title: \"Complications | Apple Developer Documentation\" source: https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guidelines/complications A complication displa
The Complications skill guides the design and implementation of small, glanceable UI elements on Apple Watch faces that display timely and relevant information. These elements combine images, text, and gauges within tightly defined circular or corner layouts, optimized for various watch sizes and styles. By using precise size specifications and text styling, this skill ensures that complications are both visually consistent and legible across device variants, supporting metrics like progress percentages or data points with clear visual cues.
This skill is essential for mobile UX designers and product managers working on Apple Watch apps who need to deliver concise information in a limited space. It also benefits marketing teams collaborating with design and development to ensure brand assets like icons and data are effectively communicated on wearable devices. Agencies building health, finance, or utility apps with critical real-time updates will find these guidelines critical for balancing visual impact with functional clarity.
Practitioners begin by selecting the appropriate complication layout—circular, corner, or extra-large—based on the watch face and information priority. Next, they design or source assets sized precisely per Apple’s specifications, such as 44.5x44.5 pt for regular circular images or 120x120 pt for extra-large variants, ensuring all visuals fit within the circular mask. Then, they apply default text styles, including rounded medium-weight fonts sized between 12 pt and 41 pt depending on device scale, to maintain readability. Finally, they test the complication across different watch sizes and styles to confirm clarity and adherence to user interaction expectations.
What size should the image assets be for a circular complication? Image sizes vary by watch model, typically around 42x42 pt for regular circular layouts and up to 143x143 pt for extra-large complications. Can complications include multicolor text? Yes, certain templates, especially in corner layouts, support multicolor text fields to enhance information clarity. How are progress gauges displayed? Progress is shown using open or closed gauge visuals that wrap dynamically around the circular outline, with precise sizing for each watch dimension.
Attach the Complications skill to any Metaflow agent tasked with designing or optimizing Apple Watch UI elements. The agent will follow Apple’s human interface guidelines to generate appropriately sized assets and layouts that fit specific watch face templates. You can expect outputs that align with official sizing, text styling, and layout rules to ensure your watch app’s information is both accessible and visually consistent across devices. This skill integrates seamlessly with other design and UX tasks within Metaflow to streamline wearable app development workflows.
For broader context, see our roundup of claude skills marketing, and read Claude Code workflows for marketing agencies for related setup guidance.