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A Summary of the WWDC25 Group Lab - Design
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.
Topic: Design SubTopic: General
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1.5k
Jun ’25
Novice SwiftUI developer can't make network call
I'm trying to use URL structure in the foundation framework and it is failing to build, returning a nil value. Could it be trying to evaluate the string I am giving it as a variable for its argument at build time? Is there a test argument I can give URL to see if it can return a non-nil value? (of URL type)?
Topic: Design SubTopic: General
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1.6k
Sep ’25
@State variable returns empty despite being set in .onAppear function
With the code below, JSON data is parsed and is stored in the variable data in the .onAppear function, however an empty set of data is passed to the Content view. How can that be fixed so that the JSON data passes to the DataView? struct ContentView: View { @State var data: [Data] @State var index: Int = 0 var body: some View { VStack { DataView(data: data[index]) } .onAppear { let filePath = Bundle.main.path(forResource: "data", ofType: "json") let url = URL(fileURLWithPath: filePath!) data = getData(url: url) } } func getData(url: URL) -> [Data] { do { let data = try Data(contentsOf: url) let jsonDecoded = try JSONDecoder().decode([Data].self, from: data) return jsonDecoded } catch let error as NSError { print("Fail: \(error.localizedDescription)") } catch { print("Fail: \(error)") } return [] } }
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545
Aug ’25
Testing In-App Purchases
Hi, I have a couple of questions in regards to testing in-app purchases. I tested the subscription on a device but I'm not sure how to reset so I can test again. I didn't see the subscription in device settings or in Debug -> StoreKit -> Manage Subscriptions window. Additionally, I was wondering if there was a way to detect the subscription being made. I implemented this, but I'm not sure if that will work: .onChange(of: Product.SubscriptionInfo.RenewalState.subscribed) { if Product.SubscriptionInfo.RenewalState.subscribed == .subscribed { } }
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370
Jul ’25
ipados 26 and xib
hi, i have an objc ipad application that use xib with zooming for adapt to the screen (until ios18) but with ipad os 26 will be displayed wrong
Topic: Design SubTopic: General
6
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196
Jul ’25
Complex Swift Data Relationships...
I am struggling with exactly how to set up SwiftData relationships, beyond the single relationship model... Let's say I have a school. Each school offers a set of classes. Each class is taught by one teacher and attended by several students. Teachers may teach more than one class, but only at one school. Similarly students may attend more than one class, but only at one school. Classes themselves may be offered at more than one school. Can someone create a class for School, SchoolClass, Teacher, and Student with id, name, and relationships... I have tried it unsuccessfully about 10 different ways at this point. My most recent is below... I am struggling getting beyond a school listing in the app, and I'll cross that bridge next. I am just wondering if all the trouble I am having is because I am not smart with the class definitions. And wondering if this is to complex for SwiftData and CoreData is the requirement. This is not a real app, just my way of really trying to get a handle on Swift Data models and Navigation. I am very new to Swift, and will take any and all suggestions with enthusiasm! Thanks for taking the time. import Foundation import SwiftData @Model class School: Identifiable { var id: UUID = UUID() var name: String var mascot: String var teachers: [Teacher] var schoolClasses: [SchoolClass] init (name: String, mascot: String = "", teachers: [Teacher] = [], schoolClasses: [SchoolClass] = []) { self.name = name self.mascot = mascot self.teachers = teachers } class SchoolClass: Identifiable { var id: UUID = UUID() var name: String var teacher: Teacher? var students: [Student] = [] init (name: String, teacher: Teacher? = nil, students: [Student] = []) { self.name = name self.teacher = teacher self.students = students } } class Teacher: Identifiable { var id: UUID = UUID() var name: String var tenured: Bool var school: School? var students: [Student] = [] init (name: String, tenured: Bool = false, students: [Student] = []) { self.name = name self.tenured = tenured self.students = students } } class Student: Identifiable { var id: UUID = UUID() var name: String var grade: Int? var teacher: Teacher? init (name: String, grade: Int? = nil, teacher: Teacher? = nil) { self.name = name self.grade = grade self.teacher = teacher } } }
Topic: Design SubTopic: General Tags:
6
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772
Jul ’25
Design Spam 4.3
Hello So I have an application which is in the Apple store. I wanted to fixe some issue therefore i created update build with the following: • Reworked Character Physics: Improved responsiveness and movement for smoother, more controlled gameplay. • Bug Fixes & Performance Enhancements: Fixed critical issues affecting gameplay consistency and stability. Players will now experience better performance and more accurate controls. • Mac Catalyst Fixes: Improved support for macOS, fixing issues related to UI scaling and responsiveness. The changes above are basically all there is. Now it seems that i am not able to pass review as it constantly marks design spam and not give anything in particular. Whats up with that ?
