With iOS 13 Apple updated Human Interface Guidelines by enhancing Visual design. Apple added breakthrough changes: dark mode, more design tools, and styling options.

Designers and developers have vast possibilities for creating rich user interface with different modes or themes (dark / light) along with the updated visual system. Apple introduces interface modes, system colors, dynamic system colors, images that support modes and much more.

Apple is always following own way in UI design. They provide a consistent approach for building interfaces while limiting modes or themes to two and giving they own tools: SF Symbols and system colors. All styles are defined in a consistent way with as least as possible ways to override the default behavior.

Dark Mode


iOS 13 enabled interface modes dark and light on the apps. The application should have implemented modes for all UI elements as Apple declares. UI elements can alter its appearance based on system colors and settings.

You can still opt out the application interface mode by defining a property in the Info.plist file: UIUserInterfaceStyle which can have any of those values:

Table 1. Info.plist values for a user interface style

Property value UI trait Description
Automatic UIUserInterfaceStyle.unspecified The app follows the system's interface style
Light UIUserInterfaceStyle.light The app is forced using light appearance
Dark UIUserInterfaceStyle.dark The app is forced using dark appearance

You can find keys for Info.plist file here: Information Property List Key Reference.

In the settings of iOS 13, a user can define three appearance modes: Light , Dark , Automatic (with options Sunset to Sunrise - dark, else light).

Override a window, view or view controller

The separate view or view controller can have overridden a property overrideUserInterfaceStyle with a value from Table. 1

override func viewDidLoad() {
    super.viewDidLoad()

    overrideUserInterfaceStyle = .light
}

However, it is possible to set using one defined mode, Apple encourages using Automatic mode where appearance is the system one:

Supporting Dark Mode is strongly encouraged. Use the UIUserInterfaceStyle key to opt out only temporarily while you work on improvements to your app's Dark Mode support.

System Colors

Apple introduces System Color with iOS 13.

You can inspect it here https://developer.apple.com/documentation/uikit/uicolor/standard_colors

Colors  (systemBlue, systemGreen, systemGray etc) adapt to the mode changes (dark/light), vibrancy, accessibility settings (contrast, reduce transparency). Using system colors benefit your app in looking the same as iOS because these colors can slightly change in new iOS releases.

One example of using system colors on a UITableView with a custom cell.
To cover most colors with system styling you need simply choose default, system or custom colors. The simplest way is to use Default settings.

Default color support, Xcode 11

You can define a color with 3 appearances:
Any - for systems without modes support
Dark and Light

Define color appearances, Xcode 11

The same applies for images with modes and different image scales

Define image appearances, Xcode 11

System colors got support of high contrast  (from iOS setting - Increase Contrast) and each system color adjusts with accessibility changes with four variants:

  • Light
  • Light High Contrast
  • Dark
  • Dark High Contrast
Light / Dark, No increased contrast
High contrast used

Dynamic System Colors

Another feature is Dynamic System Colors that provides semantically defined colors for different content types: labels, separators and fills.

Table 2. System color properties

UIColor, class property Description
systemFill An overlay fill color for thin and small shapes.
secondarySystemFill An overlay fill color for medium-size shapes.
tertiarySystemFill An overlay fill color for large shapes.
quaternarySystemFill An overlay fill color for large areas that contain complex content.

The similar for labels, fills (color filling different shapes), background colors, grouped content background, separators, link and text. Apple covered all standard UI elements.

SF Symbols

The new thing in UI, a build-in library - SF Symbols. It is a set of icons available for iOS 13+, watchOS 6+ and tvOS 13+.

Symbols support font weights UIFont.Weight : black, bold, heavy, light, medium, regular, semibold, thin, ultrathin with scales: small, medium, and large.

Source: developer.apple.com

The symbols are SVG files which are vector and renders perfectly under any resolution. And using symbols as simple as images:
let image = UIImage(systemName: "multiply.circle.fill")
Additionally, you can configure symbol with a iOS 13 object UIImage.Configuration and UIImage.SymbolConfiguration

let configuration = UIImage.SymbolConfiguration(pointSize: 18, weight: .regular, scale: .medium)
let image = UIImage(systemName: "multiply.circle.fill",
    withConfiguration: configuration)

The visual system and modes provide flexible and straightforward way to develop UI and application. iOS 13 brought the biggest design update for app developers.

Creating Custom Symbol Images for Your  App - SF symbols

Visual Design, Dark Mode

Visual Design, Color

Supporting Dark Mode in Your Interface

Information Property List Key Reference, UIUserInterfaceStyle

UIColor, Standard Colors