Using Action Sheets
An action sheet displays a collection of alternatives that are associated with a task users initiate by tapping a button in an application’s toolbar. An action sheet is an appropriate way to:
Provide a selection of ways the task can be completed. In Photos, for example, users can tap the Send button when viewing an individual photo. An action sheet appears, giving users a choice of three destinations for the photo (in addition to a Cancel button, which cancels the send).
It’s useful to display an action sheet in a situation like this, because it allows you to provide a range of choices that make sense in the context of the current task, without giving these choices a permanent place in the user interface.
Get confirmation before completing a potentially dangerous task. For example, depending on Mail settings, an action sheet appears when users tap the Trash button in the Mail toolbar, allowing them to proceed with the deletion or cancel it.
When you display an action sheet in a situation like this you ensure that users understand the dangerous effects of the step they’re about to take and you can provide some alternatives. This type of communication is particularly important on iPhone OS–based devices because sometimes users tap controls without meaning to.
An action sheet always emerges from the bottom of the application screen and
hovers over its views (as shown in the far left of Figure 7-1). Unlike an alert, however,
the side edges of an action sheet are anchored to the sides of the screen, reinforcing its connection to the application and the user’s most recent action.
An action sheet contains a few buttons that allow users to choose how to complete their task. You should not have to add a message to an action sheet because the button labels, in conjunction with the task being performed, should provide enough context for the user to understand their choices. When users tap a button, the action sheet disappears. Because an action sheet should provide users with a choice of actions, an action sheet always provides more than one button.
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