At WWDC25 we launched a new type of Lab event for the developer community - Group Labs. A Group Lab is a panel Q&A designed for a large audience of developers. Group Labs are a unique opportunity for the community to submit questions directly to a panel of Apple engineers and designers. Here are the highlights from the WWDC25 Group Lab for Design. Can you expand on how Liquid Glass helps with navigation and focus in the UI? Liquid Glass clarifies the navigation layer by introducing a single, floating pane that acts as the primary navigation area. Buttons within this pane seamlessly morph as you move between sections, and controls can temporarily lift into the glass surface. While avoiding excessive use of glass (like layering glass on glass), this approach simplifies navigation and strengthens the connection between menus, alerts, and the elements that trigger them. What should I do with customized bars that I might have in my app? Reconsider the content and behavior of customized bars. Evaluate whether you need all the buttons and whether a menu might be a better solution. Instead of relying on background colors or styling, express hierarchy through layout and grouping. This is a good opportunity to adopt the new design language and simplify your interface. What are scroll edge effects, and what options do we have for them? Scroll edge effects enhance legibility in controls by lifting interactive elements and separating them from the background. There are two types: a soft edge effect (a subtle blur) and a hard edge effect (a more defined boundary for high-legibility areas like column sorting). Scroll edge effects are designed to work seamlessly with Liquid Glass, allowing content to feel expansive while ensuring controls and titles remain legible. How can we ensure or improve accessibility using Liquid Glass? Legibility is a priority, and refinements are ongoing throughout the betas. Liquid Glass adapts well to accessibility settings like Reduce Transparency, Increase Contrast, and Reduce Motion. There are two variants of glass: regular glass, designed to be legible by default, and clear glass, used in places like AVKit, which requires more care to ensure legibility. Use color contrast tools to ensure contrast ratios are met. The Human Interface Guidelines (HIG) are a living document offering best practices. The colors and materials pages are key resources. Do you have any recommendations for convincing designers concerned with consistency across Android and Web to use Liquid Glass? Start small and focus on high-utility controls that don't significantly impact brand experience. Native controls offer familiarity and predictability to users. Using the native controls makes sure your app feels at home on the device. Using native frameworks provides built-in accessibility support (dynamic type, reduce transparency, increase contrast). Native controls come with built-in behaviors and interactions. Can ScrollViews include Liquid Glass within them? You can technically put a glass layer inside a scroll view, but it can feel heavy and doesn't align with the system's intention for Liquid Glass to serve as a fixed layer. Think of the content layer as the scrolling layer, and the navigational layer as the one using Liquid Glass. If there is glass on the content layer it will collide into the navigational layer. What core design philosophy guided the direction of iOS 26, beyond the goal of unification? The core design philosophy involved blurring the line between hardware and software, separating UI and navigation elements from content, making apps adaptable across window sizes, and combining playfulness with sophistication. It was about making the UI feel at home on rounded screens. Can we layer Liquid Glass elements on top of each other? Avoid layering Liquid Glass elements directly on top of each other, as it creates unnecessary visual complexity. The system will automatically convert nested glass elements to a vibrant fill style. Use vibrant fills and labels to show control shapes and ensure legibility. Opaque grays should be avoided in favor of vibrant colors, which will multiply with the backgrounds correctly. What will happen to apps that use custom components? Should they be adapted to the new design within the next year? The more native components you use, the more things happen for free. Standard components will be upgraded automatically. Look out for any customizations that might clash. Think about what is the minimum viable change, where your app still feels and looks very similar to what it did. Prioritize changes in core workflows and navigational areas. There are a number of benefits to using native components including user familiarity, built-in accessibility support, and built-in behaviors and interactions. Will Apple be releasing Figma design templates? Sketch kits were published on Monday and can be referenced. The goal is to ensure the resources are well-organized, well-named, and easy to use. It's a high priority.

