Hey iOS developer! 👋
As a non-indie developer, I rarely struggle with generating app ideas or the technical side of building side projects. The real challenge often lies in designing an app that looks and feels like a true native system citizen. This is where SF Symbols becomes a valuable resource.
Introduced at WWDC 2019, SF Symbols provides developers with a vast collection of system icons. While they don't solve every design problem—such as layout, color schemes, or creating a standout app icon—they offer a huge advantage by allowing us to fully integrate native system icons into our apps.
Apple makes it even easier by offering the SF Symbols app, where you can browse all available icons in the latest iOS SDK. It’s a simple yet powerful tool for enhancing the visual consistency of your app.
In this week’s issue of Curated iOS, I’ll dive into SF Symbols: what they are, how to implement them, and what’s new in version 6.
WWDC2019: Introducing SF Symbols
SF Symbols is a library of vector-based symbols created by Apple, designed to be easily implemented in apps. Check out the original WWDC 2019 session to see just how straightforward it is to incorporate these symbols into your projects.
Watch on Apple Developer
SF Symbols - Human Interface Guidelines
Apple's Human Interface Guidelines (HIG) provide essential details for implementing app design correctly. The guidelines were recently updated to include new animations and features from SF Symbols 6.
Read on Apple Developer
SF Symbols: The benefits and how to use them guide
This essential read by Antoine van der Lee dives into SF Symbols - what they are, how to use them in your app, how to customize them, and how to create new symbols for use in Swift.
Read on Antoine blog
WWDC2024: What’s new in SF Symbols 6
Most of my newsletter issues include links to WWDC sessions, and this time I have two. This particular session introduced new animation presets like Wiggle, Rotate, and Breathe.
Watch on Apple Developer
What’s New in SF Symbols 6: New Features and Stunning Animations
I’m impressed with how thoroughly Parth Dumaswala's article covers so many interesting points about SF Symbols. It not only helped me revisit the basics from last year’s SF Symbols 5 but also includes helpful code animation examples. Additionally, the author explores the exciting new features in version 6.
Read on Medium
Exploring SwiftUI: Make SF Symbols Wiggle Wiggle
Rudrank Riyam did an excellent job of exploring the new Wiggle effect, complete with customisation examples.
Read on Rudrank blog
Animating SF Symbols with the symbol effect modifier
Matteo Altobello’s guide on the symbol effect modifier covers various types of SF Symbols animations, complete with SwiftUI code examples. The most intriguing animation for me was the content transition behavior, which allows smooth transitions between different symbols. I see a real use case for this - such as indicating the start and finish of audio or video download activities.
Read on Create with Swift
I hope you found this topic interesting, and feel free to share it!
Stay tuned for more in the upcoming issues. Until next time!
Artjoms