swift swiftui navigation ios

Navigation patterns with NavigationStack

Sofia Martinez Jan 2026

2 tabs

import SwiftUI

enum Route: Hashable {
    case postDetail(id: Int)
    case userProfile(id: Int)
    case settings
    case editPost(id: Int)
}

@MainActor
class Router: ObservableObject {
    @Published var path = NavigationPath()

    func navigate(to route: Route) {
        path.append(route)
    }

    func navigateBack() {
        path.removeLast()
    }

    func navigateToRoot() {
        path.removeLast(path.count)
    }

    func replace(with route: Route) {
        path.removeLast()
        path.append(route)
    }
}

import SwiftUI

struct ContentView: View {
    @StateObject private var router = Router()

    var body: some View {
        NavigationStack(path: $router.path) {
            PostsListView()
                .navigationDestination(for: Route.self) { route in
                    destinationView(for: route)
                }
        }
        .environmentObject(router)
    }

    @ViewBuilder
    private func destinationView(for route: Route) -> some View {
        switch route {
        case .postDetail(let id):
            PostDetailView(postId: id)
        case .userProfile(let id):
            UserProfileView(userId: id)
        case .settings:
            SettingsView()
        case .editPost(let id):
            EditPostView(postId: id)
        }
    }
}

// Usage in child views
struct PostsListView: View {
    @EnvironmentObject private var router: Router
    @StateObject private var viewModel = PostsListViewModel()

    var body: some View {
        List(viewModel.posts) { post in
            Button {
                router.navigate(to: .postDetail(id: post.id))
            } label: {
                PostRowView(post: post)
            }
        }
        .navigationTitle("Posts")
        .toolbar {
            ToolbarItem(placement: .navigationBarTrailing) {
                Button {
                    router.navigate(to: .settings)
                } label: {
                    Image(systemName: "gearshape")
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

2 files · swift Explain with highlit

SwiftUI's NavigationStack introduced in iOS 16 provides programmatic navigation with type-safe paths. I use NavigationPath to manage navigation state, enabling deep linking and state restoration. The navigationDestination modifier maps path values to destination views. For complex navigation, I create a Router class that owns the NavigationPath and exposes methods to push/pop. This centralizes navigation logic and makes it testable. Tab-based apps combine TabView with NavigationStack per tab. For backwards compatibility with iOS 15, I use NavigationView with isActive bindings, though NavigationStack is preferred for iOS 16+.