Weekly breakdowns of what top-grossing iOS apps actually ship, counted screen by screen from the library.
Voice assistant UI examples read from 114 free preview screens across 19 AI chat and language apps, including ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity. 13 of the 19 draw a microphone in the composer. 8 add a separate voice-mode entry beyond dictation. Only 2 show a full voice conversation screen. Plus read-aloud buttons, voice settings, and the consent screens behind the mic.
Read the breakdownCarousel UI examples read from 180 free preview screens in the 30 highest-grossing iOS apps in our library. 14 apps show a carousel. 8 use a peek rail with no dots, 3 page cards on the home screen with dots, 1 puts a photo carousel inside a card, and 2 still run an onboarding slide carousel. Plus the rules the rails agree on: peek, See all, one row per rail.
UI elementsOctober 20, 20267 min readChip UI design examples read from 270 free preview screens across 45 top-grossing iOS apps. Only 7 apps show a true chip set: 3 use multi-select chips for filters and preferences, 3 use single-select chips to pick a category, and 1 puts prompt chips above a composer. Plus what is not a chip: underline tabs, pill-shaped segmented switches, badges and pill buttons.
UI elementsOctober 13, 20267 min readStepper UI covers two controls: the step indicator and the iOS plus and minus stepper. We read 159 free preview screens from the 30 highest-grossing apps in our library. 12 show a step indicator in six styles, led by the vertical trial timeline on the paywall. The plus and minus stepper did not appear once.
UI elementsOctober 13, 20267 min readBanner UI for mobile apps, measured across 159 free preview screens from the 30 highest-grossing apps in our library. 7 apps show an in-layout banner doing one of three jobs: sell an upgrade, nudge a next step, or explain the screen. Only one could be dismissed. Plus banner vs snackbar vs toast.
GuidesOctober 11, 20267 min readHow to turn an app screenshot into working mobile code: what you can safely take from a screen (layout, hierarchy, states), what you must leave behind (brand, iOS system dialogs), and the parts no screenshot shows. Worked through with real screens from Plaud and Ladder.
UI elementsOctober 6, 20267 min readPill button or rounded rectangle? We read the free paywall screens of the 60 highest-grossing iOS apps in our library. Of 31 paywalls with a visible main button, 17 use a pill and 14 a rounded rectangle. Photo editors lean pill, utilities lean square. Plus pill width, pills that collide with pill-shaped plan rows, and how the same screens let you leave.
UI elementsSeptember 29, 20268 min readBadge UI design examples read from 123 real screens in 40 top-grossing iOS apps. 10 of the 40 put a badge on a paywall plan, 9 of those on the yearly plan, and 8 hang it off the card's top edge. Only 2 show a numeric count in the app. Plus dots, New labels, Pro badges, media tags and the iOS permission every icon badge depends on.
UX patternsSeptember 22, 20268 min readPermission priming explains an ask before iOS shows its one-shot dialog. Of 19 system permission dialogs we read across 16 revenue-verified apps, 2 sat behind the app's own ask screen, 6 behind the feature that needed them, and 11 over a screen with nothing to do with the permission. All 5 tracking prompts were in that last group.
UX writingSeptember 22, 20269 min readUX writing and microcopy examples quoted from real screens in revenue-verified iOS apps. Of 22 readable paywalls among the 48 top-grossing apps with a free paywall preview, 9 name the free trial in the button, 4 put money in it and 3 just say Continue. Plus the line under the button, trial timelines, the way out, and the one sentence Apple writes for you.
Design researchSeptember 16, 202610 min readHow to run a UX competitive analysis that produces decisions instead of a screenshot folder, run on 12 revenue-ranked calorie counters. Captured onboarding runs from 14 to 90 screens, length does not track revenue, and 5 of 12 put a dedicated paywall directly after onboarding.
Design researchSeptember 16, 20269 min readA product teardown reconstructs the decisions behind an app, not your opinion of it. Map the sections, walk the first session, take the paywall apart, list every ask, read the section sizes as priorities, and write up observation separately from inference.
