---
title: AppKit
framework: AppKit
role: collection
role_heading: Framework
platforms: [Mac Catalyst 13.0+, macOS 10.0+]
path: appkit
---

# AppKit

Construct and manage a graphical, event-driven user interface for your macOS app.

## Overview

Overview AppKit contains the objects you need to build the user interface for a macOS app. In addition to drawing windows, buttons, panels, and text fields, it handles all the event management and interaction between your app, people, and macOS.

Aside from drawing and managing interactions, AppKit handles printing, animating, as well as creating documents with large amounts of data efficiently. The framework also contains built-in support for localization and accessibility to ensure that your app reaches as many people as possible. AppKit also works with SwiftUI, so you can implement parts of your AppKit app in SwiftUI or mix interface elements between the two frameworks. For example, you can place AppKit views and view controllers inside SwiftUI views, and vice versa. note: For information about bringing your iPad app to Mac, see Mac Catalyst. To build an iOS app, you can use SwiftUI to create an app that works across all of Apple’s platforms, or use UIKit to create an app for iOS only.

## Topics

### Essentials

- [Adopting Liquid Glass](technologyoverviews/adopting-liquid-glass.md)
- [Adopting gesture recognizers in your app](appkit/adopting-gesture-recognizers-in-your-app.md)
- [AppKit updates](updates/appkit.md)
- [Protecting the User’s Privacy](uikit/protecting-the-user-s-privacy.md)
- [Porting your macOS apps to Apple silicon](apple-silicon/porting-your-macos-apps-to-apple-silicon.md)

### App Structure

- [App and Environment](appkit/app-and-environment.md)
- [Documents, Data, and Pasteboard](appkit/documents-data-and-pasteboard.md)
- [Cocoa Bindings](appkit/cocoa-bindings.md)
- [Resource Management](appkit/resource-management.md)
- [App Extensions](appkit/app-extensions.md)

### User Interface

- [Views and Controls](appkit/views-and-controls.md)
- [View Management](appkit/view-management.md)
- [View Layout](appkit/view-layout.md)
- [Appearance Customization](appkit/appearance-customization.md)
- [Animation](appkit/animation.md)
- [Windows, Panels, and Screens](appkit/windows-panels-and-screens.md)
- [Sound, Speech, and Haptics](appkit/sound-speech-and-haptics.md)
- [Supporting Continuity Camera in Your Mac App](appkit/supporting-continuity-camera-in-your-mac-app.md)

### User Interactions

- [Mouse, Keyboard, and Trackpad](appkit/mouse-keyboard-and-trackpad.md)
- [Menus, Cursors, and the Dock](appkit/menus-cursors-and-the-dock.md)
- [Gestures](appkit/gestures.md)
- [Touch Bar](appkit/touch-bar.md)
- [Drag and Drop](appkit/drag-and-drop.md)
- [Accessibility for AppKit](appkit/accessibility-for-appkit.md)

### Graphics, Drawing, Color, and Printing

- [Images and PDF](appkit/images-and-pdf.md)
- [Drawing](appkit/drawing.md)
- [Color](appkit/color.md)
- [Printing](appkit/printing.md)

### Text

- [Text Display](appkit/text-display.md)
- [TextKit](appkit/textkit.md)
- [Fonts](appkit/fonts.md)
- [Writing Tools](appkit/writing-tools.md)

### Reference

- [Enumerations](appkit/enumerations.md)
- [Constants](appkit/constants.md)
- [Data Types](appkit/data-types.md)
- [Macros](appkit/macros.md)

### Deprecated

- [Deprecated symbols](appkit/deprecated-symbols.md)