iOS Developer Library — Pre-Release

Developer

Apple Watch Human Interface Guidelines

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App Anatomy

Apple Watch must be paired with the user’s iPhone for your app to run.

Interface Styles

WatchKit apps support two navigation methods:

  • Hierarchical. This style matches the navigation style in iOS and is best suited for apps with hierarchical information. In a hierarchical app, users navigate by making one choice per screen until they reach their destination. To navigate to another destination, users must retrace some or all of their steps and make different choices.

    A hierarchical model is typically better than a flat, paginated navigation model for more complex app interactions.

    image: ../Art/hierarchical_interface_2x.png
  • Page-based. A paginated interface lets the user navigate between pages of content by swiping horizontally. A page-based interface is best suited for apps with simple data models where the data on each page is not directly tied to the data on the other pages.

    A dot indicator at the bottom of each page shows the user’s place in the set. Keep the total number of pages as small as possible to simplify navigation.

    image: ../Art/paged_interface_2x.png

You cannot combine hierarchical and page-based interface styles. At design time, you must choose the style that best suits your app’s content and design for that style.

Apps using either interface style can present content modally. Modal interfaces give the user a way to complete a task or get information without distractions, but in a way that temporarily prevents them from interacting with the rest of the app. For more information, see Modal Sheets.

User Interactions

  • Action-based events. The single tap gesture is the primary way that users interact with your app. Table rows, buttons, switches, and other controls are all operated by tapping on them. These taps are then reported to the code in your WatchKit extension.

  • Gestures. The system handles all gestures on your behalf, using them to implement standard behaviors:

    • Vertical swipes scroll the current screen.

    • Horizontal swipes display the previous or next page in a page-based interface.

    • Left edge swipes navigate back to the parent interface controller.

    • Taps indicate selection or interaction. Taps are handled by the system and reported to your WatchKit extension’s action methods.

    Apple Watch does not support multi-finger gestures such as pinches.

  • Force Touch. As well as sensing touch, the Retina display also detects the amount of force applied by the user’s finger. When this combination of touch and force is detected, the system displays the context menu (if any) associated with the current screen. Apps use this menu to display actions relevant to the current content. For more information, see Menus.

  • The Digital Crown. Designed for finely tuned, accelerated scrolling—without obstructing the Apple Watch display—the Digital Crown makes it easy for the user to scroll through longer pages. Third-party apps use the Digital Crown only to enable scrolling.