Hello! I am developing an ebook reader iOS app that uses c/c++ codec as a page renderer. The codec uses TrueType as a font rendering engine that requires access to .ttf (or .ttc) files. Currently, I supply TrueType with fonts embedded in the app package, so they lay within the app sandbox. The codec supports the whole unicode plane and many languages that ebooks may use, but the fonts I supply don't have some of the important glyphs (i.e. katakana or hangul). I see that iOS has its own font storage, located in /System/Library/Fonts/ directory. The codec is able to parse this directory and read .ttf files located inside, using these fonts as a fallback in the case when the supplied fonts can't draw certain glyphs. I use opendir and fopen(in "rb" mode) as a way to read the data, and it works well. Does this type of access to the system directory violate the sandbox rule for an app distribution, and, if yes, is there a way to get access to stored .ttf files not violating the mentioned rule?

Hi, I've been trying for an hour to turn the symbols in sf symbols from left to right to right to left, I'd appreciate some help

My app lets users create things with text, and I've included Apple fonts so users can format their text with them. These were fonts I found in the Font Book app that comes with macOS. My assumption is that these, like the San Francisco font, can be distributed with apps. Do I need to attribute these fonts to their creators and publish a license in my "About" page? If so, where do I find the license(s) and what is the proper way of publishing them? Is there anything else I should know? Please let me know if this should've been posted under a different topic and tag

This is a follow-up to my previous question: How to attribute/credit Apple Fonts added to app? In that previous post, I misremembered what I did and said I found fonts via macOS' FontBooks, when instead I came acrossUIFont.familyNames. Since these are included via UIKit, the legal implications should be different. I looked at various license agreements that govern iOS app development but haven't found anything mentioning fonts. Since these are included as part of UIKit, its reasonable to assume that developers are allowed to include these fonts--but in what ways? Am I allowed to let users create, say, documents with these fonts? Am I only allowed to display these fonts? There are 84 fonts, and judging by their FontBook entries, there is a wide range of licenses and restrictions. It seems unnecessarily harsh to have every iOS developer verify each one and figure out which they can legally keep if they want to offer their users access to all (for, say, a text-editing app). There must be some overarching rule that supersedes/encapsulates them, but this rule isn't clear to me after hours of research. I'm not a lawyer, and I don't think Apple expects every app developer to consult their lawyers on whether they can use system fonts. I'm about to send an email to Apple's legal team (I will post their response here if allowed), but in the meantime I want to hear what other devs think about this. In Xcode, entering UIFont.familyNames returns the following: ["Academy Engraved LET", "Al Nile", "American Typewriter", "Apple Color Emoji", "Apple SD Gothic Neo", "Apple Symbols", "Arial", "Arial Hebrew", "Arial Rounded MT Bold", "Avenir", "Avenir Next", "Avenir Next Condensed", "Baskerville", "Bodoni 72", "Bodoni 72 Oldstyle", "Bodoni 72 Smallcaps", "Bodoni Ornaments", "Bradley Hand", "Chalkboard SE", "Chalkduster", "Charter", "Cochin", "Copperplate", "Courier New", "Damascus", "Devanagari Sangam MN", "Didot", "DIN Alternate", "DIN Condensed", "Euphemia UCAS", "Farah", "Futura", "Galvji", "Geeza Pro", "Georgia", "Gill Sans", "Grantha Sangam MN", "Helvetica", "Helvetica Neue", "Hiragino Maru Gothic ProN", "Hiragino Mincho ProN", "Hiragino Sans", "Hoefler Text", "Impact", "Kailasa", "Kefa", "Khmer Sangam MN", "Kohinoor Bangla", "Kohinoor Devanagari", "Kohinoor Gujarati", "Kohinoor Telugu", "Lao Sangam MN", "Malayalam Sangam MN", "Marker Felt", "Menlo", "Mishafi", "Mukta Mahee", "Myanmar Sangam MN", "Noteworthy", "Noto Nastaliq Urdu", "Noto Sans Kannada", "Noto Sans Myanmar", "Noto Sans Oriya", "Optima", "Palatino", "Papyrus", "Party LET", "PingFang HK", "PingFang SC", "PingFang TC", "Rockwell", "Savoye LET", "Sinhala Sangam MN", "Snell Roundhand", "STIX Two Math", "STIX Two Text", "Symbol", "Tamil Sangam MN", "Thonburi", "Times New Roman", "Trebuchet MS", "Verdana", "Zapf Dingbats", "Zapfino"]

