Apple Design Patterns

Apple Experience Patterns

Apply the skill

Describe the task from entry to completion, including interruptions and recovery. Read only the patterns implicated in the task. Preserve existing data and navigation context when moving between states.

Prefer immediate usefulness, progressive disclosure, and contextual assistance. Decide which work can happen without blocking the interface and which user decision is genuinely needed. Make errors actionable where they occur and keep retry or cancellation consequences understandable.

For a flow deliverable, show meaningful transitions and state-specific content. For a review, follow the entire path instead of evaluating isolated screenshots. Avoid expanding a narrow UI request into account, permission, or monetization changes unless those are part of the requested experience.

Topic references

Select the topic that matches the design decision; do not load this entire list by default.

• [Onboarding](references/onboarding.md)
• [Launching](references/launching.md)
• [Loading](references/loading.md)
• [Entering data](references/entering-data.md)
• [Feedback](references/feedback.md)
• [Undo and redo](references/undo-and-redo.md)
• [Collaboration and sharing](references/collaboration-and-sharing.md)
• [Drag and drop](references/drag-and-drop.md)
• [File management](references/file-management.md)
• [Multitasking](references/multitasking.md)
• [Going full screen](references/going-full-screen.md)
• [Offering help](references/offering-help.md)
• [Settings](references/settings.md)
• [Printing](references/printing.md)
• [Ratings and reviews](references/ratings-and-reviews.md)

Source use

These references are original operational summaries of Apple’s public HIG, checked on 2026-09-08. They are guidance for design decisions, not a reproduced manual or a guarantee of App Store acceptance.

Read only the topic references relevant to the current task. Each links to the full official page. Consult that page for exact specifications, platform exceptions, assets, and version-sensitive behavior; use current official developer documentation for APIs and availability. If live documentation is unavailable, state the snapshot date and identify assumptions instead of inventing current requirements.

The user’s product goals, selected framework, and authorized scope remain controlling. Distinguish a source recommendation from a hard platform requirement and from your own proposed implementation.

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: CarlosZiegler
• Source: CarlosZiegler/apple-hig-skills
• License: MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.