# iOS UI Font Size Rules & Reference

> A reference guide to typography rules and sizes for iOS interfaces.

This reference outlines practical typography sizing standards based on Apple's Human Interface Guidelines. It provides point-to-pixel conversions, standard Dynamic Type scales, baseline screen sizes, and size rules for common UI elements like titles and buttons.

## How it works

Rules:

- Pixels vs points: a standard display is 1:1 (@1x); higher-DPI screens are @2x and @3x (a 1x circle of 10×10 px becomes 20×20 and 30×30). For simplicity, treat 1pt as 1px.
- Screen sizes: design for the two extremes — iPhone 13 Pro Max (428×926 pt) and iPhone 13 mini / SE-class (375×812 pt).
- Font sizes (HIG Dynamic Type, Large/Default): Large Title 34/41, Title 1 28/34, Title 2 22/28, Title 3 20/25, Headline 17/22 (Semibold), Body 17/22, Callout 16/21, Subhead 15/20, Footnote 13/18, Caption 1 12/16, Caption 2 11/13 (size/leading in points).
- Large (Display) titles: the biggest, chunkiest sizes (~34px Bold) — name the main areas of an app or use in intro/welcome screens.
- Centered titles: usually bolded, ~17px Semibold; common pattern is shrinking the large title into a centered title when the user scrolls past a viewport height.
- Buttons: height between 44px (minimum tap target) and 56px, width 343px typical, font inside 15–17px.

## What it is for

- Choose standard typography sizes for iOS mobile app screens
- Set up accessible Dynamic Type scales in Figma or design systems
- Size interactive elements like buttons to meet Apple's touch target guidelines

## Key points

- Explanation of pixels vs points across standard (@1x), @2x, and @3x displays
- Target base screen sizes for testing extremes (375x812 pt up to 428x926 pt)
- Complete Dynamic Type scale reference with point sizes and line leading
- Guidelines for large display titles versus scrolling centered navigation titles
- Button dimension recommendations (44–56pt height) and nested font sizes (15–17pt)

## Pricing

Free

## Details

- Type: Tip
- Category: [Design](https://xiry.app/topics/design.md)
- Topic: [Typography](https://xiry.app/topics/design/typography.md)
- Open source: no
- Platforms: other
- For: UI/UX designers and iOS developers
- Alternative to: Apple Human Interface Guidelines
- Tags: ios, typography, mobile design, ui design, design system, guidelines

## Why it was saved

- [@adriankuleszo, 7 October 2023](https://x.com/adriankuleszo/status/1710551582272627185): Removes guesswork: gives concrete px values and the HIG Dynamic Type reference, with annotated examples showing each rule applied.

## Related

- [Dirtyline Studio](https://xiry.app/resources/dirtyline-studio): Type foundry offering modern display fonts and free typography assets (Website, Freemium)
- [Fontshare](https://xiry.app/resources/fontshare): Free, professional fonts from the Indian Type Foundry for personal and commercial use. (Website, Free)
- [Free Faces](https://xiry.app/resources/free-faces): Curated gallery of free and open-source typefaces organized by style (Website, Free)
- [No Design Foundry](https://xiry.app/resources/no-design-foundry): Web-based interactive typography tools for distorting and styling text (Web app, Free)
- [Space Type Generator](https://xiry.app/resources/space-type-generator): Browser-based kinetic typography tool for generating animated 2D and 3D text (Web app, Free)
- [Stack & Justify](https://xiry.app/resources/stack-and-justify): Browser tool to generate aligned type specimens using equal-width words (Web app, Open source)

Updated 11 October 2026. Page: https://xiry.app/resources/ios-ui-font-size-rules-and-reference

Make your own library: Xiry takes your saved reels, tweets, Reddit bookmarks and Watch Later videos, makes them searchable and pulls the useful stuff out, like this library. It's invite-only for now; join the waitlist at https://xiry.app/#waitlist.