ios-hig-review

iOS HIG Review

Purpose

Audit an iOS interface (UIKit or SwiftUI) against Apple's Human Interface Guidelines: safe-area layout, Dynamic Type, SF Symbols usage, haptic feedback, dark mode, tap-target sizing, navigation paradigm, and VoiceOver support. The output is a prioritized set of findings, each citing the relevant HIG area and a concrete code fix, ranked by App Store submission risk. The review reads source or screenshots only and never triggers Xcode builds or TestFlight uploads.

When to use

• A SwiftUI or UIKit screen needs review before App Store submission.
• Design or code review for an iOS-specific feature (sheets, navigation, widgets, Live Activities).
• An App Store rejection cited HIG violations and a root-cause analysis is needed.
• An accessibility audit is requested for VoiceOver, Dynamic Type, or Reduce Motion compliance.

When not to use

• The app is Android-only — use android-material-review.
• The review is purely about business logic or backend integration — use mobile-app-review.
• The design exists in a design tool only with no code to audit — this skill needs source or screenshots.

Procedure

1. Identify the UI framework and deployment target. Confirm SwiftUI, UIKit, or hybrid. Note the minimum iOS version — HIG expectations differ across iOS 15 to 18 (for example NavigationStack and the Dynamic Island land in iOS 16 and later).
2. Check safe area and layout margins. Verify .safeAreaInset, safeAreaLayoutGuide, or .ignoresSafeArea usage is intentional. Content under the notch, Dynamic Island, or home indicator must be deliberate and remain readable.
3. Audit Dynamic Type support. All text should use a text style — .font(.body) or .font(.headline) in SwiftUI, or UIFont.preferredFont(forTextStyle:) in UIKit, or a custom font via relativeTo:. Confirm labels do not truncate at accessibility sizes; use .fixedSize(horizontal: false, vertical: true) where needed.
4. Review tap-target sizes. Every interactive element must be at least 44x44 pt. Wrap small icon-only buttons in .frame(minWidth: 44, minHeight: 44) or add .contentShape(Rectangle()) to extend the hit area.
5. Check SF Symbols usage. Verify symbol names exist on the deployment target (confirm in the SF Symbols app). Prefer .symbolRenderingMode and .foregroundStyle over tint hacks; multicolor symbols need .renderingMode(.original); tab-bar symbols need the .fill variant.
6. Review haptic feedback. UIImpactFeedbackGenerator and UINotificationFeedbackGenerator (or SwiftUI .sensoryFeedback) should mark meaningful state changes, not decorate animations. Call .prepare() before .impactOccurred() to avoid first-fire latency.
7. Audit dark mode support. Replace hardcoded UIColor(red:...) and Color(red:...) with semantic colors (Color(.systemBackground), .label, .secondaryLabel). Confirm asset-catalog images have dark variants.
8. Review the navigation paradigm. Use NavigationStack (iOS 16 and later) instead of the deprecated NavigationView. Modal sheets are for self-contained tasks, not drill-down. The back-button label should reflect the parent title, not a generic "Back".
9. Check sheet and presentation style. Confirm .sheet, .fullScreenCover, and .presentationDetents are appropriate; destructive actions in a sheet require explicit confirmation.
10. Review accessibility annotations. Confirm .accessibilityLabel, .accessibilityHint, and .accessibilityValue on custom controls; mark decorative images .accessibilityHidden(true); verify UIAccessibility.isReduceMotionEnabled is respected for non-essential animation.
11. Summarize findings with HIG section references and severity.

Concrete checks

Layout and type:

• Content does not underlap the notch, Dynamic Island, or home indicator unintentionally.
• All text uses a text style and scales with Dynamic Type.
• No truncation at the largest accessibility sizes.

Touch and symbols:

• Every interactive element is at least 44x44 pt.
• SF Symbol names are valid for the deployment target with the correct rendering mode.
• Tab-bar symbols use the .fill variant.

Color and motion:

• No hardcoded colors that break dark mode; asset catalog has dark variants.
• Haptics mark meaningful feedback and call .prepare() first.
• Non-essential animation respects Reduce Motion.

Navigation and accessibility:

• NavigationStack is used on iOS 16 and later; modals are for tasks, not drill-down.
• The back-button label reflects the parent screen.
• Custom controls have VoiceOver labels and hints; decorative images are hidden.
• Info.plist privacy usage strings are present and accurate.

Commands

# --- Dynamic Type ---
# hardcoded fonts that break Dynamic Type
rg -n 'Font.system\(size:|UIFont.systemFont\(ofSize:|\.font\(.system\(size:' .