UI elementsSeptember 15, 20269 min readThe keyboard is not a component you place, it is a layout state that removes a third to a half of the screen. Of 2,622 revenue-verified apps, 540 have a captured authentication section, 1,204 a content creation section and 374 a search section, which is three different keyboard problems. Keyboard type, the return key, the accessory bar, what must stay visible, and how the submit button survives.
UI elementsSeptember 15, 20269 min readA dialog stops everything the user was doing, so it earns its place in about three situations: a destructive confirmation, a failure the user has to act on, and a system request you do not control. Alert versus action sheet versus sheet, how to write the title and the buttons, why permission dialogs need priming, and the six uses that should be something else.
UI elementsSeptember 13, 20269 min readProgress bar design for mobile apps. Of 2,622 revenue-verified apps, 1,049 have a captured content creation section and 591 an AI tools section, so the generation wait is now one of the most common screens in the App Store. Determinate versus indeterminate, the four waits apps ship, what the bar should be labelled, and when a progress indicator is the wrong answer.
UI elementsSeptember 13, 20269 min readPagination design on mobile is mostly the absence of pagination. Of 2,622 revenue-verified apps, 1,176 have a captured browse and feed section and almost none number their pages. Infinite scroll, the load more button and the paged view, plus page size, scroll restoration, the end of the list, and where numbered pages still win.
UI elementsSeptember 12, 20269 min readOn/off UI design for iOS apps. A switch promises an instant, reversible, self-explanatory binary, and most settings rows are none of those things. Of 2,622 revenue-verified apps, 1,456 have a captured settings section, and those rows are mostly drill-downs, swatch grids and segmented controls. Here is the test a row has to pass before it deserves a switch.
UI elementsSeptember 12, 20269 min readiOS has no native radio button, so single select lands somewhere else: the full width option row, the checkmark list, the segmented control, the swatch grid and the plan card. 609 of 2,622 revenue-verified apps run an onboarding quiz, which is where most single select on iOS lives. Here is how the selected state should read, and when to auto advance.
Design patternsSeptember 11, 20269 min readRecording app UI in shipping iOS apps. Of 55 revenue-verified apps in our library with a captured audio recording flow, 33 call themselves note takers, transcribers or meeting recorders. Here is the record button, the microphone ask, the empty library, the transcript and summary step, and how to delete a recording safely.
Category studySeptember 11, 20269 min readFootball app UI in the App Store is a notification product. Of 33 revenue-verified sports apps in our library, 13 follow professional leagues, and their onboarding is a team picker followed by an alerts screen. Here is the team picker, the permission stack, the game screen, player stats, and why only 3 of the 13 carry a paywall.
UI elementsSeptember 10, 20268 min readProfile UI design for mobile apps. Of 459 profile sections captured across 446 revenue-verified iOS apps, 211 fold profile and settings into one section and 180 are edit profile flows. Here is what the shipping profile screen holds, where it lives, how to design the edit form, and when the profile is the product itself.
UI elementsSeptember 8, 20269 min readDashboard UI design for mobile apps. Of the 526 revenue-verified iOS apps in our library with a tracking and insights flow, 324 are health and fitness and only 10 are finance. The mobile dashboard is a progress screen: one hero metric, a time range switcher, a card grid, and a first run with no data.
Category studySeptember 5, 20269 min readTravel app UI in the App Store is not the booking funnel the concept work shows. Of 78 revenue-verified travel and navigation apps in our library, 19 are flight trackers and 26 are map and outdoor tools. Here is the onboarding, the map screen, the tracking screen, the itinerary and the paywall those apps really build.
UI elementsSeptember 5, 20268 min readAccordion UI design on mobile: how an accordion differs from a drill-down and a bottom sheet, the three surfaces where shipping iOS apps still use expand and collapse, single versus multiple open sections, chevron direction and hit targets, and the cases where the pattern quietly breaks.
