platform-design-skills / watchos
AGENTS.md603 starsChanged 8 months agoMITView on GitHub
This skill provides Apple Human Interface Guidelines for Apple Watch. Load it when working on watchOS apps, complications, workout features, or any wrist-based interaction design.
Where files are headingNew AGENTS.md files have more rules about keeping secrets out of the code, and fewer about code style.
Of the AGENTS.md files we read, the 31,439 first seen in the last six months, against the older ones: the kind of rule that gained most share, and the kind that lost most. About files like this in general, not this one, and an estimate, since a kind is a pattern in the words.
In this repository17 other files it gives its agents.
- AGENTS.mdAGENTS.md
- skills/android/AGENTS.mdAGENTS.md
- skills/ios/AGENTS.mdAGENTS.md
- skills/ipados/AGENTS.mdAGENTS.md
- skills/macos/AGENTS.mdAGENTS.md
- skills/tvos/AGENTS.mdAGENTS.md
- skills/visionos/AGENTS.mdAGENTS.md
- skills/web/AGENTS.mdAGENTS.md
- CLAUDE.mdCLAUDE.md
- android-design-guidelinesSkill
- ios-design-guidelinesSkill
- ipados-design-guidelinesSkill
- macos-design-guidelinesSkill
- tvos-design-guidelinesSkill
- visionos-design-guidelinesSkill
- watchos-design-guidelinesSkill
- web-design-guidelinesSkill
The file
We split this AGENTS.md into the rules it gives an agent
8 rules. About 0 are common, 8 are distinctive, and 0 are very specific to this project.
≈0
Common · estimate
Many files like this have a rule of this kind.
≈8
Distinctive · estimate
This author's own choices. Worth a look.
0
Very specific
Tied to their project's names, files or tools. Probably skip.
- Common
- Distinctive
- Very specific
- Distinctive: line 56
Never place primary information off-screen (requires scrolling to see)
- Distinctive: line 57
Never ignore the Digital Crown for scrollable or value-picking content
- Distinctive: line 58
Never override system Crown behaviors (volume, Time Travel)
- Distinctive: line 59
Never support only one complication family
- Distinctive: line 60
Never use deprecated ClockKit APIs -- use WidgetKit complication families
- Distinctive: line 61
Never show sensitive health data in the Always On dimmed state
- Distinctive: line 62
Never omit accessibility labels on image-only interactive elements
- Distinctive: line 63
Never use laggy or batched responses to Crown rotation
≈ “Common” is an estimate: at least 1 in 5 of the 40,246 AGENTS.md files we read have a rule of the same kind, not the same words. “Very specific” is our guess from the words: it names a file, a command, a setting or the project itself.
Files
watchOS Design Guidelines
Purpose
This skill provides Apple Human Interface Guidelines for Apple Watch. Load it when working on watchOS apps, complications, workout features, or any wrist-based interaction design.
When to Use
- Building or reviewing watchOS app interfaces
- Designing complications for watch faces
- Implementing Digital Crown interactions
- Creating workout or health tracking features
- Designing notifications for Apple Watch
- Evaluating glanceability of Watch UI
- Working with Always On display states
File Structure
| File | Contents |
SKILL.md | Complete design rules, specifications, and evaluation checklist |
rules/_sections.md | All rules organized by category with IDs for cross-reference |
metadata.json | Version, references, and abstract |
Key Principles
- Glanceable first -- every screen must communicate its purpose within 2 seconds
- Respect the wrist -- interactions should be brief; avoid complex multi-step flows
- Digital Crown is primary -- scroll, select, and adjust values with the Crown
- Complications drive engagement -- keep watch face data fresh and useful
- Always On awareness -- dim gracefully, hide sensitive content
Rule Categories
| # | Category | Priority |
| 1 | Glanceable Design | CRITICAL |
| 2 | Digital Crown | HIGH |
| 3 | Navigation | HIGH |
| 4 | Complications | HIGH |
| 5 | Always On Display | MEDIUM |
| 6 | Workouts & Health | MEDIUM |
| 7 | Notifications | MEDIUM |
| 8 | Accessibility | CRITICAL |
Priority Reference
| Level | Meaning |
| CRITICAL | Glanceable design, accessibility -- violations make the app unusable on Watch |
| HIGH | Digital Crown, navigation, complications -- core Watch interaction patterns |
| MEDIUM | Always On, workouts, notifications -- important but context-dependent |
Never Do
- Never place primary information off-screen (requires scrolling to see)
- Never ignore the Digital Crown for scrollable or value-picking content
- Never override system Crown behaviors (volume, Time Travel)
- Never support only one complication family
- Never use deprecated ClockKit APIs -- use WidgetKit complication families
- Never show sensitive health data in the Always On dimmed state
- Never omit accessibility labels on image-only interactive elements
- Never use laggy or batched responses to Crown rotation
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