face ID" screen.
1
0
612
Mar ’25
New to macOS Development. How Do I Build a Timeline Editor UI Like Logic Pro?
Hi everyone, I’m new to macOS development and working on an app idea that needs a timeline-based editor interface, similar to what you see in Logic Pro or Final Cut. The UI I want to build would have: A horizontal beat ruler that follows BPM and shows beat positions Several vertical tracks stacked below it (for things like events or markers) Horizontal zooming and scrolling A preview panel on the right side that stays in sync with the timeline I’m currently trying this in SwiftUI, but I’m running into some limitations and wondering if AppKit would be a better fit, or maybe a hybrid of the two. My questions: Where should I start when building something like this? What’s the best way to make the beat ruler and all track layers scroll together? How should I handle zooming in/out and syncing the display to a BPM timeline? Is there a clean way to integrate AppKit for the timeline view while keeping SwiftUI elsewhere?
1
0
149
Jun ’25
Stacked-sheets vs. nav-stack-in-a-sheet for navigation hierarchies on top of a map
I couldn't help noticing that the Maps and Find My apps make extensive use of "sheets stacked on top of each other" to represent its navigation hierarchy, with a "new content comes in from the bottom" orientation instead of a navigation stack with "new content comes in from the right side" oriented transitions. I'm interested in this topic because I have a similar navigation-hierarchy-over-a-map case in my app (with a custom map view though) and I'm torn back and forth between the approach of replicating the "stacked sheets" vs. putting a navigation stack in a sheet, esp. with the navstack approach being way more attainable with the iOS 26 glass design. I couldn't find any guidance for this kind of UI in the Human Interface Guidelines; I'm leaning towards the navstack-approach for my app; but in terms of the behavior of the SwiftUI container views in this scenario it seems a little bit of an uphill path. Any thoughts on what pattern should be preferred for presenting a deep navigational hierarchy on top of a map-like view?
Topic: Design SubTopic: General
1
0
310
Jul ’25
Liquid Glass App Icons without Icon Composer
We have found that on iOS 26 beta some of our app icons built from an Xcode 16 asset catalog containing a single 1024x1024 .png file have a Liquid Glass effect applied to them while others have not. The documentation states that If you choose not to use Icon Composer, you can still use an AppIcon asset catalog in your project containing individual app icon images and let the system apply the Liquid Glass material. and If you prefer, you can take advantage of the system’s automatically generated treatment that is applied to all app icons. Is there any insight into how the system treats app icons that have not yet been updated with Icon Composer?
1
1
2.3k
Nov ’25
Keyboard dismissed when switching apps
Scenario is when keyboard is opened within the app being developed then switch to other app, for instance, Notes app and create a note to enable keyboard from there. While the Notes app keyboard is active switch back to the developed app the keyboard in it is dismissed. Any thoughts?Thanks
1
0
103
Apr ’25
Using macOS-Sequoia-Production-Templates-Sketch
Hi, I was trying to use macOS-Sequoia-Production-Templates in Sketch format and when I try to export png icon file of the document template, it always includes grey nontransparent background which I am unable to delete. In contrast, exporting png app icon file from another template has transparent background and exports well. Is it something wrong with the document icon production template? How can I export document png icon file with transparent background?? Thanks
Topic: Design SubTopic: General
1
0
145
May ’25
Suggestions on macOS and iPad app structure
Building an app to edit the various parameters of digital musical instruments. A typical user would have perhaps max 6 instruments, out of the hundreds of possibilities. Would like to structure the app with a global window, menu, etc which would be a free download. The user could download editor inserts for their particular set of instruments and ignore all of the others. The downloaded editors would show as options in a menu. It seem like more than a widget but less than a library. Building a monolithic app containing all possible editors doesn't seem like an option, but separate full-app editors for each piece of gear doesn't sound right either. Any suggestions out there? Thanks very much Brian
0
0
126
May ’25
glassEffect() in SwiftUI always renders as white – even with latest Beta 2 on macOS 15
Hi everyone, I’m having trouble getting the new glassEffect() modifier to render correctly in SwiftUI. No matter what I try, it just appears as a solid white background (instead of translucent glass). This happens both in Beta 1 and Beta 2. My setup: • Mac mini (M4 chip) • macOS 15 Beta 2 (Tahoe) • Xcode 16 Beta 2 • Samsung Odyssey G9 57” monitor (super ultrawide) • Using Preview in SwiftUI (not the Simulator) Even when I use Apple’s default demo code like: Text("Hello World") .padding() .glassEffect()
Topic: Design SubTopic: General
0
0
133
Jun ’25
What is the best way to design a UITabBarController (or Sidebar) combined with a UISplitViewController on iPadOS 18 and later, while avoiding memory management issues?
