# Charting data

Source: https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guidelines/charting-data
Skill: hig-patterns
Snapshot: 2025-02-02

---
<!-- hig-doctor:attribution -->
> **Source**: Apple Inc. Canonical content at https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guidelines/charting-data.
> This file is a structured index of that content, snapshot 2025-02-02.
> Apple HIG text and imagery are © Apple Inc.; this repository provides organization and cross-referencing for AI agent consumption only.

# Charting data

  * Analyzing trends based on historical or predicted values

  * Visualizing the current state of a process, system, or quantity that changes over time

  * Evaluating different items — or the same item at different times — by comparing data across multiple categories

## Best practices

**Use a chart when you want to highlight important information about a dataset.**

**Keep a chart simple, letting people choose when they want additional details.**

**Make every chart in your app accessible.**

## Designing effective charts

**In general, prefer using common chart types.**

**If you need to create a chart that presents data in a novel way, help people learn how to interpret the chart.**

**Examine the data from multiple levels or perspectives to find details you can display to enhance the chart.**

**Aid comprehension by adding descriptive text to the chart.**

**Match the size of a chart to its functionality, topic, and level of detail.**

**Prefer consistency across multiple charts, deviating only when you need to highlight differences.**

**Maintain continuity among multiple charts that use the same data.**

---

<!-- hig-doctor:canonical-footer -->
For the complete guidance, including worked examples and illustrations, see the canonical page: https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guidelines/charting-data