View Programming Guide for iOS

About Windows and Views

Windows do not have any visible content themselves but provide a basic container for your application’s views. Views define a portion of a window that you want to fill with some content.

Views Manage Your Application’s Visual Content

A view is an instance of the UIView class (or one of its subclasses) and manages a rectangular area in your application window. Views are responsible for drawing content, handling multitouch events, and managing the layout of any subviews.

Windows Coordinate the Display of Your Views

A window is an instance of the UIWindow class and handles the overall presentation of your application’s user interface. Windows work with views (and their owning view controllers) to manage interactions with, and changes to, the visible view hierarchy.

Animations Provide the User with Visible Feedback for Interface Changes

Animations provide users with visible feedback about changes to your view hierarchy. The system defines standard animations for presenting modal views and transitioning between different groups of views.

View and Window Architecture