UI elementsSeptember 3, 20268 min readPull down menus on iOS: how a pull down menu differs from an action sheet, a context menu and swipe actions, where the trigger belongs, how many items a menu can carry, icons and destructive items, submenus and pop up menus for selection, and where the pattern fails, with screens from revenue-verified iOS apps.
UI elementsSeptember 3, 20268 min readComment UI design for mobile apps: the sheet over the content, one level of reply nesting, what a comment row actually carries, the composer and its keyboard, sorting and collapsing, reactions versus replies, moderation and reporting, and the empty thread, with screens from revenue-verified iOS apps.
UI elementsSeptember 3, 20269 min readButton UI design for mobile apps: the full-width primary, the sticky bottom bar and the thumb zone, one primary action per screen, touch targets and the 44-point rule, label writing, disabled versus loading states, and where destructive actions go, with screens from revenue-verified iOS apps.
UI elementsSeptember 3, 20269 min readAudio player UI on mobile: the persistent mini player, the full-screen expansion, why the scrub bar is easier than video, skip versus seek, speed and sleep timers, waveforms in voice apps, and what a generated-audio result screen actually needs, with screens from revenue-verified iOS apps.
UI elementsSeptember 3, 20269 min readTimeline UI design for mobile apps: the vertical event list versus the calendar grid, date grouping and sticky headers, what a single row has to carry, gaps and missing days, filtering long histories, and where the timeline earns a screen of its own, with screens from revenue-verified iOS apps.
UI elementsSeptember 3, 20268 min readCoach mark UI on mobile: what a coach mark is, how it differs from a tooltip and an onboarding carousel, how many marks a tour can carry, the dimmed scrim, the skip control, and when a coach mark is covering for a screen that needs redesigning, with onboarding screens from revenue-verified iOS apps.
UI elementsSeptember 3, 20269 min readBottom sheet UI on mobile: modal versus non-modal sheets, how a bottom sheet differs from an action sheet and a dialog, detents and the drag handle, what belongs in a sheet and what does not, dismissal, and where the pattern breaks, with screens from revenue-verified iOS apps.
UI elementsSeptember 3, 20269 min readVideo player UI for mobile apps: auto-hiding controls, the scrub bar and thumb size, tap zones versus buttons, portrait versus fullscreen, the preview player inside an editor, and the vertical feed that has no controls at all, with screens from revenue-verified iOS apps.
UI elementsAugust 26, 20268 min readPage indicator design on mobile: dots versus a progress bar versus a step counter, how many dots a row can carry, the active state, whether dots should be tappable, and where the pattern breaks, with onboarding screens from revenue-verified iOS apps.
UI elementsAugust 26, 20269 min readSegmented control UI on mobile: how it differs from tabs and filter chips, how many segments a control can hold, label rules, default selection and persistence, the day-week-month case, and where the pattern breaks, with screens from revenue-verified iOS apps.
UI elementsAugust 26, 20269 min readSearch bar UI design for mobile apps: persistent field versus icon versus a search tab, what the empty search screen should hold, placeholder text as a scope label, live results, scopes, zero results, and camera and voice entry points, with screens from revenue-verified iOS apps.
Design patternsAugust 21, 20269 min readList UI design for mobile apps: row anatomy, one line versus two, thumbnails, dividers versus cards, swipe actions, section headers, long lists, and the empty state, with screens from revenue-verified iOS apps.
Category studyAugust 21, 20268 min readWeather app UI on Dribbble and weather app UI in the App Store are different products. Here is what shipping iOS weather apps build: the one-glance top block, the hourly strip, the radar map, and the alert layer.
Design patternsAugust 21, 20268 min readHabit tracker UI in shipping iOS apps: the one-tap check-in, the grid and the streak counter, the progress screen, the missed-day problem, and where the reminder and the paywall sit.
Design patternsAugust 19, 20268 min readHow real iOS apps design camera app UI: the full-bleed viewfinder, the shutter row, mode strips, pro controls, the permission ask, and what happens after the shutter, with screens from revenue-verified apps.
