Navigation lab

A scratch page for how tabs, search and sheets work together. Not final.

Eight proposals, each as a strip of phone states, with iPad below where it matters, drawn with the chosen colours and the standard list. All keep the map first and the sheet stack. Scroll each strip sideways.

A · iOS 26 tab bar and search Proposed

The standard iOS 26 TabView: a glass tab bar bottom leading with three modes, Nearby, Rare and My List, and search as its own tab, bottom trailing (Tab(role: .search)). Each tab owns a sheet stack over the one map. Opening a bird minimizes the bar (tabBarMinimizeBehavior) and the running list shows as a bottom accessory (tabViewBottomAccessory), the way Music shows what's playing. Settings, About and Support go in My List's … menu.

Trade-off. Most of it is system behaviour, so it looks and moves like Apple's own apps. The bar and the sheet are two layers: at half height that's a lot of chrome over the map.

9:41

Stanley Park

Vancouver, BC · 113 species

5 km ⌃14 days ⌃Family ⌃

Ducks, Geese, and Waterfowl

Canada Goose21 hours ago · 64 birds

✓ 2›

Wood Duck1 day ago · 12 birds

›

Mallard3 hours ago · 40 birds

›

NearbyRareMy List

Nearby. Tab bar bottom leading, search on its own bottom trailing. The sheet floats above them.

9:41

★★★

Rare Bird Alert

Within 50 km · last 7 days

Tropical KingbirdJericho Beach · 2 days ago

Rare›

Harris's SparrowQueen Elizabeth Park · 3 days

Rare›

Black PhoebeIona Beach · yesterday

Rare›

Palm WarblerLost Lagoon · today

Rare›

NearbyRareMy List

Tap Rare: the sheet becomes Rare Bird Alert and the map shows the rare sightings.

9:41

Birds

Song Sparrow3 hours ago nearby

›

Fox Sparrow1 day ago nearby

›

SparrowhawkNot seen nearby

›

Places

SparwoodBC, Canada

›

spar

Tap search: it grows into a field across the bottom; the tab bar shrinks to the current tab. Birds and places in one list.

9:41

312214

Anna's Hummingbird

Calypte anna

ListenSeen ItShare

Recent sightings

Lost Lagoon5 hours ago · 2

›

✓ My List · 12 · 0:47

Open a bird: its sheet pushes on top, the tab bar minimizes, and the active list rides above it as an accessory.

9:41

My List

Stanley Park · today · 0:47

✓Finish⇪Share

Canada Goose21 hours ago

✓ 2›

Mallard3 hours ago

✓ 6›

Anna's Hummingbird5 hours ago

✓ 1›

NearbyRareMy List

Settings, About and Support are buried in My List's … menu. Nothing about settings on the map.

9:41

Stanley Park

Vancouver, BC · 113 species

NearbyRareMy List

Closing Nearby: mode sheets have no close button. Drag down and the sheet stops at a peek with its title; only pushed sheets, like a bird, close.

9:41

Stanley Park

Vancouver, BC · 113 species

5 km ⌃14 days ⌃Family ⌃

Ducks, Geese, and Waterfowl

Canada Goose21 hours ago · 64 birds

✓ 2›

Wood Duck1 day ago · 12 birds

›

Mallard3 hours ago · 40 birds

›

NearbyRareMy List

iPad: iOS 26 moves the tab bar to the top and search to the top trailing corner. The sheet becomes a column on the left.

B · Tabs inside the sheet

Land Nav 2 and Find My: the tab row is the sheet's own footer, with search beside it, so the sheet can drop to a peek that is just a title and the tabs. A bird takes over the whole sheet until you close it.

Trade-off. The most map, and one layer instead of two. But it's custom: the system tab bar can't live inside a sheet, so it won't pick up iOS 26 behaviour like minimizing or the search tab for free.

9:41

Stanley Park

Vancouver, BC · 113 species

NearbyRareMy List

Smallest height: the sheet is just its title and the tab row, with search beside it. The map gets the screen.

