Custom Tab Bar In SwiftUI

The Tab Bar is a crucial component in iOS apps, allowing users to easily navigate between different screens. Especially with SwiftUI, you can fully customize the tab bar to match your unique design style—from layout and visuals to the interaction and animation effects.

In this article, we’ll introduce how to build a custom tab bar in SwiftUI that will make your app stand out and deliver a modern user experience.

Why Use a Custom Tab Bar in SwiftUI?

By default, SwiftUI provides the TabView component with a standard iOS appearance. However, many modern apps like Instagram, TikTok, and Shopee use custom-designed tab bars to enhance their branding and UX. Here’s why you might want to create your own custom tab bar in SwiftUI:

• Complete design freedom: Customize the layout and look of the tab bar however you like.
• Smooth transition animations: Add interactive effects when switching between tabs.
• Icon and state customization: Change colors, icons, and add notification badges for each tab.
  

Features of a Custom Tab Bar in SwiftUI

When building a custom tab bar in SwiftUI, you can include various creative and dynamic elements:

• Unique UI Design: Make the tab bar curved, floating, or styled to match your app’s theme.
• Smooth animations: Apply spring animations or scale effects to highlight tab selections.
• Notification badges: Display real-time counts or alerts on tabs.
• Dark Mode support: Ensure the tab bar adapts to both light and dark themes.
• Context-aware visibility: Show or hide the tab bar depending on the screen or scroll behavior.
  

Real-World Applications of Custom Tab Bars

Many popular apps use custom tab bars in SwiftUI (or UIKit) to enhance user interaction and brand identity:

• Instagram: Animated tab indicators that reflect active states.
• TikTok: Center tab with a standout floating effect.
• Shopee/Lazada: Tabs with live badges to show cart item counts or new notifications.
  

Conclusion

Creating a custom tab bar in SwiftUI helps make your app more visually appealing and functionally engaging. SwiftUI gives you the flexibility to build anything from minimalistic designs to highly interactive tab bars.

If you’re excited to bring your own custom tab bar in SwiftUI to life, stay tuned for our upcoming tutorials where we’ll dive into the implementation step by step.