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Mac Catalyst
When you use Mac Catalyst to create a Mac version of your iPad app, you make your app available to a new audience while giving existing users the opportunity to enjoy it in a new environment.
For developer guidance, see Creating a Mac Version of Your iPad App.
Before You Start
Most iPad apps are great candidates for adaptation, but some rely on iPad features that donât exist on a Mac. For example, if your appâs essential features require iPad capabilities like gyroscope, accelerometer, or rear camera, iOS frameworks like HealthKit or ARKit, or the appâs main function is something like navigation, it might not be suited for the Mac.
For apps that donât require iPad-only features, the best way to ensure that your app will work well on a Mac is to make sure it works well on iPad. In particular, your app should:
Plan Enhancements for Your Mac App
When you use Mac Catalyst to create a Mac version of your iPad app, you get automatic support for fundamental Mac features, such as:
In addition, many system-provided UI elements automatically convert from iOS to macOS. For example, you get macOS-appropriate versions of the following iOS-provided items:
To ensure that your app gives people a rich Mac experience, itâs essential to enhance this foundation and go beyond simply displaying your iOS UI in a macOS window. Before you dive in and update specific views and controls, become familiar with the main differences between the platforms so that you can create an app that feels at home on the Mac. (For comprehensive design guidance for macOS apps, see macOS Human Interface Guidelines.)
iOS and macOS each define design patterns and conventions for user interaction that are rooted in the different ways people use their devices. For example, iOS conventions such as swipe to delete, action sheet commands, and controls at the bottom of the screen are optimized for touch interactions on a handheld device. In a similar way, macOS conventions such as dedicated keys and keyboard shortcuts, menu commands, and controls at the top of the window are optimized for keyboard, mouse, and trackpad interactions and a separate display.
The conventions and design patterns that have the biggest impact on adaptation can be grouped into four key areas.
Navigation. Many iOS and macOS apps organize data in similar ways, but they use different controls and visual indicators to help people understand and navigate through the data. For specific guidance, see Adopt macOS App Structure and Navigation Conventions.
User input and interactions. Although both iPad and Mac accept user input from a range of devices â such as the Multi-Touch display, keyboard, mouse, and trackpad â touch interactions inform iOS conventions, whereas keyboard and mouse interactions originated the conventions for macOS. For related guidance, see Support macOS User Interactions.
Menus. Mac users are familiar with the persistent menu bar and expect to find all app commands in menu bar menus. iOS, on the other hand, doesnât have a persistent menu bar, and iOS users expect to find app commands in the appâs UI. For related guidance, see Put App Commands into Menus.
Content scaling. Text in the macOS version of an iPad app looks the same as it does in iOS because SF fonts are available on both platforms. However, the baseline font size in iOS is 17 pt, whereas the most common font size in macOS is 13 pt. To ensure that your text and interface elements are consistent with the macOS display environment, iOS views automatically scale down to 77%. For related guidance, see Typography.
In addition to adopting macOS interaction and design conventions, you need to update your visual design and layout to take advantage of the wider Mac screen in ways that give macOS users a great experience. For example, you might:
For more guidance, see Visual Design Considerations.
Ideally, viewing your iPad app from the perspective of macOS design conventions can suggest ways to improve the iOS version, too. Although you want to make sure that each version remains true to the conventions of its platform, take this opportunity to revisit the design of your original app. Especially if your iPad app originated on iPhone, consider reassessing the ways you lay out views and controls to see if there are places where you can make better use of the large iPad screen.
Adopt macOS App Structure and Navigation Conventions
Well-designed app navigation reflects the structure of the data and supports the main purpose of the app in ways that follow the platformâs conventions. To help macOS users feel at home in your app, you need to translate the iOS navigation conventions to the equivalent macOS conventions.
Most iPad apps use either flat or hierarchical navigation, and some use a combination of both. Flat navigation presents areas of functionality or categories of data as peer groups that are always available. For example, Music and App Store use flat navigation to give people persistent access to high-level areas such as Library, For You, Browse, Today, and Games. Hierarchical navigation presents information in a tree-like organization through which people navigate by choosing one item per view until they reach their destination. In Settings, for example, people can customize text replacements by choosing General > Keyboards > Text Replacement.
Typically, iPad apps use the following UIKit controls to implement navigation:
If you use a tab bar in your iPad app, consider using a segmented control or the sidebar background style in a split view controller. Both items are similar to navigation conventions in Mac-style windows. To choose between these items, consider the following:
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