Typography Reference

Complete reference for typography on Apple platforms. Covers San Francisco font system, text styles, Dynamic Type, optical sizes, and internationalization through iOS 26.

When to Use This Reference

Use this reference when you need:

• San Francisco font family details
• Text style sizes and scaling behavior
• Dynamic Type implementation patterns
• Font weight and width options
• Optical size behavior
• International typography considerations

For quick decisions: See hig for font weight recommendations.

Example Prompts

Questions you can ask Claude that will draw from this reference:

• "What are all the San Francisco font variants?"
• "What's the default size for each text style?"
• "How do optical sizes work in SF Pro?"
• "How do I use SF Mono for code?"
• "What font widths are available in SF Pro?"
• "How do I support Dynamic Type in my app?"

What's Covered

San Francisco Font System

• SF Pro and SF Pro Rounded (iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS)
• SF Compact (watchOS, narrow columns)
• SF Mono (monospaced, code)
• New York (serif)
• SF Arabic (right-to-left)

Variable Font Axes

• Weight (9 weights: Ultralight to Black)
• Width (Condensed, Compressed, Regular, Expanded)
• Optical sizes (automatic text/display switching)

Text Styles

• largeTitle through caption2
• Default sizes at each style
• Scaling behavior with Dynamic Type

Dynamic Type

• Preferred content size categories
• Text style adoption in SwiftUI/UIKit
• Custom font scaling
• Accessibility sizes

Typography Best Practices

• Weight recommendations by context
• Minimum sizes for legibility
• Line height and tracking
• Internationalization considerations

Key Pattern

Text Styles in SwiftUI

// System text styles (automatic Dynamic Type)
Text("Large Title").font(.largeTitle)    // 34pt default
Text("Title").font(.title)                // 28pt
Text("Title 2").font(.title2)             // 22pt
Text("Title 3").font(.title3)             // 20pt
Text("Headline").font(.headline)          // 17pt semibold
Text("Body").font(.body)                  // 17pt
Text("Callout").font(.callout)            // 16pt
Text("Subheadline").font(.subheadline)    // 15pt
Text("Footnote").font(.footnote)          // 13pt
Text("Caption").font(.caption)            // 12pt
Text("Caption 2").font(.caption2)         // 11pt

Font Weights

// Available weights
.fontWeight(.ultraLight)  // Avoid at small sizes
.fontWeight(.thin)        // Avoid at small sizes
.fontWeight(.light)       // Avoid at small sizes
.fontWeight(.regular)     // ✅ Default, good legibility
.fontWeight(.medium)      // ✅ Slightly heavier
.fontWeight(.semibold)    // ✅ Headlines
.fontWeight(.bold)        // ✅ Emphasis
.fontWeight(.heavy)
.fontWeight(.black)

Custom Font with Dynamic Type

// SwiftUI - scales custom font with body text style
Text("Custom")
    .font(.custom("Helvetica", size: 17, relativeTo: .body))

// UIKit - scale with metrics
let metrics = UIFontMetrics(forTextStyle: .body)
let font = metrics.scaledFont(for: UIFont(name: "Helvetica", size: 17)!)

Documentation Scope

This page documents the axiom-typography-ref reference skill—comprehensive typography coverage Claude uses when you need specific font details, text style sizes, or Dynamic Type patterns.

For quick decisions: See hig for typography best practices.

Related

• hig — Typography best practices and weight recommendations
• hig-ref — Complete HIG reference

Resources

WWDC: 2020-10175 (San Francisco variable fonts), 2022-10057 (SF Arabic)

Docs: /design/typography, /uikit/uifont/text_styles