# --- dark mode ---
# hardcoded colors that break dark mode
rg -n 'UIColor\(red:|Color\(red:|UIColor\(white:|#[0-9a-fA-F]{6}' .

# --- navigation ---
# deprecated NavigationView (should be NavigationStack on iOS 16+)
rg -n 'NavigationView\b' .

# custom back buttons that may drop the parent title
rg -n 'navigationBarBackButtonHidden|\.backButtonTitle' .

# --- SF Symbols / tap targets ---
# small icon-only buttons — verify 44pt hit area nearby
rg -n 'Image\(systemName:' . | head -40

# tab-bar symbols missing the fill variant
rg -n 'TabItem|tabItem' . | head

# --- haptics ---
# haptic generators and whether prepare() is called
rg -n 'FeedbackGenerator|impactOccurred|sensoryFeedback|\.prepare\(\)' . | head

# --- accessibility ---
# accessibility annotations present on custom controls?
rg -n 'accessibilityLabel|accessibilityHint|accessibilityHidden' . | head

# Reduce Motion respected?
rg -n 'isReduceMotionEnabled|accessibilityReduceMotion' .

# --- privacy ---
# Info.plist privacy usage strings
rg -n 'NSCameraUsageDescription|NSMicrophoneUsageDescription|NSLocationWhenInUseUsageDescription' .

# --- sheets / presentation ---
# sheet, full-screen cover, and detents usage
rg -n '\.sheet|fullScreenCover|presentationDetents' . | head

# --- alerts ---
# UIKit alerts presented from SwiftUI (sheet-stacking bug on iOS 17+)
rg -n 'UIAlertController|keyWindow' . | head

# --- truncation at large sizes ---
# labels that may truncate under accessibility Dynamic Type sizes
rg -n 'lineLimit\(|truncationMode|fixedSize' . | head

Common issues & anti-patterns

• Ignoring safe area globally: .ignoresSafeArea() on a scroll view hides content under the Dynamic Island on iPhone 14 Pro and later.
• Hardcoded font sizes: Font.system(size: 14) does not scale with Dynamic Type — use .body, .caption, .footnote, or relativeTo:.
• Custom back button without a title: stripping the back-button label breaks conventions and confuses VoiceOver users.
• UIKit alert from SwiftUI: presenting a UIAlertController via UIApplication.shared.keyWindow breaks sheet stacking on iOS 17 and later. Use the .alert modifier.
• Missing .symbolVariant: Image(systemName: "heart") in a tab bar without .fill violates tab-bar conventions.
• Non-semantic colors in widgets: WidgetKit ignores dynamic colors unless Color(.widgetBackground) and .widgetAccentable() are used.
• Blocking the main thread during scroll: synchronous image loading in cellForRowAt causes scroll jank — load asynchronously.
• Decorative haptics: firing impact feedback on every minor animation, which feels noisy and trains users to ignore it.
• Sheet for navigation: using a modal .sheet to push a detail screen that should be a NavigationStack destination, so the back gesture and title behavior feel wrong.
• Fixed-size icon button: a 20pt icon in a 24pt frame used as a tappable button, well under the 44pt minimum and hard to hit reliably.
• No confirmation on destructive sheet: a delete action inside a sheet that fires immediately on tap with no confirmation, risking accidental data loss.
• Light-only asset: an image asset with no dark-mode variant in the catalog, so a logo or illustration glows on a dark background.
• Hardcoded accent color: a brand color set as a literal Color(red:...) instead of an asset-catalog color set, so it ignores both dark mode and high-contrast accessibility settings.
• VoiceOver order scrambled: a custom layout where the visual order and the accessibility traversal order diverge, so VoiceOver reads controls in a confusing sequence.

Required output

Return a structured report with:

1. Framework and iOS version summary.
2. Findings table: Screen/Component, HIG Section, Severity, Issue, Fix.
3. VoiceOver and Dynamic Type pass/fail summary.
4. Top three must-fix items before App Store submission.

Safety

• Do not alter Info.plist privacy strings without listing every change explicitly for the user to review.
• Do not trigger Xcode builds or TestFlight uploads.
• Do not read or reproduce entitlement files or provisioning-profile details.
• Redact any signing identity or team-ID values surfaced during review.
• Treat accessibility and privacy gaps as submission blockers, not cosmetic notes.

Completion criteria

Done means the framework and deployment target are identified; safe area, Dynamic Type, tap targets, SF Symbols, haptics, dark mode, navigation, and VoiceOver were each checked against HIG; every finding cites a HIG area and a concrete fix; and the top three submission blockers are called out with a VoiceOver and Dynamic Type pass/fail summary.