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/apple-pencil-and-scribble. 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.

Apple Pencil and Scribble

Best practices

Support behaviors people intuitively expect when using a marking instrument.

Let people choose when to switch between Apple Pencil and finger input.

Help people express themselves by responding to the way they use Apple Pencil.

Provide visual feedback to indicate a direct connection with content.

Design a great left- and right-handed experience.

Hover

Use hover to help people predict what will happen when Apple Pencil touches the screen.

Avoid using hover to initiate an action.

Prefer showing a preview value that’s near the middle in a range of dynamic values.

Consider using hover to support relevant interactions close to where people are marking.

Prefer showing hover previews for Apple Pencil, not for a pointing device.

Double tap

Respect people’s settings for the double-tap gesture when they make sense in your app.

Give people a way to specify custom double-tap behavior if necessary.

Avoid using the double-tap gesture to perform an action that modifies content.

Squeeze

Treat squeeze as a single, quick gesture that performs a discrete — not continuous — action.

If you use squeeze to reveal app UI, like a contextual menu, display it close to Apple Pencil Pro.

Define squeeze actions that are nondestructive and easy to undo.

Barrel roll

Use barrel roll only to modify marking behavior, not to enable navigation or display other controls.

Scribble

Make text entry feel fluid and effortless.

Make Scribble available everywhere people might want to enter text.

Avoid distracting people while they write.

While people are writing in a text field, make sure it remains stationary.

Prevent autoscrolling text while people are writing and editing in a text field.

Give people enough space to write.

Apple Pencil and Scribble

Apple Pencil and Scribble

Best practices

Hover

Double tap

Squeeze

Barrel roll

Scribble

Custom drawing

Platform considerations

Resources

Developer documentation

Videos

Change log

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