Navigation Bar

‍Best Practices

When implementing a navigation bar, focus on minimalism and clarity:

Use concise titles that describe the current view. Aim for a short word or phrase — about 15 characters or fewer — to leave room for a back button and optional controls.

Prioritize a standard back button to maintain a consistent user experience. If you customize the back button, ensure it still looks and behaves like a navigation element.

Hide the bar temporarily for a distraction-free experience, but offer a familiar gesture — like a tap or pull-down — to restore it. This works well for apps that display full-screen content.

Be mindful of multiple text-labeled buttons. Introduce spacing or consider using icons so labels don’t run together.

Style

Mobile navigation bars typically span the screen’s width, sitting at the top just below the device’s status area. Designers often rely on two main title styles:

Standard Title. A consistent style used in scrolled or secondary screens. Maintaining a subtle border can help separate the navigation area from the content below.

Large Title. Emphasizes the current view, transitioning to a standard title when users begin scrolling. Large titles can make higher-level screens more recognizable and reinforce content hierarchy.

Additionally, you may choose to hide the border of a large-title navigation bar to blend title and content visually. In standard-title contexts, a subtle border or shadow often remains useful for clarity.

Content

A navigation bar usually contains a title and optional controls:

Title. Keep it purposeful: “Contacts,” “Settings,” or “Favorites.” Avoid redundancy (like including the app name) unless it’s part of the navigation logic.

Back Button. Helps users retrace their steps through the hierarchy. A default chevron plus the previous screen’s title is standard on many iOS designs.

Additional Controls. Action icons (e.g., search, compose) or segmented controls can appear alongside the title. These items should directly relate to the current screen’s content or immediate tasks.

Role

A navigation bar clarifies where users are within an app’s structure and provides direct routes to adjacent or higher-level screens. By consistently placing essential actions in the bar, designers create a predictable and user-friendly flow.

Hierarchy. Each subsequent screen refines the user’s context, relying on the bar’s back button for swift upward navigation.

Orientation. A concise, well-placed title reduces confusion about the user’s current location, especially in apps that contain multiple content layers.

Action Access. Controls in the navigation bar let people perform relevant tasks — like searching or editing — without leaving the current screen.

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