Most of the tools used to create apps are tools that run on PCs. These programs have simulators that allow you to see how the app looks once installed on the mobile, with the option of verifying the appearance on tablets and different smartphone models.
Today I will comment on an option that runs directly from the mobile, although it is only available for iOS, either on iPhone or iPad.
It’s about Play, an app created for the design of mobile products, capable of designing, creating prototypes and collaborating directly from the iPhone and iPad.
We can then experiment with the design as we create it, taking full advantage of native iOS features to bring the product to life.
Available at createwithplay.com, they are not yet at version 1.0, but in the last update they included many improvements and new features.
Play provides all the 3K+ symbols from Apple’s SF Symbols 3.3, allows defining a rounding attribute for sliders, automatically truncates text when there is a fixed height, warns when we hit the “Create Component” button for the first time, updates the sizes of automatically… there are several functions that help make the design of the app pleasant.
We can also use it from iPad, which means more area to unleash creativity.
Play for iPad has more screen real estate, exposed controls, and is keyboard and mouse ready. It has real-time synchronization between devices, so we can design on the iPad and give it the finishing touches from the iPhone.
Play claims to be the first tool that makes contextual design possible for mobile devices, without simulations or syncing with mirror apps, and that can help create designs faster.
