The Main Window for Adaptivity shows several pieces of information:

• The width and height of the whole window.
• The leading/trailing layout margins and the space between them.
• The leading/trailing readable content guides and the space between them.
• The heights of the navigation bar and toolbar, and the space between them.
• The size class for the window’s width and height.

The information will be updated if the device is rotated or if the app is compressed in size due to iPad multitasking. The app also responds to changes in Dynamic Type size that are made using the Apple Settings app or Control Center.

• Use the Points and Pixels buttons to switch size units.
• Tap anywhere in the main part of the window to toggle the visibility of the navigation bar, toolbar and unit selector. This makes it easier to visualise how a full screen app would appear.
• Use the Settings button in the top left to open the Settings view.
• In Adaptivity (A) running on iPadOS 13 or later and macOS, use the add window button in the top left to open a new window. Prior to iPadOS 15 or on macOS this is another primary window showing another Main Window. On iPadOS 15 and later, choose between opening a new standard window (another primary Main Window) or a prominent window (a secondary window).
• Use the More Actions button in the top right to see a list of other actions that can be performed.
• Use the Share button in the bottom left to share a snapshot image of the view using a standard Activity View Controller.
• Use the Text Size button in the bottom right to show the current Content Size Category.
• Visibility of the layout margins and readable content guide can be configured in the Settings view.
• Large navigation bar titles can be configured in the Settings view.
• On devices that support 3D Touch running iOS 12 and earlier, a light press on the Peek & Pop button previews a Full Screen modal presentation.
• On iOS/iPadOS 13 or later, a long press or 3D Touch on the Context Menu button previews a Full Screen modal presentation and a context menu with some example actions.
• On macOS, a control click or right click on the Context Menu button shows a context menu with some example actions.

The More Actions button in the top right of the Main Window displays other actions that can be performed:

• The Presentation Style setting controls the modal presentation style when showing the other view controllers. The default choice is Automatic on iOS/iPadOS 13 or later and Full Screen on earlier versions.

  • Popover

    When shown in a popover, view controllers other than Modal View Controller have a preferredContentSize of CGSize(375, 2000) to request a specific width but make them as tall as iOS will allow for the current device type and orientation. A Modal View Controller shown in a popover does not specify a preferredContentSize in order to demonstrate default behaviour. The More Actions view controller itself is always shown in a popover. On macOS 11 or later, a preferredContentSize of CGSize(320, 750) is used.

    By default, a popover will be adapted in compact width environments. When adapted, a popover appears full screen on iOS 12 and earlier. On iOS/iPadOS 13 or later a popover adapts to a card-like presentation. Turn off the Adapt Modal Presentations setting to disable adaptions and see the popover actually displayed as a popover.

  • Form Sheet and Page Sheet

    By default, on iOS 12 and earlier a form or page sheet will be adapted in compact width environments and appear full screen. On iOS/iPadOS 13 or later they display in a card-like Automatic presentation whether they are adapted or not. Turn off the Adapt Modal Presentations setting to disable adaptions.

  • Full Screen

    This style presents view controllers full screen, filling the width and height of their window.

  • Automatic (requires at least iOS/iPadOS 13 or macOS)

    Except for Split View Controller, this style appears identical to Page Sheet. When presented with an Automatic style, a Split View Controller has a card-like appearance, but always fills the width of the window.

• On iOS/iPadOS 15 or later, the Sheet Presentation option shows a separate view with settings to control whether customisations are made to the sheet presentation when showing other view controllers in a form sheet, page sheet or automatic presentation style. The default choice is to not customise the presentation (giving the same behaviour as on earlier OS versions). Turn on Custom Configuration and then configure the other settings to affect properties on the UISheetPresentationController. This option is not available on macOS.

• The Modal View Controller option presents a view controller similar to the Main Window to show the width, height, layout guides etc. of the different modal presentation styles.

• The Tab Bar Controller option presents a UITabBarController.

• The Table View Controller option presents a UITableViewController.

• The Split View Controller options present a UISplitViewController with the appropriate style: Classic, Double Column and Triple Column. Prior to iOS/iPadOS 13, UISplitViewController must be presented full screen. Double and Triple Column styles are only available on iOS/iPadOS 14 or later and macOS 11 or later.

• The Dynamic Type option presents a view controller that shows the different Dynamic Type text styles.

• The Keyboard option presents a view controller that shows how the visible space changes if a view controller implements Keyboard Dodging. It can also show the size available for custom keyboards. This option is not available on macOS.

• The Safe Area option presents a view controller that shows the Safe Area Layout Margin.

• The Pointer Interaction option presents a view controller that shows the Pointer Interaction. This option is only available on iPadOS 13.4 or later.

• The System Colors option presents a view controller that shows the System Colors.

• The System Fonts option presents a view controller that shows the System Fonts.

• The System Images option presents a view controller that shows the System Images (also known as SF Symbols). This option is only available on iOS/iPadOS 13 or later and macOS.

• The System Materials option presents a view controller that shows the System Materials. This option is only available on iOS/iPadOS 13 or later and macOS.

• In Adaptivity (A) running on iPadOS 13 or later and macOS, the Main Window option opens a new primary window showing another Main Window.

• In Adaptivity (A) running on iPadOS 15 or later, the Prominent Window option opens a new auxiliary window using the prominent scene presentation style.

• The Send Notification option schedules a local notification to fire after 5 seconds. This option is available on all iOS/iPadOS versions and macOS 11 or later.

  On iOS/iPadOS, the notification banner can be swiped, 3D Touched or long pressed (depending on device type and iOS version) to show the Notification Content Extension.

  On macOS, hover over the notification and click on the disclosure button in the top right to show the Notification Content Extension.

  On iOS/iPadOS 15 or later and macOS 12 or later, the notification interruption level can be configured. Choose between passive, active and time sensitive.

In Adaptivity (A) running on iPadOS 13 or later, drag an option (other than Main Window and Send Notification) to the side or top of the screen to open a new window showing the selected view. Dragging the Main Window option will open a primary window. Dragging one of the other options will open an auxiliary window.

