How should I design an iPad app using Apple's HIG?

Apple's HIG recommends using sidebars instead of bottom tab bars on iPadOS, supporting split views for multitasking, and adding pointer interactions. Apple HIG Skills provides instant, AI-ready guidance on all iPadOS conventions.

What are Apple's guidelines for adding Apple Pay?

Apple's HIG specifies exact payment button placement, flow design, error states, and UX patterns required for App Store approval. Apple HIG Skills gives your AI agent access to the full Apple Pay design guidelines.

How do I make my Apple app accessible?

Apple's HIG requires support for VoiceOver, Dynamic Type, sufficient color contrast ratios, and motor accessibility features like Switch Control. Apple HIG Skills covers all accessibility foundations and requirements.

How do I design for visionOS and Apple Vision Pro?

Apple's HIG for visionOS covers ornaments, volumes, immersive spaces, eye tracking, and spatial interaction patterns. Apple HIG Skills includes dedicated visionOS platform guidance and spatial layout references.

What are Apple's dark mode design guidelines?

Apple's HIG specifies using system semantic colors, material backgrounds, elevated surfaces, and vibrancy for dark mode. Apps should test in both modes and avoid hard-coded color values. Apple HIG Skills covers the full dark mode specification.

How should I design notifications for iOS apps?

Apple's HIG covers notification grouping, Live Activities, action buttons, and respecting user attention. Apple HIG Skills provides guidelines for the full notification system including widgets and complications.

Source: Apple Inc. Canonical content at https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guidelines/app-shortcuts. 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.

App Shortcuts

Best practices

Offer App Shortcuts for your app’s most common and important tasks.

Add flexibility by letting people choose from a set of options.

Ask for clarification in response to a request that’s missing optional information.

Keep voice interactions simple.

Make App Shortcuts discoverable in your app.

Responding to App Shortcuts

Snippets are great for custom views that display static information or dialog options, like showing the weather at a person’s location or confirming an order. For developer guidance, see ShowsSnippetView.
Live Activities offer continuous access to information that’s likely to remain relevant and change over a period of time, and are great for timers and countdowns that appear until an event is complete. For developer guidance, see LiveActivityIntent.

Provide enough detail for interaction on audio-only devices.

Editorial guidelines

Provide brief, memorable activation phrases and natural variants.

When referring to App Shortcuts or the Shortcuts app, always use title case and make sure that Shortcuts is plural.

When referring to individual shortcuts (not App Shortcuts or the Shortcuts app), use lowercase.

App Shortcuts

App Shortcuts

Best practices

Responding to App Shortcuts

Editorial guidelines

Platform considerations

iOS, iPadOS

macOS

Resources

Developer documentation

Videos

Change log

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