The fullscreen presentation style covers the entire screen. The previous view is completely covered, minimizing visual distraction. People dismiss a full-screen modal view by tapping a button.

Use a full-screen modal view for immersive content — such as videos, photos, or camera views — or a complex task that benefits from a full-screen presentation, such as marking up a document or editing a photo.

Use modality when it makes sense. Create a modal experience only when it’s critical to focus people’s attention on making a choice or performing a task that’s different from their current task. A modal experience takes people out of their current context and requires an action to dismiss, so it’s essential to use it only when it provides a clear benefit.

Reserve alerts for delivering essential — and ideally actionable — information. Typically, an alert appears because something has gone wrong. Because an alert interrupts the experience and requires a tap to dismiss, it’s important for people to feel that the intrusion is warranted. For guidance, see Alerts.

Keep modal tasks simple, short, and narrowly focused. Avoid creating an app within your app. If a modal task is too complex, people can lose sight of the task they suspended when they entered the modal context. Be especially wary of creating modal tasks that involve a hierarchy of views because people can get lost and forget how to retrace their steps. If a modal task must contain subviews, provide a single path through the hierarchy and a clear path to completion. Avoid using a Done button for anything other than completing the task.

Always include a button that dismisses the modal view. For example, you might use Done or Cancel. Including a button ensures that the modal view is accessible to assistive technologies and provides an alternative to dismissal gestures.

When necessary, help people avoid data loss by getting confirmation before closing a modal view. Regardless of whether people use a dismiss gesture or a button to close the view, if the action could result in the loss of user-generated content, present an action sheet that explains the situation and gives people ways to resolve it.

Don’t display a card that appears on top of a popover. Although you can display a card within a popover, nothing should appear on top of a popover (except possibly an alert). In rare cases when you need to present a card after people take an action in a popover, close the popover before displaying the card.

In general, display a title that identifies the modal task. When people enter a modal task, they switch away from their previous context, so it’s a good idea to make the new context clear. You might also provide text in other parts of the view that more fully describes the task or provides guidance.

Coordinate the modal view appearance with your app. For example, when a modal view includes a navigation bar, it should use the same appearance as the navigation bar in your app.

Choose a modal transition style that makes sense in your app. Use a transition style that coordinates with your app and enhances the awareness of the temporary context shift. The default transition vertically slides the modal view up from the bottom of the screen and back down when it’s dismissed. Use consistent modal transition styles throughout your app.

Fullscreen

Alerts in iOS deliver essential and actionable information to users. They typically appear to request confirmation for a critical action, or to notify the user of an issue that must be addressed before proceeding.

iOS Alerts

In iOS, the sheet presentation style appears as a card that partially covers the underlying content and dims all uncovered areas to prevent interaction with them. The top edge of the parent view or a previous card is visible behind the current card to help people remember the task they suspended when they opened the card.

People dismiss a sheet by:
- Swiping down from the top of the screen
- Swiping down from anywhere on the screen when card content is scrolled to the top
- Tapping a button

Use a sheet for nonimmersive modal content that doesn’t enable a complex task.

iOS Sheet Presentation Style

Modality is a design technique that presents content in a temporary mode separate from the user's current context and requires an explicit action to exit.

Modality helps users focus on a self-contained task or set of closely related options, and ensures they receive and act on critical information.

In iOS, modal content is provided through Alerts, Activity Views (or Share sheets), and Action Sheets. iOS supports specific presentation styles for custom modal content, such as sheets and full-screen views.

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App Architecture

When content is loading, a blank or static screen can make it seem like your app is frozen, resulting in confusion and frustration, and potentially causing people to leave your app.

Make it clear when loading is occurring. At minimum, show an activity spinner that communicates something is happening. Even better, display explicit progress so people can gauge how long they’ll be waiting.

Show content as soon as possible. Don’t make people wait for content to load before seeing the screen they're expecting. Show the screen immediately, and use placeholder text, graphics, or animations to identify where content isn't available yet. Replace these placeholder elements as the content loads. Whenever possible, preload upcoming content in the background, such as while an animation is playing or the user is navigating a level or menu.

Educate or entertain people to mask loading time. Consider showing hints about gameplay, entertaining video sequences, or interesting placeholder graphics.

Customize loading screens. Although standard progress indicators are usually OK, they can sometimes feel out of context. Consider designing a more immersive experience through custom animations and elements that match the style of your app or game.

Loading

Hierarchical Navigation
Make one choice per screen until you reach a destination. To go to another destination, you must retrace your steps or start over from the beginning and make different choices. Settings and Mail use this navigation style.

Flat Navigation
Switch between multiple content categories. Music and App Store use this navigation style.

Content-Driven or Experience-Driven Navigation
Move freely through content, or the content itself defines the navigation. Games, books, and other immersive apps generally use this navigation style.

Some apps combine multiple navigation styles. For example, an app that uses flat navigation may implement hierarchical navigation within each category.

Navigation

The launch experience of an iOS application should be fast and seamless to positively impact user perception. Key guidelines for a delightful launch include providing a responsive launch screen, launching in the appropriate device orientation, and avoiding upfront requests for setup information so the app can function immediately.

iOS App Launch Experience

To build user trust and ensure a seamless experience, iOS apps should follow key guidelines when requesting permissions:

* **Contextual Requests:** Ask for personal data only when a feature clearly needs it, rather than upfront.
* **Explain the Purpose:** Provide a clear, short, and polite custom purpose string (usage description) within the system alert to explain why the data is needed, using sentence case and avoiding repeating the app name.
* **Launch-time Requests:** Only request permissions at launch if the app cannot function without them.
* **Check System Settings First:** Check if services (like Location Services) are enabled globally before triggering permission prompts to avoid unnecessary alerts.
* **Use Standard Alerts:** Always use system-provided alerts rather than custom prompts that mimic them.

iOS App Permission Request Guidelines

iOS App Modality

Onboarding in iOS applications should welcome users and help them get the most out of the app. To design an effective onboarding experience, developers should:

* **Get to the action quickly:** Allow users to skip tutorials and avoid showing them to returning users.
* **Avoid setup details:** Exclude licensing, configuration, or setup details from the onboarding flow.
* **Anticipate help needs:** Look for moments where users might get stuck, and allow them to replay tutorials.
* **Encourage interactive learning:** Use animations and interactivity to teach gradually and in context rather than using static screenshots or text instructions.
* **Prioritize intuitive design:** Keep tutorials minimal, as education should not substitute for intuitive app design.

iOS App Onboarding Guidelines

To design a seamless user experience, iOS apps should minimize the need for configuration settings by prioritizing defaults and querying system information. Key guidelines include:

* **Minimize Settings:** Design the app to work well out-of-the-box, inferring user environment or location from the system rather than requesting manual entry.
* **Prioritize Options:** Place essential, frequently changed options on the main screen, and secondary options on secondary screens. Expose rarely changed options in the system Settings app.
* **Facilitate Access:** Keep configuration direct and convenient within the app when possible. If users must go to the system Settings app, provide a direct shortcut.

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