Hello, I noticed a small mistake in the Human Interface Guidelines (HIG). On the page HIG > Components > System Experiences > Widget > watchOS Widget Dimensions, scroll down to the bottom. In the "watchOS widget dimensions" section, the sizes in the table are in pixels (px), not points (pt) actually. However, the table header indicates the sizes should be in points (pt). Page link: https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guidelines/widgets#watchOS-widget-dimensions For example, the widget size in the Smart Stack on a 49mm watch should be 192x81.5 pt (or 382x163 px), not 382x163 pt. This size can be verified with the information provided here: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/watchos-apps/supporting-multiple-watch-sizes/. https://developer.apple.com/documentation/watchkit/wkinterfacedevice/1620974-screenscale

Video Playback on iOS 18 public release is asinine. I use video playback to show slow-motion video frame by frame to my students and the video can only be shown at like 3/5 of the screen size (just like Apple fouled up screenshot editing about a year ago) If you try to view video in the full screen you can’t scrub through and see time stamps or play frame by frame sliding left to right. It’s absolutely ridiculous. 2 out of 3x the video timeline finishes fully right and I haven’t watched the full clip. Here’s a video showing the issue how at the small default size I can see the entire timeline and play the full video from beginning to end, but when I go to full screen and/or zoom in or move the screen around the timeline doesn’t work and you can’t scroll through the full video! Need the video to not condense in size on the screen and play the full height / width of the screen. Also not have the text of the location showing above the screen. Way too much clutter. The reduced size of the video for editing issue started with photos several updates ago and now Apple idiotically brought a terrible flaw from photos to videos as well. Ugh.

Hi, I have two SwiftData models that are not working as intended. I'm able to add data to the models, but sometimes after refreshing the app data is missing. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

I like this font. but in license only allowed for use in Mockup UI. Feel free to use in commercial? https://mobbin.com/apps/bloom-ios-e1251835-34e6-426e-9f94-f9595f2567fa/1c919e9a-d144-4aa0-b788-f9752111e281/screens

What type of licensing does it apply for the usage of FONT_FAMILY='System' in Apple/iOS app?

I have come quite far with my first app and have various picker lists working well. However, I am stuck thinking through how to do this next picker. My data model has Golf Course name and Tee. For each golf course there are multiple Tees and not all the same across the Courses. Example of Data CourseA RedTee CourseA GreenTee CourseA BlueTee CouseB RedTee CourseB YellowTee CourseB WhiteTee I first give the client the ability to Pick a Course from a picker list. That works fine. Now I want to create a Picker list of Tees but only for that selected Course. So if the client selected CourseB they would be presented with these Tees to select from RedTee YellowTee WhiteTee How do I limit the second picker to only show the Tees for the selected Course? Then in an associated question, once i have the Course and the Tee, I want to Auto fill the rest of a form with Slope, Rating and Yardage. @Model class ScorecardData { var scorecardcourseName: String var scorecardTee: String var scorecardSlope: Double var scorecardRating: Double var scorecardYardage: Int Here is my code for the Course Picker List Picker("", selection: $selectedCourse) { Text("Select a Course").tag(" ") ForEach(courses, id: \.self) { course in Text(course.courseName) .tag(course.courseName) } } .onChange(of: selectedCourse) { if(selectedCourse != nil) { roundsdata.roundscourseName = selectedCourse! } } Here is my current Picker list but its pulling all Tees for all Courses Picker("", selection: $selectedTee) { Text("Select Tee").tag(" ") ForEach (tees, id: \.self) { tee in Text(tee.scorecardTee) .tag(tee.scorecardTee) } } .onChange(of: selectedTee) { if(selectedTee != nil) { roundsdata.roundsTee = selectedTee! } } My @State and @Query statements are as follows in case there is a change there that is needed as well, @State private var selectedTee: String? = "Select Tee" @Query(sort: \ScorecardData.scorecardcourseName) private var tees: [ScorecardData] @State private var selectedCourse: String? = "Select Course" @Query(sort: \CourseData.courseName) private var courses: [CourseData]