In Adaptivity (A) running on iPadOS 15 or later, long press an option (other than Main Window, Prominent Window and local notification options) to show a context menu with actions to open a new standard or prominent window showing the selected view. A pinch out gesture on an option will open a new prominent window showing the selected view.

In Adaptivity (A) running on macOS, use the File→New menu to open different views in new windows.

When opened in new windows, the Presentation Style and Sheet Presentation settings are ignored and the new view will always fill its window.

Device rotations, iPad multitasking and Content Size Category changes will affect the appearance as the view controller adapts to the trait collection changes.

Use the ⊗ button in the navigation bar or tap outside a popover to dismiss the view controller. On iOS/iPadOS 13 or later, a view controller presented as a form or page sheet can also be dismissed with a downward swipe gesture. The isModalInPresentation setting can be used to block the swipe gesture and also prevents popovers from being dismissed by tapping outside them.

The Tab Bar Controller view can be opened using the More Actions button in the top right of the Main Window. This view shows a UITabBarController with five tab bar items: Share, three invisible spacer tabs, and Size. The middle spacer tab makes some room to show the size class. The other spacer tabs help push the Share and Size tabs away from the vertical arrows showing the full view and tab bar height. This doesn’t work for all device types and view sizes and so they sometimes overlap.

• Depending on device type and iOS version, a tab bar is slightly taller than a toolbar and will shrink in compact height environments. On more recent iPhones with a Home Indicator, on iPads running iOS 12 or later, and on macOS, a tab bar is the same size as a toolbar.
• In Adaptivity (A) running on iPadOS 13 or later and macOS, use the add window button in the top left to open a new window showing another Tab Bar Controller view.
• Use the Points and Pixels buttons to switch size units.
• Tap anywhere in the main part of the view to toggle the visibility of the navigation bar, tab bar and unit selector.
• Use the Share tab bar item in the bottom left to share a snapshot image of the view using a standard Activity View Controller.
• Use the Text Size tab bar item in the bottom right to show the current Content Size Category.

The Table View Controller view can be opened using the More Actions button in the top right of the Main Window. This feature is only available in Adaptivity (A). This view shows a UITableViewController with several table view cells that show different aspects of the layout. Depending on the configuration, not all rows are shown:

• Table View Cell shows layout for the entire table view cell. On iOS/iPadOS 13 or later and macOS, using a Table View Style of Inset Grouped, the leading/trailing margins for the inset are also shown.
• Content View shows the width and height of the table view cell’s content view. If an accessory is shown, its width is also shown.
• Safe Area shows the Safe Area Layout Guide for the table view cell’s content view. The safe area insets for the cell are often zero and so this cell usually looks the same as the Content View cell. On landpscape iPhone devices with a notch, for some table view configurations, the leading/trailing safe area insets will be non-zero.
• Layout Margins shows the Layout Margins Guide for the table view cell’s content view.
• Image View shows the insets for the table view cell’s image to the content view edges or, depending on configuration, the text label or detail text label.
• Text Label shows the insets for the table view cell’s text label to the content view edges, or, depending on configuration, the image or detail text label.
• Detail Text Label shows the insets for the table view cell’s detail text label to the content view edges, or, depending on configuration, the image or text label.

Use the Share button in the bottom left to share a snapshot image of the view using a standard Activity View Controller.

Use the Edit/Done button in the bottom right to toggle edit mode for the table. When editing, a delete icon will be shown next to each cell and the accessory is configured by the Editing Accessory setting instead of the Accessory setting.

Use the Configuration button in the top left to configure some settings that affect the table view appearance. Some settings only have a noticeable effect on certain device types, orientations or size classes. Some combinations do not work well together (for example, a value 2 cell style with long text for both the text label and detail text label). Tap a setting to change its value or use the switch to enable/disable the setting.

Table View:

• The Style setting controls the table view style: plain, grouped and, on iOS/iPadOS 13 or later and macOS, inset grouped.
• The sectionHeaderTopPadding setting controls the padding of section headers on iOS/iPadOS 15 or later: none and default.
• The cellLayoutMarginsFollowReadableWidth, insetsContentViewsToSafeArea and insetsLayoutMarginsFromSafeArea settings control the properties of the same name on the table view.

Table View Cell:

• The Style setting controls the table view cell style: default, subtitle, value 1 and value 2.
• The Accessory and Editing Accessory settings control which accessory type will be shown when the table view is in non-editing and editing mode respectively. Choose between the iOS UITableViewCellAccessoryType values or a custom UISwitch accessory view.
• The insetsLayoutMarginsFromSafeArea setting controls the property of the same name on the table view cell.

Content View:

• The preservesSuperviewLayoutMargins setting controls the property of the same name on the table view cell’s content view.

Image View:

• The Image setting controls whether an image is shown or not. Three fixed sizes are available: 16×16 points, 32×32 points, and 48×48 points. On iOS/iPadOS 13 or later and macOS, there are also choices for small, medium, and large SF Symbols which scale in size with the current Content Size Category.

Text Label:

• The Text setting controls the text shown in the text label. Choose between none, short, long and very long.
• The Number Of Lines setting controls the numberOfLines property of the text label. The Default choice will not set the property.

Detail Text Label:

• The Text setting controls the text shown in the detail text label. Choose between none, short, long and very long.
• The Number Of Lines setting controls the numberOfLines property of the detail text label. The Default choice will not set the property.

On iPadOS 13 or later and macOS, use the add window button in the top left to open a new window showing another Table View Controller view. Opening another window and showing the Configuration screen makes it easier to quickly change settings and see the other window update its appearance.

The Classic Split View Controller view can be opened using the More Actions button in the top right of the Main Window. This view shows a UISplitViewController with the classic style.

On iPadOS 13 or later and macOS, a Presentation Style setting of Automatic will use the familiar card-like appearance but will fill the available width. Presenting a UISplitViewController is the only case I know of where the Automatic and Page Sheet presentation styles appear differently. Prior to iOS/iPadOS 13, split view controllers must always appear full screen.

