Human Interface Guidelines Reference

Local greppable copy of Apple's Human Interface Guidelines — an on-demand fact lookup, not design direction.

Use it to answer factual questions: what a system component can do, what Apple calls something, accessibility and ergonomic minimums (44pt hit targets, Dynamic Type behavior, contrast), and conventions App Review actually checks.

Visual design in our repos is the designing model's own taste. Consult the HIG for facts, never for aesthetics — it describes what the system provides and requires, not what your screen should look like.

Downloaded Reference Files

All key HIG documentation is available locally (grep-friendly):

Getting Started

File	Content	Size
hig-index.md	Full HIG table of contents	11KB
designing-for-ios.md	iOS design principles	5KB

Foundations

File	Content	Size
app-icons.md	App icon design guidelines	14KB
color.md	Color usage and system colors	17KB
typography.md	Fonts, text styles, Dynamic Type	17KB
layout.md	Layout principles, safe areas	21KB
materials.md	Materials, blur effects, vibrancy	14KB
motion.md	Animation principles	9KB
accessibility.md	Accessibility best practices	19KB
sf-symbols.md	SF Symbols usage	21KB

Patterns

File	Content	Size
onboarding.md	Onboarding flows	6KB
modality.md	Modal presentations	7KB
launching.md	App launch experience	6KB
feedback.md	User feedback patterns	5KB
playing-haptics.md	Haptic feedback	10KB
searching.md	Search patterns	7KB
settings.md	Settings patterns	7KB

Components - Navigation

File	Content	Size
tab-bars.md	Tab bar design	11KB
navigation-bars.md	Navigation bar patterns	17KB
toolbars.md	Toolbar design	17KB
sidebars.md	Sidebar patterns	8KB

Components - Presentation

File	Content	Size
sheets.md	Sheet presentations	11KB
alerts.md	Alert dialogs	10KB
action-sheets.md	Action sheets	4KB
menus.md	Menu design	14KB

Components - Controls

File	Content	Size
buttons.md	Button styles and usage	17KB
lists-and-tables.md	List and table patterns	9KB
toggles.md	Toggle/switch design	9KB
pickers.md	Picker controls	6KB
sliders.md	Slider controls	6KB
steppers.md	Stepper controls	2KB
text-fields.md	Text input fields	6KB

Searching the Docs

# Find color guidance
grep -i "semantic" color.md

# Find button styles
grep -i "bordered" buttons.md

# Find haptic patterns
grep -i "notification" playing-haptics.md

# Browse the full HIG index
grep -i "navigation" hig-index.md

Fetching More Docs

1. Search this skill's local .md files first.
2. If the topic is not here, check the other installed Apple skills you have available by their names, descriptions, or SKILL.md frontmatter, then grep their local files. This is faster and uses less context than fetching new docs from the internet.
3. If no installed skill has the page, use the relevant Human Interface Guidelines path with the sosumi.ai Markdown mirror. For example, /design/human-interface-guidelines/buttons maps to https://sosumi.ai/design/human-interface-guidelines/buttons.

Common HIG Doc Paths

Topic	URL Path
Full Index	human-interface-guidelines
iOS Design	human-interface-guidelines/designing-for-ios
iPadOS Design	human-interface-guidelines/designing-for-ipados
macOS Design	human-interface-guidelines/designing-for-macos
App Icons	human-interface-guidelines/app-icons
Color	human-interface-guidelines/color
Typography	human-interface-guidelines/typography
Layout	human-interface-guidelines/layout
Accessibility	human-interface-guidelines/accessibility
SF Symbols	human-interface-guidelines/sf-symbols
Buttons	human-interface-guidelines/buttons
Tab Bars	human-interface-guidelines/tab-bars
Navigation Bars	human-interface-guidelines/navigation-bars
Sheets	human-interface-guidelines/sheets
Alerts	human-interface-guidelines/alerts

Quick Facts

System Button Styles (iOS)

What the system provides out of the box:

• Plain - Text only, minimal visual weight
• Gray - Gray background
• Tinted - Tinted background with accent color
• Filled - Solid background
• Bordered - Outlined with border
• Bordered Prominent - Filled background, high prominence

Haptic Feedback Types

• Selection - Light tap for selection changes
• Impact - Light/medium/heavy/rigid/soft for collisions
• Notification - Success/warning/error for outcomes

Safe Areas (ergonomic facts)

• Content outside safe areas can be clipped by the notch/Dynamic Island, home indicator, or rounded corners
• Interactive elements outside safe areas may be unreachable or intercepted by system gestures
• Backgrounds can extend edge-to-edge without those risks

Sources

Apple Documentation

• Human Interface Guidelines
• Design Resources

WWDC Sessions

• Design for Liquid Glass - WWDC25
• What's new in UIKit - WWDC25