---
title: Rating indicators
framework: design
role: article
path: design/human-interface-guidelines/rating-indicators
---

# Rating indicators

A rating indicator uses a series of horizontally arranged graphical symbols — by default, stars — to communicate a ranking level.

## Best practices

A rating indicator doesn’t display partial symbols; it rounds the value to display complete symbols only. Within a rating indicator, symbols are always the same distance apart and don’t expand or shrink to fit the component’s width. Best practices Make it easy to change rankings. When presenting a list of ranked items, let people adjust the rank of individual items inline without navigating to a separate editing screen. If you replace the star with a custom symbol, make sure that its purpose is clear. The star is a very recognizable ranking symbol, and people may not associate other symbols with a rating scale. Platform considerations No additional considerations for macOS.  Not supported in iOS, iPadOS, tvOS, visionOS, or watchOS. Resources Related Ratings and reviews Developer documentation NSLevelIndicator.Style.rating — AppKit Change log  |   |