# Place the tab bar as a sidebar on the inner display

> A horizontal tab bar wastes the inner display's regular width. One modifier moves it to a sidebar.

Source: https://iphoneduosupport.com/checklist/tab-bar-sidebar-placement/

Severity: major
Category: navigation
Applies to: swiftui, uikit
Symptom: A five-item tab bar stretched across a 626-point-wide display, with the icons marooned in the middle.
Sources: https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/tech-talks/111461/
Last verified: 2026-09-09

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Tab bars were designed for a thumb on a narrow screen. On a regular-width display the same bar leaves a wide, mostly empty strip and pushes navigation to the far bottom edge.

## The fix

```swift
// SwiftUI
TabView {
    // …
}
.defaultTabBarPlacement(.sidebar)
```

```swift
// UIKit
tabBarController.sidebar.preferredPlacement = .sidebar
```

This is one of the cheapest visible wins on the whole checklist. The system keeps the tab bar horizontal where that is right — the outer display, compact widths, Split View at a narrow size — and promotes it to a sidebar where there is room.

## Design considerations

A sidebar shows labels alongside icons, so review your tab titles. Names chosen to fit under a 60-point icon may read as terse in a sidebar with room for real words.

A sidebar also makes more destinations viable. If you previously collapsed sections into a "More" tab because five was the limit, the inner display can show them directly. Keep the structure identical across placements, though — the same destinations in the same order, laid out differently. Diverging navigation between displays is disorienting when the user folds the device mid-task.

## How to verify

Compare the tab bar on the outer display against the inner display. The outer should be a familiar horizontal bar; the inner should be a sidebar with legible labels and the same destinations.

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Published by iPhone Duo Support (https://iphoneduosupport.com). Not affiliated with Apple Inc.