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/context-menus. 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.

Context menus

The system-defined touch or pinch and hold gesture in visionOS, iOS, and iPadOS
Pressing the Control key while clicking a pointing device in macOS and iPadOS
Using a secondary click on a Magic Trackpad in macOS or iPadOS

Best practices

Prioritize relevancy when choosing items to include in a context menu.

Aim for a small number of menu items.

Support context menus consistently throughout your app.

Always make context menu items available in the main interface, too.

If you need to use submenus to manage a menu’s complexity, keep them to one level.

Hide unavailable menu items, don’t dim them.

Aim to place the most frequently used menu items where people are likely to encounter them first.

Show keyboard shortcuts in your app’s main menus, not in context menus.

Follow best practices for using separators.

In iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS, warn people about context menu items that can destroy data.

Content

Include a title in a context menu only if doing so clarifies the menu’s effect.

Represent menu item actions with familiar icons.

Platform considerations

iOS, iPadOS

Provide either a context menu or an edit menu for an item, but not both.

In iPadOS, consider using a context menu to let people create a new object in your app.

Prefer a graphical preview that clarifies the target of a context menu’s commands.

Ensure that your preview looks good as it animates.

Context menus

Context menus

Best practices

Content

Platform considerations

iOS, iPadOS

macOS

visionOS

Resources

Developer documentation

Change log

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