• Use the Points and Pixels buttons to switch size units.
• Tap anywhere in the main part of the primary or secondary view to toggle the visibility of the navigation bar, toolbar and unit selector.
• Use the Share button in the bottom left to share a snapshot image of the view using a standard Activity View Controller.
• Use the Text Size button in the bottom right to show the current Content Size Category.
• In compact width environments the primary and secondary view controllers will each appear separately. Use the Secondary button from the primary view to show the secondary view. Similarly, use the Primary button from the secondary view to return to the primary view.
• The behaviour in regular width environments depends on the device type, orientation and the configuration for preferredDisplayMode. In Automatic mode the following behaviour occurs:
  • When viewed on iPhone Plus devices in landscape, the primary and secondary views are shown side-by-side. The secondary view has an expand button which causes it to fill the screen. Use the Primary button to return to the split view.
  • When viewed on iPhone XR, XS Max, iPhone 11 or iPhone 11 Pro Max devices in landscape, the secondary view is shown full screen and has a Primary button which causes the primary to appear as an overlay.
  • When viewed full screen on iPad and iPad Pro, the primary view will appear side-by-side with the secondary view in landscape and as an overlay in portrait.
  • When viewed on macOS, the primary view will always appear side-by-side with the secondary view.

Use the Configuration button in the top left of the primary or secondary view to configure some settings that affect the UISplitViewController appearance. Tap a setting to change its value.

• The preferredDisplayMode setting controls the preferred display mode: Automatic, Primary Hidden, All Visible or Primary Overlay. The actual displayMode the UISplitViewController uses depends on the size class, device type and orientation.
• The presentsWithGesture setting controls the property of the same name on the UISplitViewController.
• The primaryEdge setting controls whether the primary view controller appears on the leading or trailing edge. Note that changing this to Trailing does not affect where the navigation bar buttons appear. This can result in confusing situations such as a secondary view controller with a left-facing Primary back button which, when tapped, shows the primary view controller on the right. Leave this setting at the default value Leading and use the Force Right-to-Left Layout setting to visualise a fully reversed layout.

In Adaptivity (A) running on iPadOS 13 or later and macOS, use the add window button in the top left of the Primary view to open a new window showing another Split View Controller view.

The Double Column Split View Controller view can be opened using the More Actions button in the top right of the Main Window. This view shows a UISplitViewController with the double column style. This feature is only available in Adaptivity (A) on iOS/iPadOS 14 or later and macOS 11 or later.

In regular width environments, the width of the primary view is larger than what is visible on screen (420 points versus 320 points). This allows a drag gesture revealing the primary view to “overscroll” and reveals the extra content. The leading layout margin is 100 points wider than the trailing layout margin to counteract this and keep the content visible.

Prior to iPadOS 16, a Presentation Style setting of Automatic will use the familiar card-like appearance but will fill the available width. Since iPadOS 16, the Automatic style will appear as a Form Sheet and has a narrower primary view (340 points wide with 240 points visible on screen). Presenting a UISplitViewController is the only case I know of where the Automatic and Page Sheet presentation styles appear differently.

• Use the Points and Pixels buttons to switch size units.
• Tap anywhere in the main part of the primary or secondary view to toggle the visibility of the navigation bar, toolbar and unit selector.
• Use the Share button in the bottom left to share a snapshot image of the view using a standard Activity View Controller.
• Use the Text Size button in the bottom right to show the current Content Size Category.
• If a custom compact view controller has not been configured, in compact width environments the primary and secondary view controllers will each appear separately. Use the Secondary button from the primary view to show the secondary view. Similarly, use the Primary button from the secondary view to return to the primary view.
• The behaviour in regular width environments depends on the device type, orientation and the configuration for preferredDisplayMode and preferredSplitBehavior.

Use the Configuration button in the top left of the primary or secondary views to configure some settings that affect the UISplitViewController appearance. Tap a setting to change its value.

• The preferredDisplayMode setting controls the preferred display mode: Automatic, Secondary Only, One Beside Secondary or One Over Secondary.
• On iOS/iPadOS 14.5 or later, the displayModeButtonVisibility setting controls the visibility of the display mode button: Automatic, Never or Always.
• The presentsWithGesture setting controls the property of the same name on the UISplitViewController.
• The preferredSplitBehavior setting controls the preferred split behaviour: Automatic, Tile or Overlay.
• The primaryEdge setting controls whether the primary view controller appears on the leading or trailing edge. Note that changing this to Trailing does not affect where the navigation bar buttons appear. Leave this setting at the default value Leading and use the Force Right-to-Left Layout setting to visualise a fully reversed layout.
• The Compact View Controller setting controls whether the UISplitViewController is configured with a custom view controller to use when in a compact width environment.

On iPadOS or macOS, use the add window button in the top left of the primary view to open a new window showing another Double Column Split View Controller view.

The Triple Column Split View Controller view can be opened using the More Actions button in the top right of the Main Window. This view shows a UISplitViewController with the triple column style. This feature is only available in Adaptivity (A) on iOS/iPadOS 14 or later and macOS 11 or later.

In regular width environments, the width of the primary view is larger than what is visible on screen (420 points versus 320 points). This allows a drag gesture revealing the primary view to “overscroll” and reveals the extra content. The leading layout margin is 100 points wider than the trailing layout margin to counteract this and keep the content visible.

Prior to iPadOS 16, a Presentation Style setting of Automatic will use the familiar card-like appearance but will fill the available width. Since iPadOS 16, the Automatic style will appear as a Form Sheet and has a narrower primary view (340 points wide with 240 points visible on screen). Presenting a UISplitViewController is the only case I know of where the Automatic and Page Sheet presentation styles appear differently.

