peterbamuhigire/swiftui-design

Platform Notes

• Optional helper plugins may help in some environments, but they must not be treated as required for this skill.

SwiftUI UI Standards

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Use When

• SwiftUI UI standards for beautiful, sleek, minimalistic iOS apps. Enforces modern SwiftUI patterns, consistent theming, smooth animations, and performance. Use when building or reviewing SwiftUI code to ensure modern, user-friendly interfaces...
• The task needs reusable judgment, domain constraints, or a proven workflow rather than ad hoc advice.

Do Not Use When

• The task is unrelated to swiftui-design or would be better handled by a more specific companion skill.
• The request only needs a trivial answer and none of this skill's constraints or references materially help.

Required Inputs

• Gather relevant project context, constraints, and the concrete problem to solve.
• Confirm the desired deliverable: design, code, review, migration plan, audit, or documentation.

Workflow

• Read this SKILL.md first, then load only the referenced deep-dive files that are necessary for the task.
• Apply the ordered guidance, checklists, and decision rules in this skill instead of cherry-picking isolated snippets.
• Produce the deliverable with assumptions, risks, and follow-up work made explicit when they matter.

Quality Standards

• Keep outputs execution-oriented, concise, and aligned with the repository's baseline engineering standards.
• Preserve compatibility with existing project conventions unless the skill explicitly requires a stronger standard.
• Prefer deterministic, reviewable steps over vague advice or tool-specific magic.

Anti-Patterns

• Treating examples as copy-paste truth without checking fit, constraints, or failure modes.
• Loading every reference file by default instead of using progressive disclosure.

Outputs

• A concrete result that fits the task: implementation guidance, review findings, architecture decisions, templates, or generated artifacts.
• Clear assumptions, tradeoffs, or unresolved gaps when the task cannot be completed from available context alone.
• References used, companion skills, or follow-up actions when they materially improve execution.

References

• Use the links and companion skills already referenced in this file when deeper context is needed.

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Design Philosophy

Goal: Every screen should feel beautiful, sleek, fast, and effortless to use.

Core Design Principles

1. Minimalism over decoration — Content first, chrome last. Remove anything that doesn't serve the user.
2. Consistency over novelty — Same patterns across every app screen.
3. Whitespace is a feature — Generous spacing creates visual breathing room, not waste.
4. Speed is UX — If it feels slow, it's broken regardless of how it looks.
5. Content-first hierarchy — Important information is immediately visible.
6. Touch-friendly targets — Minimum 44pt for all interactive elements (Apple HIG).
7. SF Symbols for icons — Use SF Symbols for system icons unless custom icons are required per mobile-custom-icons.
8. iOS 26 Liquid Glass — For apps recompiled against iOS 26 SDK, adopt the Liquid Glass design language for translucent materials and depth.

Visual Standards

| Element | Standard | |---|---| | Corner radius | 12pt cards, 8pt inputs, continuous corners via .clipShape(RoundedRectangle(cornerRadius:, style: .continuous)) | | Card elevation | Use .shadow(radius: 2, y: 1) — subtle, never heavy | | Content padding | 16pt horizontal, 8-16pt vertical between items | | Screen padding | 16pt compact, 20pt regular | | Touch targets | Minimum 44pt height/width (Apple HIG) | | Icon size | SF Symbols: 17pt body, 22pt title, 48pt empty states | | Typography | Use system Font API exclusively |

Additional Guidance

Extended guidance for swiftui-design was moved to references/skill-deep-dive.md to keep this entrypoint compact and fast to load.

Use that deep dive for:

• Navigation Architecture (iOS 16+)
• TabView Architecture
• Modal Presentations
• Lists and Grids
• Theming System
• Animation Standards
• Loading / Empty / Error States
• Form Design
• Swift Charts (iOS 16+)
• Data Flow Pattern
• Performance Rules
• Patterns and Anti-Patterns
• Additional deep-dive sections continue in the reference file.