iOS 26 HIG — iPhone patterns that actually ship

platform-conventions covers cross-platform norms and design-system-frameworks covers HIG's philosophy (deference, clarity, depth). This skill is the iPhone-on-iOS-26 field manual: the specific behaviors and SwiftUI modifiers that make a screen feel native instead of like a ported web app. iOS 26's design language is Liquid Glass — translucent, layered surfaces that refract the content behind them; the system chrome (tab bar, toolbars, sheets) floats over content rather than boxing it in.

The single most common iOS-26 mistake: forcing system chrome opaque to "match the brand." That fights the platform, breaks content-scrolls-under behavior, and reserves dead insets (the classic "white bar above the tab bar"). Default to letting the system render its chrome; theme only tint and your own surfaces.

This is the field-manual overview. For depth, use the specialized suite, each grounded in Apple HIG/WWDC25 sources: ios-liquid-glass-swiftui (material + verified API table), ios-typography, ios-layout-and-grid, ios-color-and-materials, ios-sf-symbols-and-icons, ios-components, ios-flows-and-patterns.

1. The floating tab bar (the #1 iOS-26 gotcha)

On iOS 26 a TabView renders as a floating, translucent pill inset from the screen edges. Content is expected to scroll underneath it; the system adds a bottom content inset so the last item can clear the bar at rest.