• Use the Points and Pixels buttons to switch size units.
• Tap anywhere in the main part of the primary, supplementary or secondary view to toggle the visibility of the navigation bar, toolbar and unit selector.
• Use the Share button in the bottom left to share a snapshot image of the view using a standard Activity View Controller.
• Use the Text Size button in the bottom right to show the current Content Size Category.
• If a custom compact view controller has not been configured, in compact width environments the primary, supplementary and secondary view controllers will each appear separately. Use the Supplementary button from the primary view to show the supplementary view. Similarly, use the back button from the supplementary view to return to the primary view. Use the Secondary button from the supplementary view to show the secondary view. Similarly, use the back button from the secondary view to return to the supplementary view.
• The behaviour in regular width environments depends on the device type, orientation and the configuration for preferredDisplayMode and preferredSplitBehavior.

Use the Configuration button in the top left of the primary or secondary views to configure some settings that affect the UISplitViewController appearance. Tap a setting to change its value.

• The preferredDisplayMode setting controls the preferred display mode: Automatic, Secondary Only, One Beside Secondary, One Over Secondary, Two Beside Secondary, Two Over Secondary or Two Display Secondary.
• On iOS/iPadOS 14.5 or later, the displayModeButtonVisibility setting controls the visibility of the display mode button: Automatic, Never or Always.
• The presentsWithGesture setting controls the property of the same name on the UISplitViewController.
• The showsSecondaryOnlyButton setting controls the property of the same name on the UISplitViewController.
• The preferredSplitBehavior setting controls the preferred split behaviour: Automatic, Tile, Overlay or Displace.
• The primaryEdge setting controls whether the primary view controller appears on the leading or trailing edge. Note that changing this to Trailing does not affect where the navigation bar buttons appear. Leave this setting at the default value Leading and use the Force Right-to-Left Layout setting to visualise a fully reversed layout.
• The Compact View Controller setting controls whether the UISplitViewController is configured with a custom view controller to use when in a compact width environment.

On iPadOS or macOS, use the add window button in the top left of the primary view to open a new window showing another Triple Column Split View Controller view.

The Dynamic Type view can be opened using the More Actions button in the top right of the Main Window. This view shows the different UIFontTextStyle fonts for the current Content Size Category.

• On iOS/iPadOS 13 or later, use the Choose Font button in the top left to change the font. Choose from the four system font designs (default, rounded, serif and monospaced) or a custom font. On iOS/iPadOS 16 or later the default design supports five different widths (standard, condensed, compressed, expanded and extra expanded). The app supports custom fonts installed by font provider apps.
• The app remembers your choice of font and will use it the next time the Dynamic Type view is opened. It is possible to temporarily use different fonts using multiple windows on iPad or Mac and selecting different fonts in each of them.
• In Adaptivity (A) running on iPadOS 13 or later and macOS, use the add window button in the top left to open a new window showing another Dynamic Type view.
• Use the Share button in the bottom left to share a snapshot image of the view using a standard Activity View Controller.
• Use the Information button in the bottom right to toggle displaying the font name and point size for each text style.
• The Content Size Category can be changed in the Apple Settings app using the Larger Text setting located in Accessibility → Display & Text Size on iOS/iPadOS 13 or later, and in General → Accessibility on earlier versions. The Text Size Control Centre control can also be used to change the size. This control can be added to Control Centre in the Apple Settings app in Control Centre → Customise Controls. Mac Catalyst apps always use the Large Content Size Category.
• Tap a row to see more details about the font (shown to the right in a separate window in the above screenshot).

The Keyboard view can be opened using the More Actions button in the top right of the Main Window. This feature is only available in Adaptivity (A) and only on iOS/iPadOS. This view shows the visible space for an app that isn’t obscured by the iOS keyboard and the space available for custom keyboards. Adaptivity uses an invisible UITextField to show the keyboard. The text field has default properties for autocomplete, spell checking etc. The keyboard dodging logic ignores an undocked, split or floating keyboard on iPad.

The QuickType bar for predictive text affects the height of the keyboard. Whether the bar is visible depends on the Predictive and, on iPad, Shortcuts settings in the Apple Settings app in the General → Keyboard section. These settings can also be accessed using a long press gesture on the Emoji or Globe icon in the standard iOS keyboard and tapping on the Keyboard Settings option.

• Use the Points and Pixels buttons to switch size units.
• Use the Share button in the top left to share a snapshot image of the view using a standard Activity View Controller. They keyboard itself is not part of the app’s view hierarchy and will not be included.
• Use the Information button in the top left to toggle between displaying a standard iOS keyboard and a custom keyboard. The custom keyboard has Adaptivity’s familiar appearance to show the width, height, layout guides etc.
• On iPadOS 13 or later use the add window button in the top left to open a new window showing another Keyboard view.
• Tap the Done button in the standard keyboard or anywhere on the background of the custom keyboard to dismiss it.
• Tap anywhere in the background of the main view to toggle the appearance of the keyboard.

The Safe Area view can be opened using the More Actions button in the top right of the Main Window. This feature is only available in Adaptivity (A). This view focuses on the Safe Area Layout Guide and is particularly useful on modern iPhone and iPad devices, demonstrating how the Safe Area Layout Guide can be used to avoid the notch and/or Home Indicator.

• Use the Points and Pixels buttons to switch size units.
• Use the Navigation Bar switch to toggle the visibility of the navigation bar.
• Use the Toolbar switch to toggle the visibility of the toolbar.
• Tap anywhere in the main part of the view to toggle the visibility of the navigation bar title, buttons and unit selector. This makes it easier to visualise how a full screen app would appear.
• On iPadOS 13 or later and macOS, use the add window button in the top left to open a new window showing another Safe Area view.
• Use the Share button in the bottom left to share a snapshot image of the view using a standard Activity View Controller.
• Use the Text Size button in the bottom right to show the current Content Size Category.

The Pointer Interaction view can be opened using the More Actions button in the top right of the Main Window. This feature is only available in Adaptivity (A) on iPadOS 13.4 or later. This view shows three buttons in different styles and five images in different sizes. Use a trackpad or mouse to move the pointer over the buttons or images to explore different types of pointer interactions on iPad.

Use the Share button in the bottom left to share a snapshot image of the view using a standard Activity View Controller.

