Sample CodeiOS, iPadOS, Mac CatalystReviewed 2026-07-21View on Apple Developer

UIKit Catalog: Creating and customizing views and controls

At a glance

Item Summary
Purpose Customize your app’s user interface with views and controls.
App architecture A Swift sample with the source-visible chain AppDelegateActivityIndicatorViewControllerUIKit APIs.
Main patterns View-controller organization, Delegate or data-source callbacks
Project style 35 scanned source file(s) across Swift, organized around ranked entry, type, and file boundaries.
Execution model No structured execution marker indexed; callback threading requires source review.
State/event model Source-visible mechanisms: NotificationCenter.
Key frameworks/packages UIKit, WebKit; these are source dependencies, not architecture labels.

Project structure

Source bundle/
└── UIKitCatalog/
    ├── AlertControllerViewController.swift
    ├── AppDelegate.swift
    ├── MenuButtonViewController.swift
    ├── OutlineViewController.swift
    ├── PickerViewController.swift
    ├── PointerInteractionButtonViewController.swift
    ├── TextFieldViewController.swift
    ├── ActivityIndicatorViewController.swift
    ├── ButtonViewController.swift
    ├── ProgressViewController.swift
    ├── SegmentedControlViewController.swift
    └── SliderViewController.swift

Structure observations

  • Architecturally prominent files are ranked from entry points and role-named declarations; resource-only paths are omitted.
  • Primary languages: Swift.
  • The verified tree contains 36 project/configuration file(s) and 55 source declaration(s).

Overall architecture

Reference code

UIKitCatalog/AppDelegate.swift:10 — architecture anchor

@UIApplicationMain
class AppDelegate: UIResponder, UIApplicationDelegate {

    func application(_ application: UIApplication, didFinishLaunchingWithOptions launchOptions: [UIApplication.LaunchOptionsKey: Any]?) -> Bool {
        return true
    }

}

Interpretation

The arrows summarize the source-visible entry, role-named types or folders, and framework direction; when nodes come from structural folders, the sequence is a high-level interpretation rather than proof that every adjacent node calls the next. Ownership is claimed only where the next section cites a stored property or assignment. The diagram is intentionally limited to the dominant path into UIKit.

Ownership and state

Ownership evidence

UIKitCatalog/AlertControllerViewController.swift:13 — stored dependency or nearest verified ownership anchor

class AlertControllerViewController: UITableViewController {
    // ...
    weak var secureTextAlertAction: UIAlertAction?
    // ...
}
Owner Object or state Relationship Mutation authority
AlertControllerViewController UIAlertAction (secureTextAlertAction) holds a non-owning reference The referenced object’s lifecycle is owned elsewhere
AlertControllerViewController Any (textDidChangeObserver) stores or receives Owning lexical scope
OutlineItem String (title) owns value state Initialized by the owner; the binding is immutable
OutlineItem Array (subitems) owns value state Initialized by the owner; the binding is immutable

Composition arrows indicate a source-visible construction expression or locally owned value state; aggregation means the owner stores or receives a dependency without proving exclusive lifetime ownership.

Concurrency, scheduling, and thread safety

Evidence limit: actor isolation, async/await, or Task creation does not by itself prove background-thread execution; Sendable conformance alone does not prove thread-safe mutation.

No source-visible execution, scheduling, or synchronization boundary was found in the indexed source.

@MainActor/MainActor.run, DispatchQueue.main, and RunLoop.main are reported as distinct isolation, queue, and event-loop mechanisms. A plain Task is kept separate from Task.detached; neither is labeled as a background thread.

State propagation, frameworks, and dependencies

Evidence limit: an import proves a source-level compilation dependency at the cited line; it does not prove runtime use, architectural adoption, or whether a Swift package is a direct application dependency.

Category Mechanism or module Verified role Evidence
State propagation NotificationCenter NotificationCenter distributes named process-local events. UIKitCatalog/AlertControllerViewController.swift:156
Source import UIKit The cited file imports this module; runtime use and architectural role are not inferred. UIKitCatalog/ActivityIndicatorViewController.swift:8
Source import WebKit The cited file imports this module; runtime use and architectural role are not inferred. UIKitCatalog/WebViewController.swift:9

receive(on:) describes downstream delivery scheduling, while subscribe(on:) describes upstream subscription/request/cancel scheduling. An import Combine alone establishes neither behavior nor a Store, reducer, Redux, or other application architecture.

Class and protocol design

UIKitCatalog/AppDelegate.swift:11 — representative type boundary

@UIApplicationMain
class AppDelegate: UIResponder, UIApplicationDelegate {
    // ...
        return true
    // ...
}
Type Responsibility Depends on or conforms to
AppDelegate Receives callback-driven events UIResponder, UIApplicationDelegate
AlertControllerViewController View lifecycle, callbacks, and feature coordination UITableViewController
MenuButtonViewController View lifecycle, callbacks, and feature coordination BaseTableViewController
OutlineViewController View lifecycle, callbacks, and feature coordination UIViewController
PickerViewController View lifecycle, callbacks, and feature coordination UIViewController
ColorComponent Stores entity-component data or behavior Int
PointerInteractionButtonViewController View lifecycle, callbacks, and feature coordination BaseTableViewController
TextFieldViewController View lifecycle, callbacks, and feature coordination BaseTableViewController
ActivityIndicatorViewController View lifecycle, callbacks, and feature coordination BaseTableViewController
ButtonViewController View lifecycle, callbacks, and feature coordination BaseTableViewController

No local protocol conformance is claimed as protocol-oriented design; external framework conformances are listed only as dependencies.

