Apple HIG: Content Components

Check for .claude/apple-design-context.md before asking questions. Use existing context and only ask for information not already covered.

Key Principles

1. Adapt to different sizes and contexts. Content components must work across screen sizes, orientations, and multitasking configurations. Use Auto Layout and size classes.

2. Make content accessible. Charts need audio graph support. Images need alt text. Collections need proper VoiceOver navigation order. All content components need labels and descriptions.

3. Maintain visual hierarchy. Use spacing, sizing, and grouping to establish clear information hierarchy. Primary content should be visually prominent.

4. Use system components first. Evaluate UICollectionView, SwiftUI Charts, WKWebView before building custom. System components come with built-in accessibility and platform adaptation.

5. Respect platform conventions. A collection on tvOS uses large lockups with parallax. The same collection on iOS uses compact cells with touch targets. On visionOS, content gains depth and hover effects.

6. Handle empty states. Show a meaningful empty state with guidance on how to populate it, not a blank screen.

7. Optimize for performance. Use lazy loading, cell reuse, pagination, and prefetching for large datasets.

Reference Index

Component Selection Guide

Output Format

1. Component recommendation with rationale, referencing the relevant HIG reference file.
2. Configuration guidance -- key properties and setup.
3. Accessibility requirements for the recommended component.
4. Platform-specific notes for targeted platforms.

Questions to Ask

1. What type of content? (Quantitative data, images, web content, browsable collection, share action?)
2. Which platforms?
3. Static or dynamic content?
4. How much content? (Few items vs hundreds/thousands affects component choice and optimization.)

Related Skills

• hig-foundations -- Color, typography, accessibility, and image guidelines
• hig-patterns -- Data visualization, sharing, and loading patterns
• hig-components-layout -- Structural containers (scroll views, lists, split views) hosting content
• hig-platforms -- Platform-specific component behavior (lockups on tvOS, web views on macOS)

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