People tend to be unaware of an app’s navigation until it doesn’t meet their expectations. Your job is to implement navigation in a way that supports the structure and purpose of your app without calling attention to itself. Navigation should feel natural and familiar, and shouldn’t dominate the interface or draw focus away from content. In iOS, there are three main styles of navigation.

Hierarchical navigation. Make one choice per screen until you reach a destination. To go to another destination, you must retrace your steps or start over from the beginning and make different choices. Settings and Mail use this navigation style.



Flat navigation. Switch between multiple content categories. Music and App Store use this navigation style.



Content-driven or experience-driven navigation. Move freely through content, or the content itself defines the navigation. Games, books, and other immersive apps generally use this navigation style.


Some apps combine multiple navigation styles. For example, an app that uses flat navigation may implement hierarchical navigation within each category.

Always provide a clear path. People should always know where they are in your app and how to get to their next destination. Regardless of navigation style, it’s essential that the path through content is logical, predictable, and easy to follow. In general, give people one path to each screen. If they need to see a screen in multiple contexts, consider using an action sheet, alert, popover, or modal view. To learn more, see Action Sheets, Alerts, Popovers, and Modality.

Design an information structure that makes it fast and easy to get to content. Organize your information structure in a way that requires a minimum number of taps, swipes, and screens.

Use touch gestures to create fluidity. Make it easy to move through your interface with minimum friction. For example, you could let people swipe from the side of the screen to return to the previous screen.

Use standard navigation components. Whenever possible, use standard navigation controls such as page controls, tab bars, segmented controls, table views, collection views, and split views. Users are already familiar with these controls, and will intuitively know how to get around your app.

Use a navigation bar to traverse a hierarchy of data. The navigation bar’s title can show the current position in the hierarchy, and the back button makes it easy to return to the previous location. For specific guidance, see Navigation Bars.

Use a tab bar to present peer categories of content or functionality. A tab bar lets people quickly and easily switch between categories, regardless of the current location. For specific guidance, see Tab Bars.

Use a page control when you have multiple pages of the same type of content. A page control clearly communicates the number of pages available and which one is currently active. The Weather app uses a page control to show location-specific weather pages. For specific guidance, see Page Controls.

Tip Segmented controls and toolbars don’t enable navigation. Use a segmented control to organize information into different categories. Use a toolbar to provide controls for interacting with the current context. For additional information on these types of elements, see Segmented Controls and Toolbars.