Source: Apple Inc. Canonical content at https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guidelines/live-activities. 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.
Live Activities
Anatomy
Compact
Minimal
Expanded
Lock Screen
StandBy
Best practices
Offer Live Activities for tasks and events that have a defined beginning and end.
Focus on important information that people need to see at a glance.
Avoid displaying sensitive information.
Create a Live Activity that matches your app’s visual aesthetic and personality in both dark and light appearances.
If you include a logo mark, display it without a container.
Don’t add elements to your app that draw attention to the Dynamic Island.
Ensure text is easy to read.
Creating Live Activity layouts
Adapt to different screen sizes and presentations.
Adjust element size and placement for efficient use of space.
Use familiar layouts for custom views and layouts.
Use consistent margins and concentric placement.
When separating a block of content, place it in an inset container shape or use a thick line.
Dynamically change the height of your Live Activity on the Lock Screen or in the expanded presentation.
Choosing colors
Carefully consider using a custom background color and opacity.
Use color to express the character and identity of your app.
Tint your Live Activity’s key line color so that it matches your content.
Adding transitions and animating content updates
Use animations to reinforce the information you’re communicating and to bring attention to updates.
Animate layout changes.
Try to avoid overlapping elements.
Offering interactivity
Make sure tapping the Live Activity opens your app at the right location.
Focus on simple, direct actions.
Consider letting people respond to event or progress updates.
Starting, updating, and ending a Live Activity
Start Live Activities at appropriate times, and make it easy for people to turn them off in your app.
Offer an App Shortcut that starts your Live Activity.
Update a Live Activity only when new content is available.
Alert people only for essential updates that require their attention.
Let people track multiple events efficiently with a single Live Activity.
Always end a Live Activity immediately when the task or event ends, and consider setting a custom dismissal time.
Presentation
Start with the iPhone design, then refine it for other contexts.
Compact presentation
Focus on the most important information.
Ensure unified information and design of the compact presentations in the Dynamic Island.
Keep content as narrow as possible and ensure it’s snug against the TrueDepth camera.
Link to relevant app content.
Minimal presentation
Ensure that your Live Activity is recognizable in the minimal presentation.
Expanded presentation
Maintain the relative placement of elements to create a coherent layout between presentations.
Wrap content tightly around the TrueDepth camera.
Lock Screen presentation
Don’t replicate notification layouts.
Choose colors that work well on a personalized Lock Screen.
Make sure your design, assets, and colors look great and offer enough contrast in Dark Mode and on an Always-On display.
Verify the generated color of the dismiss button.
Use standard margins to align your design with notifications.
StandBy presentation
Update your layout for StandBy.
Consider using the default background color in StandBy.
Use standard margins and avoid extending graphic elements to the edge of the screen.
Verify your design in Night Mode.
CarPlay
Consider creating a custom layout if your Live Activity would benefit from larger text or additional information.
Carefully consider including buttons or toggles in your custom layout.
Platform considerations
macOS
watchOS
Consider creating a custom watchOS layout.
Carefully consider including buttons or toggles in your custom layout.
Focus on essential information and significant updates.
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Progress, like the estimated arrival time of a delivery
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Interactive elements, like stopwatch or timer controls
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Significant updates, like sports score changes
Specifications
CarPlay dimensions
iOS dimensions
iPadOS dimensions
macOS dimensions
watchOS dimensions
Resources
Developer documentation
Videos
Change log
For the complete guidance, including worked examples and illustrations, see the canonical page: https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guidelines/live-activities