9:41

Stanley Park

Vancouver, BC · 113 species

5 km ⌃14 days ⌃Family ⌃

Ducks, Geese, and Waterfowl

Canada Goose21 hours ago · 64 birds

✓ 2›

Wood Duck1 day ago · 12 birds

›

Mallard3 hours ago · 40 birds

›

NearbyRareMy List

Half height: the tabs stay at the bottom of the sheet, like Land Nav 2 and Find My.

9:41

★★★

Rare Bird Alert

Within 50 km · last 7 days

Tropical KingbirdJericho Beach · 2 days ago

Rare›

Harris's SparrowQueen Elizabeth Park · 3 days

Rare›

Black PhoebeIona Beach · yesterday

Rare›

Palm WarblerLost Lagoon · today

Rare›

NearbyRareMy List

Full height: content scrolls under the glass tab row.

9:41

312214

Anna's Hummingbird

Calypte anna

ListenSeen ItShare

Recent sightings

Lost Lagoon5 hours ago · 2

›

A bird takes over the whole sheet and the tab row goes away until you close it, like an item in Land Nav 2.

C · Two modes and search

A with fewer tabs: Nearby and My List. Rare birds are a section at the top of Nearby and purple discs on the map, not a mode. Settings sit at the bottom of My List.

Trade-off. Simplest, and the bar is small. Rare Bird Alert, the feature that brings birders back daily, loses its button.

9:41

★★★

Stanley Park

Vancouver, BC · 113 species

5 km ⌃14 days ⌃Family ⌃

Ducks, Geese, and Waterfowl

Canada Goose21 hours ago · 64 birds

✓ 2›

Wood Duck1 day ago · 12 birds

›

Mallard3 hours ago · 40 birds

›

NearbyMy List

Two tabs and search. Rare isn't a tab: rare birds sit at the top of Nearby and in purple on the map.

9:41

My List

Stanley Park · today · 0:47

✓Finish⇪Share

Canada Goose21 hours ago

✓ 2›

Mallard3 hours ago

✓ 6›

Anna's Hummingbird5 hours ago

✓ 1›

NearbyMy List

My List is the second mode; settings live at its bottom.

9:41

Birds

Song Sparrow3 hours ago nearby

›

Fox Sparrow1 day ago nearby

›

SparrowhawkNot seen nearby

›

Places

SparwoodBC, Canada

›

spar

Fewer tabs means a smaller bar: more map, and search gets more room.

D1 · Apple Maps: a sheet that never leaves

One sheet is always there, with search at its top, like Apple Maps. At rest it's just the search field. Pulled up, it shows Nearby, Rare and My List as cards; each pushes its list onto the sheet. The … beside the search field holds Settings.

Trade-off. Instantly familiar, and it works the same on iPad. But every mode is two taps away instead of one, and search lives in the sheet, not on its own bottom trailing.

9:41

Search birds and places

Always a small sheet with search at the top, like Apple Maps. This is the smallest it gets: the map is the screen.

9:41

Search birds and places

Nearby113 species at Stanley Park

Rare5 within 50 km

My List12 species · 0:47

D2 · Apple Maps with modes

D1, but the modes are a segmented control right under the search field, so switching is one tap.

Trade-off. Faster than D1. The sheet carries more chrome, and three segments is the most that fits.

9:41

Search birds and places

NearbyRareMy List

5 km ⌃14 days ⌃

Canada Goose21 hours ago · 64 birds

✓ 2›

Wood Duck1 day ago · 12 birds

›

Search at the top of a sheet that never closes, with the modes as a segmented control under it.

9:41

★★★

Search birds and places

NearbyRareMy List

Tropical KingbirdJericho Beach · 2 days ago

Rare›

Harris's SparrowQueen Elizabeth Park

Rare›

Switch to Rare: same sheet, new content, rare sightings on the map.

9:41

Search birds and places

Smallest height: just the search field, so the map has the screen.

