What’s new in UIKit?

Asked on 06/16/2025

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In the "What's new in UIKit" sessions at WWDC, several enhancements and new features were introduced for UIKit across different iOS versions:

  1. iOS 18 Enhancements:

    • Document Launch Experience: Redesigned launch experience for document-based apps, allowing full control over launch views and support for template document creation.
    • Tabs and Sidebar Updates: Major updates to tabs and sidebars, including new APIs to better describe app hierarchy and improve integration with SwiftUI.
    • Fluid Transitions: Support for new fluid transitions across the system, enhancing the user interface's responsiveness and continuity.
    • SwiftUI Integration: Improved interoperability with SwiftUI, allowing the use of SwiftUI animations and gesture recognizers in UIKit apps.
    • Automatic Trait Tracking: Easier handling of trait changes with automatic tracking and invalidation.

  2. iOS 26 Enhancements:

    • New Design System: Introduction of a vibrant new design system with a material called Liquid Glass, which is dynamic and translucent.
    • Menu Bar on iPadOS: The menu bar from macOS is now available on iPadOS, providing quick access to app functionality.
    • Architectural Improvements: Built-in support for Swift observable objects, allowing automatic tracking and invalidation of views.
    • Scene-Based Lifecycle: Deprecation of legacy UI application-focused APIs in favor of a scene-based lifecycle.

For more detailed information, you can watch the sessions:

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What’s new in UIKit

What’s new in UIKit

Explore everything new in UIKit, including tab and document launch experiences, transitions, and text and input changes. We’ll also discuss better-than-ever interoperability between UIKit and SwiftUI animations and gestures, as well as general improvements throughout UIKit.

What’s new in UIKit

What’s new in UIKit

Modernize your app with the latest APIs in UIKit, including enhanced menu bar support, automatic observation tracking, a new UI update method, and improvements to animations. We’ll also cover how you can include SwiftUI scenes in your UIKit app and explore SF Symbols, HDR color pickers, and more.

Build a UIKit app with the new design

Build a UIKit app with the new design

Update your UIKit app to take full advantage of the new design system. We’ll dive into key changes to tab views, split views, bars, presentations, search, and controls, and show you how to use Liquid Glass in your custom UI. To get the most out of this video, we recommend first watching “Get to know the new design system” for general design guidance.