I'm developing an iPadOS 18+ application that uses a UITabBarController, styled as a sidebar, to serve as the primary navigation interface. This setup includes 20 different tabs, each representing a distinct section of the app. For the user experience, each tab needs to present a master-detail interface, implemented using a UISplitViewController. The goal is to allow users to navigate between tabs via the sidebar, and within each tab, access related content through the split view's list-detail pattern. The Problem: Currently, my implementation involves instantiating a separate UISplitViewController for each tab, resulting in 20 unique split view instances embedded inside the UITabBarController. While this works functionally, it leads to significant memory usage, especially after the user opens each tab at least once. The accumulation of all these instantiated view controllers in memory eventually causes performance degradation or even memory warnings/crashes on lower-end iPads. The Question: What is the best approach to implement this type of architecture without running into memory management issues? Specifically: Is there a way to reuse or lazily load the UISplitViewController instances only when needed? Can we unload or release split view controllers that haven't been used for a while to reduce memory pressure? Would a custom container controller be more appropriate than using UITabBarController in this case? Are there iPadOS 18+ best practices or newer APIs that support this kind of complex multi-tab, multi-split-view structure efficiently? Any advice on how to optimize memory usage while preserving the sidebar navigation and split view layout would be highly appreciated.
0
0
200
May ’25
iOS 26 UIBarButtonItem badge
I'm using the new badge feature for UIBarButtonItem, but it's not working properly for me when transitioning between view controllers. I have two view controller with various right bar button items. In the first view controller the first button (the one with the bell) has a badge with a numeric count. The second view controller has the same button but in the third position. When I push the second view controller, it seems that the badge maintains also the old position, so I see two buttons with badges instead of one. What can I do to fix this?
Topic: Design SubTopic: General Tags:
0
1
767
Sep ’25
HotKey support for sandboxed apps
App design: macos, Xcode 16.4, Sequioa 15.5, it is sandboxed Uses: Pods->HotKey for a global hotkey which xcode says "binary compatibility can't be guaranteed" This app is on the Apple Store and supposedly apps on the Apple Store can't use global hotkeys. Someone internally, installed it from the store and the global hotkey works just fine. I'm concerned for two potential problems; I need to find a hotkey library or code that is known to work with a sandbox'd Apple Store app. Why is it working now when everything I have read says it shouldn't.
0
0
155
Jun ’25
.Net MAUI (Windows & Mac)
What is the step-by-step process to run an iOS application paired with the Mac in my MAUI project? I am using Windows with Visual Studio 2022 V17.13.5. Application: Multiplatform; Language: C#; Framework: MAUI 8; Xcode: 16.2; Objective: Identify and fix the issue to allow the application to run correctly.
Topic: Design SubTopic: General
0
0
200
May ’25
New IOS APP Help
Hello, I am looking to develop a relationship with a developer that has experience running through the IOS build approval process. To elaborate, my team and I have designed and built a software application which is working through the Apple Developer review process to have the app approved and released to the App Store. Unfortunately, there has been some challenges, simple challenges in my eyes with our interface preventing Apple from approving our application. Happy to elaborate further. A primary problem and solution I have seen is the software build was testing solely on the iPhone but as recently directed it seem the application must be accessible on iPad as well. With this the case, I have experience some software platforms where on the ipad the interface is not displayed on the whole screen. I am looking for direction on how to implement this setup for the 1st IOS build. Another concern from Apples Developer Review team is the App Tracking Transparency kit may need to be implemented.
0
0
823
Sep ’25