Topic: Design SubTopic: General
6
2
874
Feb ’25
.onAppear and .task code not running
Hi, I have the following code, which for some reason is not working as expected. I have an .onAppear and a .task function that isn't running, which I can see isn't running because nothing is printing. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. struct ContentView: View { var body: some View { ZStack { switch view { case .view1: View1() case .view2: View2() case .view3: View3() case .view4: View4() case .view5: View5() default: SubscriptionStoreView(groupID: "") } } .onAppear() { view = .view6 print("test 1") } .task { print("test") await refreshPurchasedProducts() } } func refreshPurchasedProducts() async { // Iterate through the user's purchased products. for await verificationResult in Transaction.currentEntitlements { switch verificationResult { case .verified(let transaction): print("verified") case .unverified(let unverifiedTransaction, let verificationError): print("unverified") default: print("default") } } } }
Topic: Design SubTopic: General Tags:
6
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180
Apr ’25
Titles and Header Auto Changing Color?
I have some questions about Liquid Glass and iOS 26 on the iPhone. Routine scrolling transactions in any view are causing the title to change from Light Mode colors to Dark Mode colors. Is this now standard operation? The column headers are also displaying a black stripe across the top of the screen when scrolling. So why doesn't the display shift when in Dark Mode to Light mode? Scrolling is causing everything in the header (navigation title, time, battery status, and wi-fi status) to change from black to white. Is this an accessibility action that I may have turned on by accident? I'm not very thrilled by this behavior!
Topic: Design SubTopic: General Tags:
6
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599
3h
Subscriptions Not Displaying
I have a subscription group with two individual subscriptions configured but when trying to load the SubscriptionStoreView I get the error: "Subscription Unavailable: The subscription is unavailable in the current storefront." When I try to load the ProductView, it appears to be stuck in a loading screen. I am running the app on a device that is signed into a sandbox account. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Topic: Design SubTopic: General Tags:
5
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907
Feb ’25
How can this be resolved - load_eligibility_plist: Failed to open //private/var/db/os_eligibility/eligibility.plist: Operation not permitted(1)
I'm programming my constraints in my video game, which is working good so far until I ran into my most important interactive storyboard. I have three buttons that move back and forth on the Y position each time they are hit. The buttons Y positions only change to view.safeAreaLayoutGuide.centerYAnchor, constant: 100 or view.safeAreaLayoutGuide.centerYAnchor, constant: 200 or view.safeAreaLayoutGuide.centerYAnchor, constant: 300 The strange part is the button that is in the Y 100 stays visible and I can hit the button that is in the Y 100. The buttons in the Y 200 and Y 300 positions are visible until after one or two hits, then the button that is in Y 300 position disappears, then after another hit or two the button that is in the Y 200 position disappears but the button that is in the Y 100 is still visible. I cleared all my constraints to narrow it down to clear view of the constraints that is causing the problem. I do not think this Log Noise. Below is the error log: load_eligibility_plist: Failed to open //private/var/db/os_eligibility/eligibility.plist: Operation not permitted(1) 1 Unable to simultaneously satisfy constraints. Probably at least one of the constraints in the following list is one you don't want. Try this: (1) look at each constraint and try to figure out which you don't expect; (2) find the code that added the unwanted constraint or constraints and fix it. ( "<NSLayoutConstraint:0x302aa7610 UIButton:0x10c257600.centerY == UILayoutGuide:0x3030f0c40'UIViewSafeAreaLayoutGuide'.centerY + 100 (active)>", "<NSLayoutConstraint:0x302acb480 UIButton:0x10c257600.centerY == UILayoutGuide:0x3030f0c40'UIViewSafeAreaLayoutGuide'.centerY + 300 (active)>" ) Will attempt to recover by breaking constraint <NSLayoutConstraint:0x302acb480 UIButton:0x10c257600.centerY == UILayoutGuide:0x3030f0c40'UIViewSafeAreaLayoutGuide'.centerY + 300 (active)> Make a symbolic breakpoint at UIViewAlertForUnsatisfiableConstraints to catch this in the debugger. The methods in the UIConstraintBasedLayoutDebugging category on UIView listed in <UIKitCore/UIView.h> may also be helpful. Unable to simultaneously satisfy constraints. Probably at least one of the constraints in the