I am using Xcode 15.1, I used to be able to set the amount of columns for the stickers which is between 2 and 3, right now it is always showing 3 and it makes everything look small. Is there a way to set it to 2 columns? my stickers width and hight is 618x618px. Thanks Yenty

support destinations have no Apple Watch, I tried delete the watch App target and recreate watch App for Existing app, but if is unuseful

I recently got feedback for my app under Guideline 4.2 - Design - Minimum Functionality, and I’m a bit confused. Apple mentioned that the app isn’t “app-like” enough and doesn’t provide sufficient entertainment value or utility. However, I genuinely think my app is unique compared to others on the market. Most similar apps only offer basic features like scorekeeping and saving the game. My app goes beyond that by tracking detailed statistics based on the types of scores achieved during the game. At the end, there’s even a Player Ratings section, which enhances competition and makes the experience more fun for players. Additionally, in today’s gaming scene, many groups play the traditional 101 game with a reward and penalty system. My app uniquely incorporates a reward system, something no other app in the market currently offers. I believe my app has the potential to stand out and meet the needs of a wide audience. Has anyone faced similar feedback? Or does anyone have suggestions on how I could better address this issue? Thanks in advance! 😊

For a school Project im making a iOS app that displays vending machines on a Map. My problem is that there is this huge navigation bar on top of the screen without even having a navigation view anywhere in the code. In the preview the bar is not shown, but when I upload the app to my phone or run it in the simulator the bar is there.

Pleeease for the love of any and all things holy, I would really be eternally grateful if Apple decided to release an update that allows users to return to the old the photos app. Phones and technology are already overstimulating, and by making the photos app one continuous page it is emulating a social media app. The continuous page makes it much more overwhelming and confusing to find photos. Change and innovation is great! There are some changes that I enjoy from the ios 18 update, such as the little text enhancers that can emphasize certain words. However, the photos app was fine the way it was. If anything, Apple should allow the PAYING customers to choose how they would like their photos app (keeping the customizable option). also my battery which is normally super great is suddenly not as efficient…reminiscent of past devices I’ve had from Apple.

Hi all, Very new to this. Just getting into swift data, and am frustrated with the canvas not working with modelContainers in SwiftData. My understanding is that they work if inMemory = true, but not in the default case where data is persistent after an app is quit. Can anyone tell me if it is possible to conditionally create the modelContainer type based on a flag... If Bool:Canvas then inMemory = True, Else False... Then using this flag for all data models so my list views populate on the canvas, without having to run the simulator each time... I would assume you could also pre-populate the inMemory option if it is empty also... Or is there a simple and obvious solution that I am oblivious to. If it is possible, is it worth the time, hassle, and any possible issues?

Just updated to newest beta of 18.2. The update corrects several major email issues but now I am only able to pull sone of my emails when I open mail. after opening my mail on the 18.2 iPhone 15 pro max I am ablevto pull only 1 message from Xfinity. When I check on my pc using outlook 2016 I am able to pull 18 additional messages. Going back to my iPhone after a half hour the additional mail messages still do not show up even after doing a hard reset of the phone. apologies, but these mail issues need to be resolved. It is bothersome that ios 18 was even released to the public at all with these type of issues.

There is a display issue when browsing wireless networks in the dropdown menu. In iOS version 18.1.1, the Wi-Fi switch is in the closed state; Step 1: Open the notification dropdown, and the first image bug appears; It will take some time for it to display [normally.]

Good evening. I have come up with this amazing and revolutionary idea that is going to change the ent world for the better. I’m a 23 year old Design Engineer from Greece and I would like to come to direct contact with the Apple Design Team, in order to discuss this project and the best case scenario, sell it to you. The foldable iPhone is not a good idea. Its not revolutionary and it’s going to leave a big black mark in Apple history. With my idea, the whole world will see again the greatness of the biggest company in history.

Forgot to turn off the ui element status bar. visual garbage. is it not important? your opinion https://developer.apple.com/hello/december24/?cid=ht-hello