Every new year brings with it new technologies, trends, and design best practices. Designing for iOS can be a challenge because the platform evolves with each release of the iOS operating system, but these nine iOS design practices will help you keep your head above water and create great user experiences on Apple’s mobile devices. No matter which version of iOS you are designing for, these iOS design tips will keep your app looking modern and feeling great to use, while also ensuring you follow Apple’s Human Interface Guidelines (HIG).

1) Layout UI elements in code

When developing for iOS, you’ll want to use autolayout in order to optimize for different screen sizes. When writing your code, autolayout will help you ensure that all of your UI elements are laid out in a consistent way across screens. In addition, it’s easier to update auto layout rules than manually updating each element.

2) Give elements enough spacing

If you want to keep your UI organized and clean, make sure you’re separating your buttons and labels from one another. This practice allows for users to scan quickly through a screen, finding exactly what they’re looking for. It also prevents elements from colliding with one another in an unappealing way, which can frustrate users as they try to use your app.

3) Use Auto Layout in Interface Builder

You can’t rely on autoresizing masks or springs and struts to arrange your elements. To ensure that your apps run well across different devices, especially when rotating, adopt Auto Layout. First developed for iOS 6, Auto Layout allows you to define constraints between visual elements such as buttons and labels in Interface Builder. These constraints are then translated into code by Xcode and will be present in every device running your app.

4) Add shadows & gradients to views

Shadows and gradients are a great way to make your app pop. The simplest method is to create a CALayer (or layer), add an image, set its masksToBounds property to YES, and then draw a shadow and/or a gradient using Core Graphics functions. This method is good because it’s easy to modify colors or adjust how blurry you want your shadow or gradient to be.

5) Prefer labels over text fields

When you are creating an app, one of your main goals should be to minimize the number of steps a user has to take in order to perform a certain action. Text fields require that users type in their input and then click or tap on another element in order to proceed. To avoid confusion, eliminate unnecessary input fields whenever possible by using labels as placeholders instead.

6) Move view controller contents into storyboards

The quickest way to create view controllers in storyboards is by dragging and dropping elements from a library of pre-built controls into your scene. Most people learn to create their own custom controls instead of relying on pre-built ones, but even so, it’s important to build these as well. If you find yourself needing a control that doesn’t exist in Xcode yet, make one! It may seem daunting at first but it’s an essential part of mastering storyboards.

7) Use the navigation bar & tab bar on every screen

While navigation controllers, split view controllers, and navigation bars all have their own benefits and uses, one thing they all have in common is that they use a navigation bar to switch between screens. This makes it easy for users to quickly hop from screen to screen. The same goes for tab bars—using a tab bar on each screen will increase your app’s usability.

8) Enforce tapping order

While designing any screen, it is important to keep in mind how a user will interact with that screen. On an iPhone, users can only use one finger to tap objects on-screen.

9) Design your app icon first

It’s often a good idea to start your design with an app icon because you need to consider a variety of factors. The primary one is space—there’s only so much room for designers to work within on iPhone home screens. If your app icon is too complicated, it could be cut off and lose impact.

Conclusion

Design is often seen as one of those things that suddenly happens, like magic. While it might seem that way for some people, you should never rely on luck to create great designs. Whether you’re creating your first mobile app or your hundredth, here are nine practices to keep in mind while designing an iOS app. Use these tips and soon enough, you’ll be one of those magicians too!  You can contact Pepper Square a leading UI/UX design company in India which also specializes in mobile app design, web app design services.