iOS 26 → iOS 27 HIG — iPhone patterns that actually ship

Skill name note: the "26" in ios26-hig-patterns is the original generation this skill was written for; the content now spans iOS 26 (shipping baseline) and iOS 27 (WWDC 2026 — current cycle). The folder/skill name is kept stable because other skills cross-reference it. Source: Apple HIG + WWDC25 (iOS 26 Liquid Glass baseline) and WWDC 2026 (June 8–12 2026 — iOS 27, Liquid Glass v2: refreshed materials/tokens, transparency slider, more-dimensional icons, scroll-to-minimize nav bars, resizable iPhone apps). Verify any iOS-27-specific API against current Apple docs before shipping — the cycle is fresh as of June 2026.

platform-conventions covers cross-platform norms and design-system-frameworks covers HIG's philosophy (deference, clarity, depth). This skill is the iPhone field manual: the specific behaviors and SwiftUI modifiers that make a screen feel native instead of like a ported web app. The 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. iOS 27 (WWDC 2026) ships Liquid Glass v2: the material now diffuses complex content more aggressively for legibility, adds a darkened edge plus brighter specular highlights for more dimension, gives users a transparency/intensity slider in Settings (ultra-clear → fully tinted), and expects iPhone apps to be resizable (fluid reflow across sizes/aspect ratios, not letterboxed) ahead of adaptive/foldable hardware.

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/WWDC26 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.