The Appearance setting in the toolbar controls whether the app follows the system appearance or always has a light or dark appearance. The images have light and dark versions.

Use the Text Size button in the bottom right to show the current Content Size Category. Note that the buttons use default properties and therefore have a fixed font size.

Use the Configuration button in the top left to configure some settings that affect the pointer interaction that is used. The value of some settings control which other settings are available. Tap a setting to change its value or use the switch to enable/disable the setting.

UIButton:

• The pointerStyleProvider setting controls the property of the same name on the three buttons. Choose between none, proposed and custom. The Proposed choice uses the system’s proposed UIPointerEffect and UIPointerShape objects passed as parameters to the pointer style provider block.

The remaining sections control the pointer style that is used for the image views. This pointer style is also used for the buttons if the UIButton’s pointerStyleProvider is Custom.

Pointer Style:

• The Type setting controls which UIPointerStyle initialiser is used. Choose between none, hidden, effect, shape, and on iPadOS 15 or later, system.
• If the Type is Effect, the Custom Pointer Shape setting controls whether a custom UIPointerShape is used or not. If disabled, nil is used. If enabled, the pointer shape is configured according to the settings in the Pointer Shape section.
• If the Type is Shape, the Constrained Axes setting controls the axes to which the shape is constrained. Choose from neither, horizontal, vertical and both.

Pointer Effect:

• If the Pointer Style Type is Effect this section is used to configure the UIPointerEffect.
• The Type setting controls the type of the effect. Choose between default, highlight, lift and hover.
• For hover effects, the preferredTintMode, prefersScaledContent and prefersShadow settings control the properties of the same name on the UIPointerHoverEffect.

Pointer Shape:

• If the Pointer Style Type is Shape or if Custom Pointer Shape is enabled for a Pointer Style of Effect, this section is used to configure the UIPointerShape.
• The Type setting controls which UIPointerShape initialiser is used. Choose between rounded rect, beam and path.
• For rounded rect shapes, the Horizontal Size and Vertical Size settings control the size of the shape relative to the width or height of the view. The Corner Radius setting determines whether a corner radius is specified when creating the UIPointerShape. The Default choice means no corner radius is specified. The 25% and 50% choices specify a corner radius based on the smallest of the width or height of the view.
• For beam shapes, the Preferred Length setting controls the preferredLength parameter in the UIPointerShape initialiser. The choices are 50%, 100% or 150% of the size of the width or height (depending on axis) of the view. Note that this is just a suggestion and iPadOS seems to have a minimum and maximum size at which it will show beam shapes. The Axis setting controls whether the beam is horizontal or vertical.
• For path shapes, the Size setting controls the size of the pointer based on the smallest of the width or height of the view. The Shape setting controls the shape of the pointer. Choose between circle, square, star and triangle.

Pointer Accessories:

• If the Pointer Style Type is System this section is used to configure the UIPointerAccessory.
• The Type setting controls the type of the pointer accessories. Choose between none, arrows and custom.
• The Positions setting controls which positions are used. Select between one and four positions (the maximum supported by iPadOS).

Custom Pointer Accessories:

• If the Pointer Accessories Type is Custom this section is used to configure the UIPointerAccessory.
• The Shape setting controls the shape of the pointer accessories. Choose between circle, square, star and plus.
• The orientationMatchesAngle setting controls the property of the same name.

Use the add window button in the top left to open a new window showing another Pointer Interaction view. Opening another window and showing the Configuration screen makes it easier to quickly change settings and move the pointer back to the other window to see how it behaves when moving over the buttons or images.

The System Colors view can be opened using the More Actions button in the top right of the Main Window. This view shows the system colors and is particularly useful on iOS/iPadOS 13 or later and macOS, demonstrating the new dynamic colors. The resolved color for some dynamic colors in Mac Catalyst apps are different to iOS/iPadOS. On iOS 12 and ealier, only the fixed system colors are shown.

• A full screen presentation is not elevated and any non-full-screen presentation is elevated. On iPad, if the app is in Split View or Slide Over it is always elevated. On iPadOS 15 or later, a prominent window is always elevated.
• On iPadOS 13 or later and macOS, use the add window button in the top left of the color list to open a new window showing another System Colors view.
• Use the Share button in the bottom left to share a snapshot image of the view using a standard Activity View Controller.
• The Appearance setting in the toolbar controls whether the app follows the system appearance or always has a light or dark appearance. In a dark appearance on iOS/iPadOS 13 or later, some colors are different at base and elevated user interface levels. Mac Catalyst apps don’t seem to change colors between base and elevated levels.
• Use the Information button in the bottom right to toggle displaying the red, green, blue and, if not 100%, the alpha components of each color. A small icon also indicates whether the color is opaque (●), partially transparent (◐), or fully transparent (○).
• On devices that support 3D Touch running iOS 12 and earlier, a light press on a row show a larger preview of the color and actions to copy its name or color value in various formats.
• On iOS/iPadOS 13 or later, a long press or 3D Touch on a row shows a larger preview of the color and a context menu with actions to copy its name or color value in various formats. Note that the preview is always shown at an elevated interface level so the color may look slightly different if the System Colors view is not elevated.
• On macOS, a control click or right click on a row shows a context menu with actions to copy its name or color value in various formats.
• Tap a row to see more details about the color (shown to the right in a separate window in the above screenshot).
• On iPadOS 13 or later, drag a color from the System Colors screen or the color swatch in the detail screen to apps which accept dropping a color (e.g. Keynote). Drag the color name or representation from the detail screen to copy the string to apps which accept dropping of text.

The System Fonts view can be opened using the More Actions button in the top right of the Main Window. This feature is only available in Adaptivity (A) on iOS/iPadOS 13 or later and macOS. This view shows the system fonts in different weights and sizes.