E · One glass search bar

No sheet at rest, no tab bar: one glass search bar along the bottom, with the current mode as a button on its leading end. The mode button opens a menu: Nearby, Rare, My List, and Settings at the bottom.

Trade-off. The least chrome of all, and very iOS 26. Modes are hidden behind a menu, so Rare is less discoverable.

9:41

Search birds and places

No sheet at rest: one glass search bar at the bottom, with the mode on its leading end.

9:41

Search birds and places

Nearby Rare My ListSettings…

Tap the mode button for Nearby, Rare or My List. Settings sits at the bottom of the same menu.

9:41

Stanley Park

Vancouver, BC · 113 species

5 km ⌃14 days ⌃Family ⌃

Ducks, Geese, and Waterfowl

Canada Goose21 hours ago · 64 birds

✓ 2›

Wood Duck1 day ago · 12 birds

›

Mallard3 hours ago · 40 birds

›

Search birds and places

Pick Nearby: its sheet rises above the bar.

F · Map home, toolbar opens sheets

The map is home. A small glass toolbar holds Nearby, Rare and My List as buttons, with search at the end. Each button opens its sheet; closing the sheet goes back to the bare map. Answers "is Nearby closable" with yes.

Trade-off. Clear and simple, with the bare map one tap away. But the app no longer opens on the list, which is the 80% case.

9:41

The map is home. A small glass toolbar holds Nearby, Rare and My List; search is the circle at the end.

9:41

Stanley Park

Vancouver, BC · 113 species

5 km ⌃14 days ⌃Family ⌃

Ducks, Geese, and Waterfowl

Canada Goose21 hours ago · 64 birds

✓ 2›

Wood Duck1 day ago · 12 birds

›

Mallard3 hours ago · 40 birds

›

Each button opens its sheet over the map, and the toolbar shows which. Close the sheet and you're back to the bare map.

9:41

★★★

Rare Bird Alert

Within 50 km · last 7 days

Tropical KingbirdJericho Beach · 2 days ago

Rare›

Harris's SparrowQueen Elizabeth Park · 3 days

Rare›

Black PhoebeIona Beach · yesterday

Rare›

Palm WarblerLost Lagoon · today

Rare›

Open Rare instead and its sheet replaces Nearby's.

G · Swipe between modes

One sheet with three pages you swipe between, Nearby, Rare and My List, with page dots at the top like Weather. Search rides the sheet's top edge, like Land Nav 2's plus button.

Trade-off. No tab bar at all, and the most list. Sideways swipes fight the list's swipe actions for ticking birds.

9:41

Stanley Park

Vancouver, BC · 113 species

5 km ⌃14 days ⌃Family ⌃

Ducks, Geese, and Waterfowl

Canada Goose21 hours ago · 64 birds

✓ 2›

Wood Duck1 day ago · 12 birds

›

Mallard3 hours ago · 40 birds

›

One sheet with three pages: swipe sideways between Nearby, Rare and My List, like Weather's cities. Search rides the sheet's top edge.

9:41

★★★

Rare Bird Alert

Within 50 km · last 7 days

Tropical KingbirdJericho Beach · 2 days ago

Rare›

Harris's SparrowQueen Elizabeth Park · 3 days

Rare›

Black PhoebeIona Beach · yesterday

Rare›

Palm WarblerLost Lagoon · today

Rare›

Swipe left: Rare Bird Alert.

9:41

My List

Stanley Park · today · 0:47

✓Finish⇪Share

Canada Goose21 hours ago

✓ 2›

Mallard3 hours ago

✓ 6›

Anna's Hummingbird5 hours ago

✓ 1›

Swipe again: My List.

Common to all three

Search is its own button, bottom trailing, and finds birds and places together. Picking a place moves Nearby there.
Map controls (map style, my location) are one small glass capsule, top trailing, out of the way of the bottom.
Settings is buried: Settings, About and Support sit behind a … menu, never on the map.
A bird is always a pushed sheet over whichever mode you're in; closing it goes back to exactly where you were.