Apple releases iOS Human Interface Guidelines on iBookstore

Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited June 2014
Apple on Tuesday made an iPad-friendly version of its latest iOS Human Interface Guidelines reference material available to the public as a free download through the iBookstore.



Covering general design and content rules, Apple's 228-page iOS Human Interface Guidelines was previously available only through the company's Developer Portal. The iBooks release was first announced by Apple senior writer Dave Addey and subsequently reported by MacStories.

As seen in the image above, Apple has made an effort to translate the developer information into iPad-friendly iBooks content. Text and images are laid out in an easy to read manner that fits both portrait and landscape orientation.

Along with the usual iBooks features like page numbers, resizable fonts and annotation support, Apple's reference guide includes embedded videos further illustrating important topics. For example, the explanation for iOS app animations is augmented with a short six-second clip.

Apple's iOS Human Interface Guidelines is a free 20MB download from the iBookstore and is compatible with iOS devices running iOS 4.3.3 or later and iBooks 1.5 or later. Mac users can also access the e-book with iBooks 1.0 or later on a machine running OS X 10.9 or later.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 19
    jungmarkjungmark Posts: 6,926member
    Lots of downloads from South Korea.
  • Reply 2 of 19
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    Very nice, but won't this very soon be replaced with iOS 8 information?
  • Reply 3 of 19
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    Very nice, but won't this very soon be replaced with iOS 8 information?

    The bulk of the technology does not change over time. This isn't API documentation per say.
  • Reply 4 of 19
    ericthehalfbeeericthehalfbee Posts: 4,485member
    jungmark wrote: »
    Lots of downloads from South Korea.
    Bazinga!
  • Reply 5 of 19
    danielswdanielsw Posts: 906member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SpamSandwich View Post



    Very nice, but won't this very soon be replaced with iOS 8 information?

    I seriously doubt if Apple is going to "undo" anything in iOS7. Perhaps a few cosmetic tweaks. Perhaps functionality and feature enhancements. But as far as HIG goes, I can't see anything changing drastically.

  • Reply 6 of 19
    arlorarlor Posts: 532member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SpamSandwich View Post



    Very nice, but won't this very soon be replaced with iOS 8 information?

     

    I have an early HIG -- on paper! -- from when I had a IIGS in the 80s. It's surprising how little things have changed, in broad strokes, since then!

  • Reply 7 of 19
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Arlor View Post

     

     

    I have an early HIG -- on paper! -- from when I had a IIGS in the 80s. It's surprising how little things have changed, in broad strokes, since then!


     

    That sounds like a cool collectible.

  • Reply 8 of 19
    ezhikezhik Posts: 101member

    Neat, I like reading about user interfaces.

  • Reply 9 of 19
    stike vomitstike vomit Posts: 195member

    Top download from the comedy section.

  • Reply 10 of 19
    jasenj1jasenj1 Posts: 923member

    Maybe the Apple internal developers will read it - and not ignore it.

  • Reply 11 of 19
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    Originally Posted by jasenj1 View Post

    Maybe the Apple internal developers will read it - and not ignore it.

     

    Get over it. It has been a year. They’re not changing iOS 7. :no:

  • Reply 12 of 19
    haggarhaggar Posts: 1,568member
    In this day of scrolling through long web pages and long documents, Apple seriously needs to revisit the lack of draggable scrollbars on iOS devices.  When you start scrolling on an iOS device, scrollbars appear temporarily on the screen, but you can't drag them like real scrollbars.  Endlessly flicking your finger up and down the screen in Safari or any other application is not a solution.  Neither is berating people for trying to read long web pages or documents on their iPhone or even their iPad.
  • Reply 13 of 19
    dysamoriadysamoria Posts: 3,430member
    I personally find no desire to use scroll bars any more ever on anything like a Mac or iOS device, and still very rarely on a PC with a scroll wheel mouse. The last time I used scroll bars was on my companion's cheapo Dell laptop. Her machine's track pad sucks, has no gesture support, and is extremely non-ergonomic overall.
  • Reply 14 of 19
    dysamoriadysamoria Posts: 3,430member
    I have Apple's Human Interface Guidelines book from the 90s (?), and it really seems like Apple has lost the path entirely with iOS 7. Mac OS X screwed up for a while in its first few major versions, too, but eventually fell into place again. If the next revision is going to get that flat UI BS of iOS 7, they're going to again ignore their own very well researched and written professional guidelines.
  • Reply 15 of 19
    zoetmbzoetmb Posts: 2,654member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SpamSandwich View Post

     

     

    That sounds like a cool collectible.


     

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Arlor View Post

     

     

    I have an early HIG -- on paper! -- from when I had a IIGS in the 80s. It's surprising how little things have changed, in broad strokes, since then!


    I've still got mine also.   Mine was published by Addison-Wesley and has a 1986 and 1987 copyright (ISBN 0-201-17753-6).   While the screens within all look pretty clunky, the basic concepts of a GUI are so well expressed ("you select something, then take an action on it") that I still find it useful when managing coders who have never really formally studied UI and just design on instinct.    

  • Reply 16 of 19
    chandra69chandra69 Posts: 638member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Arlor View Post

     

     

    I have an early HIG -- on paper! -- from when I had a IIGS in the 80s. It's surprising how little things have changed, in broad strokes, since then!


    Common sense wont change much!  

    Its not Windows GUI or Android GUI. So...

  • Reply 17 of 19
    arlorarlor Posts: 532member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by zoetmb View Post

     

     

    I've still got mine also.   Mine was published by Addison-Wesley and has a 1986 and 1987 copyright (ISBN 0-201-17753-6).   While the screens within all look pretty clunky, the basic concepts of a GUI are so well expressed ("you select something, then take an action on it") that I still find it useful when managing coders who have never really formally studied UI and just design on instinct.    


     

    I agree entirely. 

     

    We moved last summer so I can't actually put my hands on mine at the moment, but I'm going to try to figure out which box it's in to get the year. I believe it was Addison-Wesley, too, but I'm not sure if that narrows it down to a specific edition or not. Wikipedia needs a page on this!

  • Reply 18 of 19
    rtamesisrtamesis Posts: 88member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by dysamoria View Post



    I have Apple's Human Interface Guidelines book from the 90s (?), and it really seems like Apple has lost the path entirely with iOS 7. Mac OS X screwed up for a while in its first few major versions, too, but eventually fell into place again. If the next revision is going to get that flat UI BS of iOS 7, they're going to again ignore their own very well researched and written professional guidelines.

    I still have Apple's CD-ROM version of the book which was created using Hypercard, I believe.

  • Reply 19 of 19
    fmalloyfmalloy Posts: 105member
    Quote:



    Originally Posted by SpamSandwich View Post



    Very nice, but won't this very soon be replaced with iOS 8 information?

     

    Yeah - where's the indications for stick-thin unreadable fonts, infantile candy coloring, and ambiguous button design?

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