• Use the Choose Font button in the top left to change the font. Choose from the four system font designs (default, rounded, serif and monospaced) or a custom font. On iOS/iPadOS 16 or later the default design supports five different widths (standard, condensed, compressed, expanded and extra expanded). The app supports custom fonts installed by font provider apps.
• The app remembers your choice of font and will use it the next time the System Fonts view is opened. It is possible to temporarily use different fonts using multiple windows on iPad or Mac and selecting different fonts in each of them.
• On iPadOS or macOS, use the add window button in the top left of the color list to open a new window showing another System Fonts view.
• Use the Share button in the bottom left to share a snapshot image of the view using a standard Activity View Controller.
• Use the Information button in the bottom right to toggle displaying the font name and point size for each font weight.
• Tap a row to see more details about the font (shown to the right in a separate window in the above screenshot).

The System Images view can be opened using the More Actions button in the top right of the Main Window. This feature is only available in Adaptivity (A) on iOS/iPadOS 13 or later and macOS. This view shows the system images, also known as SF Symbols. The images are grouped into categories and appear in the same order as in Apple’s SF Symbols Mac app.

On iPadOS 16 or later, the System Images view overrides the default Automatic presentation style appearance of a Double Column Split View Controller to force the card-like appearance from earlier iPadOS versions. This prevents the category list from being too narrow and increases the number of images that can be viewed on screen. Use a Form Sheet presentation style to see the default appearance.

• On iPadOS or macOS, use the add window button in the top left of the category list to open a new window showing another System Images view.
• Use the Share button in the bottom left to share a snapshot image of the view using a standard Activity View Controller.
• On iOS/iPadOS 14 or later and macOS 11 or later, use the Data Set button in the bottom right of the category list to select a data set. Choose between viewing the different SF Symbol data sets, the custom social media images from Icons8, or the custom SF Feathers images from Niels Boey.
• Smart collections group together images which are restricted, unrestricted, uncategorized, or have language or right-to-left localizations. The “All”, “What’s New”, “Multicolor”, “Hierarchical / Palette” and “Variable” categories are ignored when determining uncategorized symbols.
• When viewing the iOS/iPadOS 13.1 or later images, there are also smart collections that group together images which have been added or renamed in that data set.
• A Favorites collection groups together all your favorite images. Swipe to the right to remove all images. On iOS/iPadOS, a long press or 3D Touch shows a Remove all Images action. On macOS, a control click or right click shows the same action.
• Create your own custom collections of images using the New Collection button. Swipe to the right to remove all images. Swipe to the left to delete or rename the collection. On iOS/iPadOS, a long press or 3D Touch shows a context menu with the same actions. On macOS, a control click or right click shows the same actions.
• The Favorites collection and your own custom collections are shared across all data sets but only show images that are available in the currently-selected data set. For images that have been renamed, the name appropriate for the data set being viewed will be shown.
• On macOS, favorites and custom collections are shared with SF Menu Bar running on the same Mac.
• In the category view, use the Tiles, Grid and List buttons to switch display modes.
• In List mode, swipe to the right to toggle whether an image is a favorite or not. If the image has right-to-left and/or language localizations, another swipe action is available to show all the variants.
• On iOS/iPadOS, a long press or 3D Touch on an image shows a larger preview of the image and a context menu with more actions. On macOS, a control click or right click on an image shows the same actions. There are actions to copy an image’s name, copy its unicode character, add/remove it from the Favorites collection, add it to a custom collection, or add it to a new custom collection. If you are viewing an image within a custom collection, there is an action to remove it from the collection. If the image has right-to-left and/or language localizations, a Show Localizations action shows all the variants.
• Images can also be dragged and dropped into the Favorites collection and custom collections to add them.
• On iOS/iPadOS 13 and macOS 10.15, use the Information button in the bottom right of the category view to toggle displaying aligment information (orange bounding boxes and baselines) for each image.
• On iOS/iPadOS 14 or later and macOS 11 or later, use the Information button in the bottom right of the category view to show options to toggle displaying alignment information, version availability, favorite status, restricted usage, language localized or right-to-left localized annotations. Select a render mode and, on iOS/iPadOS 15 or later and macOS 12 or later, configure colors.
• On iOS/iPadOS 16 or later and macOS 13 or later, use the Variable Color button and slider in the toolbar to toggle variable color mode on and off and configure the percentage.
• When restricted annotations are enabled, a red ⓘ button is shown for any image which has restricted usage. Tap the button for more information on the restriction.
• Tap an image to see more details about the image (shown to the right in a separate window in the above screenshot). This shows the selected image at different weights, scales and a choice of text styles. On iOS/iPadOS, each image also supports a long press or 3D Touch to show a larger preview and a context menu with an action to copy its name, copy its unicode character, or add/remove it from the Favorites collection. On macOS, a control click or right click on an image shows a similar menu.
• In regular width environments the UISplitViewController shows the list of categories and the images in the selected category alongside each other. On iPadOS 13 and macOS 10.15, use the expanding arrow button in the top left of the category view to hide the category list and fill the available width. Use the Categories back button to show the list of categories again. On iPadOS 14 or later and macOS 11 or later, use the sidebar toggle button to show/hide the category list.

When the alignment annotation is enabled the larger previews show alignment information:

• A square grey box is used as a reference frame. Horizontal and vertical lines show the centre of the box.
• The image is scaled so that its width or height (whichever is larger) is the same size as the grey box. An orange bounding box shows the size and aspect ratio of the image.
• The image has autolayout constraints to centre it with respect to the grey box. Each image has its own optical centre which affects its alignment. This means the orange bounding box will not always appear strictly centred within the grey box. For some images, it even extends outside the grey box.
• A horizontal orange line shows the baseline for the image. Each image has its own baseline so that images aligned by baseline constraints to other images or text will appear vertically aligned in a visually appealing manner.

The System Materials view can be opened using the More Actions button in the top right of the Main Window. This feature is only available in Adaptivity (A) on iOS/iPadOS 13 or later and macOS. This view shows the system material blur and vibrancy effect styles.