following list is one you don't want. Try this: (1) look at each constraint and try to figure out which you don't expect; (2) find the code that added the unwanted constraint or constraints and fix it. ( "<NSLayoutConstraint:0x302aa7750 UIButton:0x10c257900.centerY == UILayoutGuide:0x3030f0c40'UIViewSafeAreaLayoutGuide'.centerY + 200 (active)>", "<NSLayoutConstraint:0x302acb5c0 UIButton:0x10c257900.centerY == UILayoutGuide:0x3030f0c40'UIViewSafeAreaLayoutGuide'.centerY + 100 (active)>" ) Will attempt to recover by breaking constraint <NSLayoutConstraint:0x302aa7750 UIButton:0x10c257900.centerY == UILayoutGuide:0x3030f0c40'UIViewSafeAreaLayoutGuide'.centerY + 200 (active)> Make a symbolic breakpoint at UIViewAlertForUnsatisfiableConstraints to catch this in the debugger. The methods in the UIConstraintBasedLayoutDebugging category on UIView listed in <UIKitCore/UIView.h> may also be helpful. Unable to simultaneously satisfy constraints. Probably at least one of the constraints in the following list is one you don't want. Try this: (1) look at each constraint and try to figure out which you don't expect; (2) find the code that added the unwanted constraint or constraints and fix it. ( "<NSLayoutConstraint:0x302aa7890 UIButton:0x10c257c00.centerY == UILayoutGuide:0x3030f0c40'UIViewSafeAreaLayoutGuide'.centerY + 300 (active)>", "<NSLayoutConstraint:0x302acb700 UIButton:0x10c257c00.centerY == UILayoutGuide:0x3030f0c40'UIViewSafeAreaLayoutGuide'.centerY + 200 (active)>" ) Will attempt to recover by breaking constraint <NSLayoutConstraint:0x302aa7890 UIButton:0x10c257c00.centerY == UILayoutGuide:0x3030f0c40'UIViewSafeAreaLayoutGuide'.centerY + 300 (active)> Make a symbolic breakpoint at UIViewAlertForUnsatisfiableConstraints to catch this in the debugger. The methods in the UIConstraintBasedLayoutDebugging category on UIView listed in <UIKitCore/UIView.h> may also be helpful. 3 Unable to simultaneously satisfy constraints. Probably at least one of the constraints in the following list is one you don't want. Try this: (1) look at each constraint and try to figure out which you don't expect; (2) find the code that added the unwanted constraint or constraints and fix it. ( "<NSLayoutConstraint:0x302aa7610 UIButton:0x10c257600.centerY == UILayoutGuide:0x3030f0c40'UIViewSafeAreaLayoutGuide'.centerY + 100 (active)>", "<NSLayoutConstraint:0x302acb480 UIButton:0x10c257600.centerY == UILayoutGuide:0x3030f0c40'UIViewSafeAreaLayoutGuide'.centerY + 300 (active)>" ) Will attempt to recover by breaking constraint <NSLayoutConstraint:0x302acb480 UIButton:0x10c257600.centerY == UILayoutGuide:0x3030f0c40'UIViewSafeAreaLayoutGuide'.centerY + 300 (active)> Make a symbolic breakpoint at UIViewAlertForUnsatisfiableConstraints to catch this in the debugger. The methods in the UIConstraintBasedLayoutDebugging category on UIView listed in <UIKitCore/UIView.h> may also be helpful. Unable to simultaneously satisfy constraints. Probably at least one of the constraints in the following list is one you don't want. Try this: (1) look at each constraint and try to figure out which you don't expect; (2) find the code that added the unwanted constraint or constraints and fix it. ( "<NSLayoutConstraint:0x302aa7750 UIButton:0x10c257900.centerY == UILayoutGuide:0x3030f0c40'UIViewSafeAreaLayoutGuide'.centerY + 200 (active)>", "<NSLayoutConstraint:0x302acb5c0 UIButton:0x10c257900.centerY == UILayoutGuide:0x3030f0c40'UIViewSafeAreaLayoutGuide'.centerY + 100 (active)>" ) Will attempt to recover by breaking constraint <NSLayoutConstraint:0x302aa7750 UIButton:0x10c257900.centerY == UILayoutGuide:0x3030f0c40'UIViewSafeAreaLayoutGuide'.centerY + 200 (active)>
Topic: Design SubTopic: General
4
0
420
Apr ’25
Ask about SF symbols
Hi, I would like to make an educational app for helping my students to learn about malaria diagnosis and need to put some animal icon. In the tabview, is it possible to use system images like monkey, bird, mouse. I cannot see these animals in SF symbol list.
Topic: Design SubTopic: General
3
0
160
May ’25
The airdrop was sent to the wrong device. Will modifying the interface in this way reduce the error
I have many Apple devices, such as macbook, iPad and iPhone. It's very convenient for me to transfer files between devices. However, when I want to send files to my own device in public places, I often click on the wrong recipient because the list avatar keeps changing. I hope the list of recipients can be grouped One group is my own device (or the one I often send to), and the other group is other devices. When the user is about to send, the mouse will be in a relatively fixed and mentally expected area. I feel that this can reduce the probability of sending wrongly
Topic: Design SubTopic: General
3
0
654
Nov ’25
iPad/iPhone - Display best practices….
