What it does
SF Symbols is Apple’s symbol system for interfaces that use the San Francisco font. It combines text alignment, multiple rendering modes and layered animation, with a Mac app for browsing and custom-symbol templates. Individual artwork and features have platform-version and permitted-use restrictions.
Choose a symbol’s weight and scale alongside the surrounding text. SF Symbols supplies nine weights and three scales aligned with San Francisco, plus designs that adapt to reading direction and different scripts. Monochrome uses one colour, Hierarchical varies opacity, Palette assigns contrasting colours and Multicolor uses a symbol’s intrinsic colours. The Mac app previews these choices and exports templates for custom symbols.
Custom artwork can be edited in a vector tool and annotated by layer for colour or animation. Apple-product and feature symbols marked as restricted cannot be customized, and Apple prohibits using SF Symbols or confusingly similar images as app icons, logos or trademarks. Check each symbol’s inspector and platform availability: drawings and features introduced with a newer system are unavailable on earlier systems. The current authoring app requires macOS Sonoma or later.
Strengths
- Nine weights and three scales align symbols with system text.
- Four rendering modes and layer annotations support different colour and motion treatments.
Watch out for
- Symbols cannot be used as app icons, logos or trademarks.
- Restricted Apple-product symbols cannot be customized.
- The authoring app requires macOS Sonoma or later; newer symbols need newer target systems.
Best for
- Apple-platform interface design
- Developers matching symbols to system typography
Sources
- SF Symbols (Oct 27, 2026)
- SF Symbols: Human Interface Guidelines (Oct 27, 2026)