apple-dev-mcp/content/universal/boxes.md

Complete Apple development guidance: Human Interface Guidelines (design) + Technical Documentation for iOS, macOS, watchOS, tvOS, and visionOS

---
title: Boxes
platform: universal
category: visual-design
url: https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guidelines/boxes
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content_length: 1562
last_updated: 2025-07-20T03:44:45.537Z
keywords: ["boxes","universal","visual-design","color","interface","visual","layout"]
has_code_examples: false
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---

Boxes A box creates a visually distinct group of logically related information and components. By default, a box uses a visible border or background color to separate its contents from the rest of the interface. A box can also include a title. Best practices Prefer keeping a box relatively small in comparison with its containing view. As a box’s size gets close to the size of the containing window or screen, it becomes less effective at communicating the separation of grouped content, and it can crowd other content. Consider using padding and alignment to communicate additional grouping within a box. A box’s border is a distinct visual element — adding nested boxes to define subgroups can make your interface feel busy and constrained. Content Provide a succinct introductory title if it helps clarify the box’s contents. The appearance of a box helps people understand that its contents are related, but it might make sense to provide more detail about the relationship. Also, a title can help Voice Over users predict the content they encounter within the box. If you need a title, write a brief phrase that describes the contents. Use sentence-style capitalization. Avoid ending punctuation unless you use a box in a settings pane, where you append a colon to the title. Not supported in tv OS or watch OS.i OS, i Pad OSBy default, i OS and i Pad OS use the secondary and tertiary background colors in boxes.mac OSBy default, mac OS displays a box’s title above it. Resources Related Layout Developer documentation Group Box — Swift UINSBox — App Kit