• Swipe left/right to move between the different system material blur effect styles. There are five blur styles – Thick, Chrome, Regular, Thin and Ultra Thin – which are available in adaptive, always-light and always-dark variants.
• There are also left/right buttons at the very edges of the view which can be used to move between styles. Depending on the background image, these buttons can be difficult to see.
• Scroll up/down to view the different system material vibrancy effect styles. There are four label styles and three fill styles.
• Use the Photo button in the top left to change the background image. Choose from the default image, taking a new photo with the camera, importing an existing photo from your photo library, or importing an image from iCloud Drive, Dropbox etc. The camera choice is not available on Mac.
• On iPadOS and macOS, it is also possible to change the background by dragging an image from another app and dropping it into the area between the navigation bar and toolbar.
• The app remembers your choice of image and will use it the next time the System Materials view is opened. It is possible to temporarily use different images using multiple windows on iPad or Mac and loading different images into each of them. iPadOS is aggressive at disconnecting and re-connecting window sessions if you move between apps and if Adaptivity has to restore a session showing the System Materials view it will use the most-recently-selected image.
• On iPadOS or macOS, use the add window button in the top left to open a new window showing another System Materials view.
• Use the Share button in the bottom left to share a snapshot image of the view using a standard Activity View Controller.
• The Appearance setting in the toolbar controls whether the app and the adaptive blur effect styles follow the system appearance or always have a light or dark appearance. The default background image has light and dark versions.
• Use the Information button in the bottom right to toggle displaying the Swift constants for the blur and vibrancy effect styles.

Adaptivity (A) includes both pre- and post-iOS 14 style Widgets to show layout.

Widgets need to be added to the Home Screen or Today View before they can be used.

In the pre-iOS 14 style widget, the Show More/Show Less button can be used to switch between compact and expanded display modes. Use the Points and Pixels buttons to switch size units.

iOS 14 widgets are not interactive. Use the Points and Pixels buttons in the main app to switch size units.

Adaptivity (A) also includes iOS 16 Lock Screen Widgets to show layout:

Adaptivity (A) includes iOS 14 style Widgets to show random System Images from the most recent iOS data set supported by your device.

Widgets need to be added to the Home Screen or Today View before they can be used.

The System Images Widgets have several configuration options, allowing you to choose which information to display and how often to update. For help configuring widgets, see How to use widgets on iPhone and iPad.

Tap a widget to open the app and automatically navigate to the corresponding image.

Adaptivity (A) also includes iOS 16 Lock Screen Widgets to show random System Images:

Adaptivity (A) includes iOS 14 style Widgets to show text at configurable Dynamic Type text styles.

Widgets need to be added to the Home Screen or Today View before they can be used.

The Dynamic Type Widgets have several configuration options, allowing you to choose various font properties and which information to display. By default, the widget shows text at the system’s current content size configuration. This can be overridden to allow more easily comparing text at different content sizes. For help configuring widgets, see How to use widgets on iPhone and iPad.

Tap a widget to open the app and automatically navigate to the corresponding text style in the Dynamic Type view.

Adaptivity (A) includes a Notification Content Extension. This feature is not available on macOS prior to macOS 11.

A local notification can be scheduled using the More Actions button in the top right of the Main Window. The notification is scheduled with a 5 second delay. On iOS and iPadOS, this gives you a small amount of time to switch apps, go back to the home screen or turn off your display if you want to visualise how notifications appear in those different situations.

The first time a notification is scheduled, you are prompted to grant permission for the app to send notifications. The permissions can be changed in the Apple Settings app on iOS/iPadOS, and in System Preferences on macOS.

On iOS and iPadOS, swipe, 3D Touch or long press (depending on device type and iOS version) the notification to view the custom Notification Content Extension. On macOS, hover over the notification and click on the disclosure button in the top right to view the custom Notification Content Extension.

The content view has a fixed width and, prior to iOS 12, does not allow user interaction or dynamic notification actions. There are some notification actions to control the appearance:

• The Points ⇔ Pixels button switches size units (prior to iOS 12).
• The Height : Width = 0.5 button sets the view’s height to half the width.
• The Height : Width = 1.0 button sets the view’s height equal to the width.

On iOS 12 or later and macOS, use the Points and Pixels buttons in the content area to switch size units. A single Height : Width notification action is used, alternating between 1.0 and 0.5.

Tap the Settings button in the top left of the Main Window to display the Settings view. The Settings view ignores the Presentation Style setting in the More Actions menu and is always shown in a form sheet. This view has a few settings to control the behaviour of the app and links to other options.

• The Status Bar setting controls whether the app requests the Status Bar to be visible: Never, Default and Always. Note that this is just a request and iOS might override it. Default UINavigationController behaviour hides the status bar in compact height environments and reduces the height of the navigation bar and toolbar. This setting is not available on macOS because Mac Catalyst apps don’t have a status bar.
• The Layout Margins and Readable Content settings toggle showing this information.
• The Adapt Modal Presentations setting controls whether modal presentations are adapted in compact width environments. Prior to iOS/iPadOS 13 this affected the appearance of popovers, form sheets and page sheets. Since iOS/iPadOS 13, this only affects popovers. This setting is not available on macOS because the Main Window is always regular width and presented view controllers never adapt.
• The Force Right-to-Left Layout setting controls whether the user interface layout is forced into a right-to-left writing direction. This is effectively the same as choosing the Right-to-Left Pseudolanguage application language in Xcode’s scheme configuration. The app must be quit and reopened for a change to take effect. Out-of-process view controllers such as Add/Edit Siri Shortcut, Safari View Controller and the Font Picker will not be affected.

The External Display setting controls whether a full size layout view is shown on an external display. A change to the setting will not take effect until the external display is reconnected or the app is killed and restarted.