Access control

Symbol Access Verified effect Likely rationale
textDidChangeObserver (UIKitCatalog/AlertControllerViewController.swift:35) private Use is restricted to the lexical declaration and same-file extensions allowed by Swift. Inference: keep state mutation or dependency lifetime inside the owning implementation.
showDetailTargetChangeObserved (UIKitCatalog/OutlineViewController.swift:66) private Use is restricted to the lexical declaration and same-file extensions allowed by Swift. Inference: hide an implementation step that is not part of the collaboration surface.
menuItems (UIKitCatalog/OutlineViewController.swift:185) private Use is restricted to the lexical declaration and same-file extensions allowed by Swift. Inference: keep state mutation or dependency lifetime inside the owning implementation.
configureCollectionView (UIKitCatalog/OutlineViewController.swift:199) private Use is restricted to the lexical declaration and same-file extensions allowed by Swift. Inference: hide an implementation step that is not part of the collaboration surface.

Reference code

UIKitCatalog/AlertControllerViewController.swift:35 — representative boundary

class AlertControllerViewController: UITableViewController {
    // ...
    private var textDidChangeObserver: Any? = nil
    // ...
}

Swift declarations without a modifier are internal; explicit private, fileprivate, private(set), public, or open entries above are interpreted by language semantics. Objective-C/C samples instead rely on header and implementation boundaries, which are not equivalent to Swift lexical privacy.

Logic ownership and placement

Logic Owning type or file Placement rationale
Stores entity-component data or behavior ColorComponent The source’s Component suffix makes this role explicit.
View lifecycle, callbacks, and feature coordination ActivityIndicatorViewController, AlertControllerViewController, BaseTableViewController, ButtonViewController The source’s Controller suffix makes this role explicit.
Receives callback-driven events AppDelegate, SceneDelegate The source’s Delegate suffix makes this role explicit.

Design patterns

Pattern Source evidence Purpose or tradeoff
View-controller organization UIKitCatalog/ActivityIndicatorViewController.swift:10 A controller is the verified coordination boundary; this is MVC-style only where a separate model is present.
Delegate or data-source callbacks UIKitCatalog/AppDelegate.swift:11 Callback protocols invert event delivery back into the sample’s owner.

Naming conventions

  • Types: Component: ColorComponent; Controller: ActivityIndicatorViewController, AlertControllerViewController, BaseTableViewController, ButtonViewController, ColorPickerViewController; Delegate: AppDelegate, SceneDelegate.
  • Protocols: no local protocol declaration in the scanned source.
  • Methods: showSimpleAlert, showOkayCancelAlert, showOtherAlert, showTextEntryAlert, showSecureTextEntryAlert, showOkayCancelActionSheet, showOtherActionSheet, tableView.
  • Files: UIKitCatalog/AlertControllerViewController.swift, UIKitCatalog/AppDelegate.swift, UIKitCatalog/MenuButtonViewController.swift, UIKitCatalog/OutlineViewController.swift, UIKitCatalog/PickerViewController.swift, UIKitCatalog/PointerInteractionButtonViewController.swift.

Architecture takeaways

  • AppDelegate is the main source-visible entry or composition anchor for this sample.
  • Framework work reaches UIKit, WebKit through a deliberately small high-level chain; the detailed API graph remains inside the cited implementation files.
  • Stored-property evidence identifies lifecycle collaboration; it does not by itself prove exclusive object ownership.
  • Access-control conclusions separate verified language visibility from the likely design rationale.
  • The source does not justify labeling the design protocol-oriented.

Source map

Source file Relevant symbols
UIKitCatalog/AppDelegate.swift Cited implementation, AppDelegate
UIKitCatalog/AlertControllerViewController.swift Cited implementation, NotificationCenter, AlertControllerViewController, StyleSections, AlertStyleTest, ActionSheetStyleTest
UIKitCatalog/OutlineViewController.swift Cited implementation, OutlineViewController, Section, OutlineItem
UIKitCatalog/ActivityIndicatorViewController.swift ActivityIndicatorViewController, UIKit, ActivityIndicatorKind
UIKitCatalog/WebViewController.swift WebKit, WebViewController
UIKitCatalog/MenuButtonViewController.swift MenuButtonViewController, MenuButtonKind, ButtonMenuActionIdentifiers
UIKitCatalog/PickerViewController.swift PickerViewController, ColorComponent, RGB
UIKitCatalog/PointerInteractionButtonViewController.swift PointerInteractionButtonViewController, PointerButtonKind, ButtonPointerEffectKind
UIKitCatalog/TextFieldViewController.swift TextFieldViewController, TextFieldKind, CustomTextField
UIKitCatalog/ButtonViewController.swift ButtonViewController, ButtonKind
UIKitCatalog/ProgressViewController.swift ProgressViewController, ProgressViewKind
UIKitCatalog/SegmentedControlViewController.swift SegmentedControlViewController, SegmentKind
UIKitCatalog/SliderViewController.swift SliderViewController, SliderKind
UIKitCatalog/StepperViewController.swift StepperViewController, StepperKind
UIKitCatalog/SwitchViewController.swift SwitchViewController, SwitchKind
UIKitCatalog/SymbolViewController.swift SymbolViewController, SymbolKind