Hello! I am developing an ebook reader iOS app that uses c/c++ codec as a page renderer.
The codec uses TrueType as a font rendering engine that requires access to .ttf (or .ttc) files.
Currently, I supply TrueType with fonts embedded in the app package, so they lay within the app sandbox.
The codec supports the whole unicode plane and many languages that ebooks may use, but the fonts I supply don't have some of the important glyphs (i.e. katakana or hangul).
I see that iOS has its own font storage, located in /System/Library/Fonts/ directory. The codec is able to parse this directory and read .ttf files located inside, using these fonts as a fallback in the case when the supplied fonts can't draw certain glyphs.
I use opendir and fopen(in "rb" mode) as a way to read the data, and it works well.
Does this type of access to the system directory violate the sandbox rule for an app distribution, and, if yes, is there a way to get access to stored .ttf files not violating the mentioned rule?
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RSS for tagExplore the art and science of app design. Discuss user interface (UI) design principles, user experience (UX) best practices, and share design resources and inspiration.
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Hello,
I have used CPPointOfInterestTemplate for displaying data and as user scrolls using the up/down arrow, I do not see any change in the map. Is there a way to highlight the POIs as the user scrolls through the list?
I need to use the map controls and zoom to check the markers on the map. Is it possible to set the zoom level of the map in CarPlay?
Pls suggest on the above queries
Hey there,
I redesigned my apps icons for Liquid Glass in the icon composer app. I have to say it's been a pleasure to use and my icons look stunning when rendered in the icon composer app, whatever rendering mode and context I've been testing.
But once in a developer release on my device (iOS 26 beta 3), the rendering is very disappointing. They look blurry, very far from what icon composer is showing.
I would like to know whether I have a design issue, or if the current state of the beta release is known to not render icon properly. I'm kind of panicking :)
In the clock app when making an alarm for myself to wake up, I found this bug where If you swipe left On an alarm without deleting it and then Swipe right it does a goofy visual glitch where it teleports to the top of your screen.
Hey, everyone. I'm having an issue with my modal shadows when building for macOS. I've attached an image to show you what's going on.
I have a rounded corner window, and when the In-App Purchase overlay opens, the modal shadow of that rounded window is square (which doesn't make sense, and looks bad).
Can somebody please help me address this? I've tried searching high and low for a solution but I can't find anything :-(
I really appreciate you taking a look! -Logan
How do I import a Reality Composer project into Blender (Windows x86_64)
What type of licensing does it apply for the usage of FONT_FAMILY='System' in Apple/iOS app?
I downloaded iOS 26 beta 3. I was very happy with how it turned out, but when I activated Siri, I noticed the rainbow pulsing glow that bordered the phone was missing, and all that was left was the original Siri bubble. I was very disappointed, does anyone know how to get this back? I loved that design feature.
Development environment:
Simulator: iOS 26 beta 3 iPhone 16 (for testing)
Simulator 2: iPadOS 26 beta 3 iPad Air 13 inch (M3) (for testing)
Connected Device: iPadOS 26 beta 3 iPad Pro 11 inch (M4) (for testing)
Dev Device: macOS Tahoe 26 beta 3 Macbook Air
When using the NavigationSplitView element, the sidebar has a built-in panel toggle button.
However, when I click the toggle button to toggle the sidebar section in SwiftUI 26 on both simulator 2 and the connected device, it has a slight animation glitch before going back to normal. What's going on?
This is my code for the specific view that has the NavigationSplitView (and all views are connected through TabViews):
RecordsPage.swift
Here are image references:
When I clicked the toggle:
After 1~2 seconds:
These images are in the state of the panel being hidden.
Target: MacOS 11.1 and above
C++, Juce 8, XCode 16.2
Testing: Sonoma 14.5
Logic Pro (latest version), Reaper 7.34, Pro Tools 2023.12 and 2025.6
I'm developing an audio plugin that creates an NSStatusItem ("menu bar status icon" or MBSI for short) to provide visual feedback for one of the components. I've encountered a Logic Pro-specific behavior that I'd like to fix. I'm building for Mac-only, Intel and Silicon, and for AU/VST3/AAX.
Summary:
The NSStatusItem for the MBSI is created successfully and functions properly in some hosts (Reaper (AU and VST3), Pro Tools (AAX)) but isn't visible in Logic Pro, despite identical API behavior.
Details:
NSStatusItem Creation: implementation using [[NSStatusBar systemStatusBar] statusItemWithLength:NSSquareStatusItemLength]
All API calls report success in both working (Reaper) and non-working (Logic Pro) hosts.
Logging shows Logic Pro and Reaper create the NSStatusItem with the same properties:
Window frame: {{0, -36}, {38, 36}} (both hosts)
statusItem.visible: YES (both hosts)
Button exists and responds to state changes (both hosts)
Y coordinate is -36 pixels (above visible screen, both hosts)
In Reaper, I can see the MBSI but in Logic Pro I can't. Note: the MBSI has no functionality beyond visual feedback. It's not clickable nor does it create a corresponding menu.
Questions:
Are there known differences in how Logic Pro's AU hosting service handles system UI elements compared to other hosts? And if so, is there guidance on AU plugins accessing system UI elements like the menu bar?
Link to NSStatusItemTest.component: https://app.box.com/s/i3rq0hii3qf43iojrayc17fsfq7fnssd
Link to video showing issue: https://app.box.com/s/icefqk898timqov77t468lqtio0rjqul
Link to Console output for testing in Reaper vs Logic Pro: https://app.box.com/s/ph6nv1lmozo3phtjx3md6abdms5atgg6
On iOS 26 beta 3, my app and some other apps got greyed out app icon.