• The prefersLargeTitles setting controls whether large navigation bar titles are used.
• The insetsLayoutMarginsFromSafeArea setting controls whether layout margins are inset from the Safe Area.

iOS 12 and later:

• The Siri Shortcut row leads to the Siri Shortcut configuration settings. This feature is available on macOS 12 and later.

iOS 13 or iPadOS 13 and later:

• The isModalInPresentation setting controls whether form sheet, page sheet and popover presentations are modal. When the setting is off, form and page sheets can be dismissed with a downward swipe gesture on iOS/iPadOS 13 or later, and popovers can be dismissed by tapping outside the view controller’s bounds. On macOS this setting only affects popover dismissal since the downward swipe dismissal gesture is not supported.
• The Appearance setting controls whether the app follows the system appearance or always has a light or dark appearance. The buttons in the System Colors and System Materials views also control this setting.

iPadOS 13.4 and later:

• The Custom Pointer Interactions setting controls whether the app adds some subtle custom pointer interactions in addition to what the system provides by default. To see just the default interactions, turn this setting off. This setting does not affect the Pointer Interaction view.

  The following custom pointer interactions are used when the setting is turned on:

  • The Context Menu button in the Main Window, the Secondary button in the primary view of a Split View Controller in compact width environments, and the Insert button in the iMessage app have a UIPointerHighlightEffect with no custom pointer shape.
  • The colored icons in the System Colors view have a UIPointerHoverEffect with no custom pointer shape.
  • The rounded rectangles containing each image in the System Images Tiles and Grid views have a UIPointerHoverEffect with no custom pointer shape. The title of the image in the Grid view is not included in the pointer interaction.

Help:

• A link to this User Guide.
• An easy way to send me mail if you have any questions or comments.

About Adaptivity:

• The version of the app.
• Links to the web site, privacy policy and App Store page for the app.
• Links to the Hacknicity web site and all my apps on the App Store.

Do you like this App?:

• Write an App Store review.
• Share the app with other people using Mail, Message, Twitter, Facebook, AirDrop and more. On iOS or iPadOS, choose QR Code to display a QR code that links to the App Store page for the app. The other person can scan this with their camera app.

See all my Apps:

• A link to all my apps on the App Store.

Tap the Done button to return to the Main Window.

Adaptivity (A) supports a Siri shortcut on iOS 12 and macOS 12 or later. The shortcut is configured in the Siri Shortcut section of the Settings view, the Shortcuts app on iOS/iPadOS 13 and macOS 12 or later, or in the Siri & Search section of Apple’s Settings app.

• You can record (iOS 12) or type (iOS/iPadOS 13 and 14) a personalised phrase to run the shortcut using Siri. On iOS/iPadOS 15 and macOS 12, Adaptivity’s suggested phrase is used by default. Use the Change Voice Phrase button to change it.
• On iOS, an Intent UI Extension shows the familiar Adaptivity interface in the response. This feature is not available on macOS.
• The width of the UI is determined by the device type. The height is configured by the Height setting: 50% max width, 75% max width, 100% max width, 25% max height, 50% max height, 75% max height and 100% max height. Note that on iPad running iOS 12, the extension context’s hostedViewMaximumAllowedSize specifies a width that is larger than what is actually displayed. This means that the options to configure the height relative to the width will not produce the expected aspect ratio.
• Intent UI Extensions do not support user interaction so it uses the Points and Pixels size units configured in the iOS app.
• The Layout Margins and Readable Content settings control whether this information is shown (when there is enough space).

You can connect an external display or projector to your device using a Lightning or USB-C Digital AV Adapter. Alternatively, the Screen Mirroring feature in Control Centre can be used to AirPlay to an Apple TV.

On a device that does not support Stage Manager, the external display mirrors the contents of the device screen unless an app has custom external display support. The contents are scaled to fit the external display whilst maintaining the correct aspect ratio. This often results in scaling artefacts and black bars arond the content, especially when the device is in portrait and the external display is in landscape.

Apps that explicitly support external displays can show custom information. When the External Display setting is enabled, Adaptivity shows the familiar layout view at full size to fill an external display. This feature is only available in Adaptivity (A) on iOS or iPadOS.

The external display uses the Points and Pixels size units configured in the iOS app, although I’ve not yet found an external display that does not have 1 point equal to 1 pixel (i.e. both units are the same). Tapping the main window toggles visibility of the navigation bar and toolbar on the external display. The Layout Margins, Readable Content and prefersLargeTitles settings also apply to the external display.

The external display keeps showing the same view when you open other views in the app. You must keep the app open in the foreground, otherwise the external display will revert back to mirroring your device, or turn completely black if you turn off your device.

When using Stage Manager on iPadOS 16 or later, this full screen layout view will be shown instead of Stage Manager on an external display. To use Adaptivity on the iPad display and other apps with Stage Manager on an external display, turn the External Display setting off.

Adaptivity (A) includes an iMessage App. This feature is not available on macOS.

iMessage Apps are accessed from Apple’s own Messages app. An article on imore.com explains How to use sticker and apps in iMessage on iPhone and iPad.

The iMessage App shows the same information as the iOS application.

• Use the Points and Pixels buttons to switch size units.
• Visibility of the layout margins and readable content guide can be configured in the Settings view.
• The Insert button adds an MSMessageTemplateLayout object to the conversation. This has an image and sets all the template properties to their own name.
• Tap anywhere in the main part of the app’s window to toggle the visibility of the unit selector, Insert button and size class information.
• Use the arrow button in the toolbar (iOS 10) or at the top of the app (iOS 11 or later) to switch between compact and expanded sizes.

Adaptivity (A) for iPhone includes a Watch app which shows some size information:

• The width and height of the whole screen.
• The full height of app content that is visible below the status bar.

The app background is white by default in order to emphasise the exact size of the screen and the rounded bottom corners on the 40mm and 44mm Watches.

Use the Pt and Px buttons to switch size units between points and pixels.

Tap anywhere else on the screen to change the size information between:

• Screen size and full content height.
• Screen size, safe area content height, bottom keep out area and horizontal layout margins. This view is only available on 40mm and 44mm Watches.
• Just the screen size (hides Pt/Px buttons).

Long press on the screen to toggle between light and dark appearances.

The black background in dark appearance makes it almost impossible to see the screen edges and the rounded bottom corners on the 40mm and 44mm Watches.

The app supports all Complication families, providing quick access to launch the app from the watch face.

Where space is available, the complications also shows the screen size in pixels and, if even more space is available, in points.