Apple Text Views

Use this skill when the main question is "which text view should I use?" or when behavior depends on the capabilities of a specific view class.

When to Use

• You are choosing among SwiftUI, UIKit, and AppKit text views.
• The question is mostly about capability tradeoffs, not low-level TextKit APIs.
• You need to know whether the problem belongs in Text, TextField, TextEditor, UITextView, or NSTextView.

Quick Decision

Read-only text in SwiftUI -> Text

Single-line input in SwiftUI -> TextField

Multi-line plain-text editing in SwiftUI -> TextEditor

Rich text, TextKit access, syntax highlighting, attachments, or custom layout on iOS -> UITextView

Rich text, field editor behavior, text tables, rulers, printing, or advanced desktop editing on macOS -> NSTextView

Static UIKit label -> UILabel

Simple UIKit/AppKit form input -> UITextField / NSTextField

Core Guidance

Decision Guide

1. Are you editing text?

No -> Prefer Text or UILabel.

Yes -> Go to step 2.

2. Is plain-text SwiftUI editing enough?

Use TextField or TextEditor when all of these are true:

• You only need plain String editing
• You do not need TextKit APIs
• You do not need inline attachments or rich attributed editing
• You can accept SwiftUI's editing limitations

If any of those are false, move to UITextView or NSTextView.

3. Do you need TextKit or attributed text control?

Use UITextView / NSTextView when you need:

• NSAttributedString or advanced AttributedString bridging
• Layout inspection or fragment-level queries
• Syntax highlighting or custom rendering
• Inline attachments or custom attachment views
• Rich editing commands, menus, or selection behavior
• Writing Tools coordination beyond basic defaults

4. Do you need TextKit 2 specifically?

Use TextKit 1 (NSLayoutManager) when you need:

• Glyph-level access (custom glyph drawing, glyph metrics, shouldGenerateGlyphs)
• Multi-page or multi-column layout (multiple text containers)
• Syntax highlighting via temporary attributes (proven, reliable)
• Text tables (NSTextTable, macOS)
• Printing with full pagination control

Use TextKit 2 (NSTextLayoutManager) when you need:

• Viewport-based layout for large documents
• Writing Tools full inline experience
• Correct complex-script rendering by default (Arabic, Devanagari, CJK)
• Modern rendering and layout APIs

Neither is "legacy" or "modern" — they solve different problems. TextKit 1 is the right choice for glyph-level work even in a brand-new app.

For the actual TextKit 1 vs 2 choice, launch the platform-reference agent.

Common Decisions

Chat composer that grows vertically -> TextField(axis: .vertical) first, UITextView if you need richer editing behavior.

Notes editor with rich text -> UITextView on iOS, NSTextView on macOS.

Syntax-highlighted code editor -> UITextView / NSTextView. TextKit 1 if you need temporary attributes (proven) or glyph metrics; TextKit 2 if you need viewport performance on very large files.

Simple settings field -> TextField, UITextField, or NSTextField.

Markdown display only -> Text if the supported inline subset is enough; otherwise use TextKit-backed rendering.

Need AppKit-only document editor features -> NSTextView.

Related Skills and Agents

• For the full catalog, capabilities tables, and platform-by-platform reference, see reference.md.
• For usage-oriented examples, see examples.md.
• For wrapping UITextView or NSTextView in SwiftUI, launch the platform-reference agent.
• For the TextKit 1 vs 2 decision specifically, use /skill apple-text-layout-manager-selection.
• For TextKit 1 vs 2 architecture, launch the textkit-reference agent.
• For a migration or performance decision, launch the platform-reference agent.
• For debugging weird editor behavior, use /skill apple-text-textkit-diag.