So…I am hitting a wall here and could use some guidance towards best practice. I’ve developed an app in Xcode/SwiftUI that renders just fine on the iPhone - text, images, buttons, frames…everything is nicely centered on the screen or scrolls where and when I want. The iPad though…not so much. I’m having issues with tops and bottoms being cut off in scrollviews. These are just straight up text screens too - the ones with other elements/controls…they’re rendering fine. I’ve tried a mix of geometry, vstack, scrollview, padding, spacers…the lot of it. Nothing I seem to do works - the views do not want to fill and fit properly. And, of course, the issue becomes worse the moment you flip the iPad into landscape view. Or use the 13” models. I’d imagine others are battling these issues as well and found solutions, so I decided to hit up the brain trust.
3
0
183
Apr ’25
Notification badge with no indication number
I'm looking for a way to display a notification badge without showing a number—essentially, just an empty badge to indicate the presence of notifications. From my research, it seems like this functionality isn't available . Is there any workaround or method to achieve this?
Topic: Design SubTopic: General
3
0
115
May ’25
Color folder and tags
I’m delighted with the introduction of new color folders. Although, I can’t help but wonder why we still need both color folders and tags. Aren’t the color folders sufficient for our needs?
Topic: Design SubTopic: General
3
1
1.2k
Aug ’25
'tabViewBottomAccessory' leaves an empty container when conditionally hidden
We use SwiftUI's .tabViewBottomAccessory in our iOS apps for displaying an Audio MiniPlayer View (like in the Apple Music App). TabView(selection: $viewModel.selectedTab) { // Tabs here } .tabViewBottomAccessory { if viewModel.showAudioMiniPlayer { MiniPlayerView() } } The Problem This code works perfectly on iOS 26.0. When 'viewModel.showAudioMiniPlayer' is 'false', the accessory is completely hidden. However, on iOS 26.1 (23B5059e), when 'viewModel.showAudioMiniPlayer' is 'false', the MiniPlayerView disappears, but an empty container remains, leaving a blank space above the tab bar. Is this a known Bug in iOS 26.1 and are there any effective workarounds or should I just wait until Apple fixed it?
Topic: Design SubTopic: General
3
6
1.7k
Oct ’25
Liquid Glass support : Best practices for navigation button styles in iOS 26 and later
Hello! I'm currently working on Liquid Glass support for my app. I understand that starting with iOS 26, standard buttons like "Close" or "Done" have shifted from text buttons to using SF Symbols, as mentioned in the Human Interface Guidelines under "Icons". However, on iOS 18 and earlier, the flat text button style remains the standard. I am unsure about the best approach for backward compatibility: Branch by OS version: Keep text buttons for older OS versions and use SF Symbols for iOS 26+. Concern: This increases the number of conditional branches, potentially reducing code readability and maintainability. Adopt SF Symbols universally: Use SF Symbols for all versions. Concern: I feel that SF Symbols do not fit well (look inconsistent or out of place) with the flat design language of iOS 18 and earlier. What would be the recommended approach in this situation?
Topic: Design SubTopic: General Tags:
3
0
1.1k
Dec ’25
What does Apple use to create SF Symbols?
I've been losing countless hours of work trying to create a variable-width SF Symbol that supports interpolation, no dice. Both Sketch and Figma output SVGs that are not interpolatable. After numerous hours of research, I believe it's due to the fact that when outlining strokes, these editing tools introduce artifacts into the shapes —​ sometimes I get very short line segments where there would not be needed, sometimes a 3-point curve gets expanded to a 4-point curve, but not in all weights. It's always inconsistent. So my only question is rather simple: what's the graphic editing tool Apple uses to create hundreds of symbols? Clearly you cannot edit the stroke of ALL curves by hand, it's inhumane. Sketch? Figma? Illustrator? Inkscape? Affinity? I'd like a definitive answer from someone internal so that I can at least try to use the same tool as you without wasting more hours.
Topic: Design SubTopic: General Tags:
3
2
786
Feb ’25
IS THE SWiPE LEFT CAMERA MODE REALLY IMPORTANT?
I have really examined the swipe left Camera function mode and sincerely believe it is no more important especially when there no option in the settings to turn it on or off. I will highly recommend a total scrap in the iOS 26 or if possible a function to activate and deactivate it.
Topic: Design SubTopic: General
3
0
339
Aug ’25