Design patternsAugust 19, 20268 min readHow real iOS apps design settings UI: the grouped list, the account block, toggles versus drill-downs, subscription rows, appearance settings, and where destructive actions go, with screens from revenue-verified apps.
Category studyAugust 19, 20268 min readThe music app UI conventions that hold across shipping iOS streaming apps, AI song generators, and musician tools: the mini player, the rail-stack home, the now playing takeover, and the library tab.
Design patternsAugust 16, 20268 min readHow shipped iOS apps design filter UI: chips versus a filter sheet, where sort lives, showing applied filters, result counts, and clearing state, with real screens from revenue-verified apps.
Category studyAugust 16, 20268 min readThe sleep app UI conventions that hold across shipping iOS sleep trackers and sound apps: the bedtime question onboarding, the night screen, the morning score, and where the paywall lands.
Design patternsAugust 16, 20268 min readHow real iOS apps design map UI: the map as background, sheets over the map, pins and clustering, layer controls, and the search-to-result loop, with screens from revenue-verified apps.
Design patternsAugust 13, 20268 min readHow shipped iOS apps design the chat UI: the composer, the empty state, streaming states, model switching, and thread history, with real screens from revenue-verified apps.
Design patternsAugust 13, 20268 min readA practical guide to card UI design on mobile: what a card is for, the shapes that cover most feeds, hit areas, elevation in dark mode, and when a card is the wrong container.
Design patternsAugust 13, 20268 min readHow iOS apps design notifications: priming the permission ask, writing the message, and building the controls. Only 29 of 2,622 apps in our library ship a real notification settings flow.
App StoreAugust 13, 20268 min readThe current App Store screenshot sizes for iPhone and iPad, plus what 2,620 shipping iOS apps really upload: sizes, counts, and the legacy dimensions most listings still run.
Design patternsAugust 13, 20268 min readHow common dark mode UI really is on iOS, measured across 2,622 revenue-verified apps, which categories go dark, and what changes when you design dark first.
Category studyAugust 13, 20269 min readThe fitness app UI conventions that hold across 562 revenue-verified health and fitness apps: quiz onboarding, trial-first paywalls, the tracking dashboard, and where teams get it wrong.
Design patternsAugust 7, 20268 min readHow top-grossing iOS apps design the tab bar: how many tabs, which sections earn a slot, labels, badges, and the center action button, with real screens from the library.
Design patternsAugust 7, 20268 min readHow shipped iOS apps design the login screen and the sign-up flow: where auth sits in onboarding, which providers to offer, and how to handle errors, with real screens.
InspirationAugust 7, 20269 min readThe iOS app design patterns that dominate the top of the App Store right now, from long quiz onboarding to sheet-first navigation, with real screens from revenue-verified apps.
ComparisonJuly 27, 20267 min readA fair look at Mobbin and the main alternatives for mobile UI reference, including screensdesign, Dribbble, and mobileappdesign, and which one fits which job.
Design patternsJuly 27, 20268 min readThe empty state is your best onboarding surface. Seven empty state UI patterns from real iOS apps, from first-run zero states to no-results screens, with live examples.
Design patternsJuly 27, 20268 min readHow the best iOS apps design splash and loading screens, from the launch logo to the plan-building animation, with real opening screens from revenue-verified apps.
InspirationJuly 26, 202610 min readTen of the best-designed iOS apps right now, from ChatGPT to Finch, with what each one gets right and the revenue numbers behind the design decisions.
Design patternsJuly 26, 20269 min readHow Duolingo, Flo, Cal AI, and other top-grossing iOS apps design their onboarding screens, broken into 8 reusable patterns with real screenshots.
Design patternsJuly 24, 20269 min readWhat Duolingo, PictureThis, and other top-grossing iOS apps actually do on their paywall screens, broken into 9 reusable patterns with real examples.
Open the full flows behind every number we quote.