It only happens in Default (Light) appearance.
Apple automatically converts third-party app icons to support Liquid Glass, but is there any specific requirement with third-party icons to avoid above greyed out app icon issue?
I found that on my cutomer's mac device, webflterproxyd start interferiing with the NE traffic. Tried to stop it, but "screen time" was not enabled at all.
Who started this webfilterproxyd process and how to stop it?
Hello,
I used icon composer to create an icon for my Mac OS app and it seemed to have worked. I see the app icon everywhere except for window expose or stage manager.
Any help or guidance would be greatly appreciated!
Hi,
Normally we need many shades of gray in any App and Apple system have only 3 , Primery, Secondary, and Gray, so to make Gray regress that automatically adapt to Dark Mode we just use opacity on these colors ? there's no system built in Gray degrees ?
Kind Regards
Hi everyone,
I've noticed that on iOS 26 beta 1 through beta 4, when using a List with the .plain style, the section header overlaps with the cell content below it, as there is no background for the header. This creates a poor visual experience.
Additionally, when using NavigationSplitView on iPad, the second column's list always shows this issue.
Is this an intentional design change, or just a temporary issue? I haven't found a good workaround so far.
Thanks!
FB19066489
Hello,
I want to make an app that displays the current event(s) (The ones that are ongoing at any given moment) on my Google calendar and shows how far through the event(s) I am with a progress bar, and updates live.
I want it to be as simple as possible and don't want it to take up too much space. I have a little window with some text elements and a progress bar that works if you manually put in values. But I still think the window is too big and clunky and I wonder if it's possible to change it's style?
I'm a bit inexperienced with coding and am completely new to xcode and swift. What approach would you recommend I take with this project? Or what resources would you refer me to?
Hi everyone 👋 I’m a new iOS developer working on my first app and I’ve run into a frustrating visual bug involving my app icon during the launch/close transition.
Issue:
When I use Icon Composer (the new tool introduced for iOS 26) to generate my app icon, I consistently see a thin white border or “fringe” around the icon only during the transition animation (when the app opens or closes). It disappears once the animation ends.
What I tested and confirmed:
• I exported the exact same design directly from Adobe Illustrator as a 1024×1024 PNG, fully opaque, RGB color mode, background color filling the entire canvas (no transparency, no borders, no rounded corners).
• When I place that exported PNG directly into the AppIcon asset catalog in Xcode, the icon renders perfectly — no white fringe appears, just a slightly darker shade of blue during transitions (expected and acceptable).
• But when I generate the icon using Icon Composer, the white edge always appears, even if I disable effects, use full coverage layers, or only keep a flat color layer.
Notes:
• Tested on iOS 26 (latest beta) using Xcode 16.
• The issue seems specific to Icon Composer’s export format or metadata — maybe it’s not stripping alpha correctly or something related to the squircle mask?
• I followed all recommended specs: 1024×1024 px, PNG, sRGB, no transparency, exported from Illustrator at 72ppi with solid background.
Even tested without the logo, just the icon made with icon composer
Is anyone else experiencing this issue with Icon Composer exports?
Is there an official recommendation to avoid this during transitions or should I simply avoid Icon Composer for production icons for now and stick with Illustrator / Figma exports?
Thanks so much
Here’s a visual example:
Hello Apple Developer Support,
We initially uploaded our INRx App on a different Apple Developer account for internal testing purposes.
Now, we would like to publish the same app under a new Apple Developer account for production, but we're currently facing a design-related rejection during the review process.
We believe the app meets all guidelines, and there were no design issues flagged previously when submitted from the testing account.
Could you please help us understand:
Why the same app is now being rejected for design issues?
Is there a way to resolve this while moving the app to the new account?
Any advice or clarification would be greatly appreciated so we can successfully proceed with publishing.
Thank you!
Building an app to edit the various parameters of digital musical instruments. A typical user would have perhaps max 6 instruments, out of the hundreds of possibilities.
Would like to structure the app with a global window, menu, etc which would be a free download. The user could download editor inserts for their particular set of instruments and ignore all of the others. The downloaded editors would show as options in a menu.
It seem like more than a widget but less than a library. Building a monolithic app containing all possible editors doesn't seem like an option, but separate full-app editors for each piece of gear doesn't sound right either.
Any suggestions out there?
Thanks very much
Brian
I'm developing an iPadOS 18+ application that uses a UITabBarController, styled as a sidebar, to serve as the primary navigation interface. This setup includes 20 different tabs, each representing a distinct section of the app.
For the user experience, each tab needs to present a master-detail interface, implemented using a UISplitViewController. The goal is to allow users to navigate between tabs via the sidebar, and within each tab, access related content through the split view's list-detail pattern.
The Problem:
Currently, my implementation involves instantiating a separate UISplitViewController for each tab, resulting in 20 unique split view instances embedded inside the UITabBarController. While this works functionally, it leads to significant memory usage, especially after the user opens each tab at least once. The accumulation of all these instantiated view controllers in memory eventually causes performance degradation or even memory warnings/crashes on lower-end iPads.
The Question:
What is the best approach to implement this type of architecture without running into memory management issues?
Specifically:
Is there a way to reuse or lazily load the UISplitViewController instances only when needed?
Can we unload or release split view controllers that haven't been used for a while to reduce memory pressure?
Would a custom container controller be more appropriate than using UITabBarController in this case?
Are there iPadOS 18+ best practices or newer APIs that support this kind of complex multi-tab, multi-split-view structure efficiently?
Any advice on how to optimize memory usage while preserving the sidebar navigation and split view layout would be highly appreciated.