After working with UIKit for several years I am still quite new to SwiftUI and especially to its navigation features.

Currently I am trying to get my head around NavigationStack and .navigationDestination. It seems that that using these features allows push navigation (like in UINavigationController) only. Is this correct?

When searching for ways to use NavigationStack with .sheet and/or .fullScreenCover navigation instead I find several examples which state that this is possible but has to be implemented manually:

struct ContentView: View {
    @State private var navigationPath = NavigationPath()
    @State private var presentingSheet: Bool = false
    @State private var presentingFullScreen: Bool = false
    @State private var selectedItem: String?

    var body: some View {
        NavigationStack(path: $navigationPath) {
            VStack {
                /*Button("Push to Detail") {
                    navigationPath.append("Detail")
                }*/

                Button("Present as Sheet") {
                    selectedItem = "Detail"
                    presentingSheet = true
                }

                Button("Present as FullScreen") {
                    selectedItem = "Detail"
                    presentingFullScreen = true
                }
            }
            /*.navigationDestination(for: String.self) { value in
                DetailView(value: value)
            }*/
            .sheet(isPresented: $presentingSheet) {
                if let selectedItem {
                    DetailView(value: selectedItem)
                }
            }
            .fullScreenCover(isPresented: $presentingFullScreen) {
                if let selectedItem {
                    DetailView(value: selectedItem)
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

While this obviously works, I do not understand what advantage I get from using NavigationStack in this example. NavigationPath is only utilized when using the push navigation but not when using .sheet or .fullStackCover, is it?

So, is there any reason to use NavigationStack at all, when push navigation is not used?

Is there any iOS/SwiftUI native solution when working with .sheet or .fullStackCover or to I need a custom or third party solution like the Routing Pattern?

After working with UIKit for several years I am still quite new to SwiftUI and especially to its navigation features.

Currently I am trying to get my head around NavigationStack and .navigationDestination. It seems that that using these features allows push navigation (like in UINavigationController) only. Is this correct?

When searching for ways to use NavigationStack with .sheet and/or .fullScreenCover navigation instead I find several examples which state that this is possible but has to be implemented manually:

struct ContentView: View {
    @State private var navigationPath = NavigationPath()
    @State private var presentingSheet: Bool = false
    @State private var presentingFullScreen: Bool = false
    @State private var selectedItem: String?

    var body: some View {
        NavigationStack(path: $navigationPath) {
            VStack {
                /*Button("Push to Detail") {
                    navigationPath.append("Detail")
                }*/

                Button("Present as Sheet") {
                    selectedItem = "Detail"
                    presentingSheet = true
                }

                Button("Present as FullScreen") {
                    selectedItem = "Detail"
                    presentingFullScreen = true
                }
            }
            /*.navigationDestination(for: String.self) { value in
                DetailView(value: value)
            }*/
            .sheet(isPresented: $presentingSheet) {
                if let selectedItem {
                    DetailView(value: selectedItem)
                }
            }
            .fullScreenCover(isPresented: $presentingFullScreen) {
                if let selectedItem {
                    DetailView(value: selectedItem)
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

While this obviously works, I do not understand what advantage I get from using NavigationStack in this example. NavigationPath is only utilized when using the push navigation but not when using .sheet or .fullStackCover, is it?

So, is there any reason to use NavigationStack at all, when push navigation is not used?

Is there any iOS/SwiftUI native solution when working with .sheet or .fullStackCover or to I need a custom or third party solution like the Routing Pattern?

• ios
• swift
• swiftui
• swiftui-navigationstack

• 1 It seems that that using these features allows push navigation (like in UINavigationController) only. Is this correct? Yes, it is for hierarchical navigation. Both sheet and fullScreenCover are modal presentations, so it's a bit different to navigation. See the Apple documentation for an overview of intended use. That page also has a link to design guidlines, for guidance on when this approach is appropriate. – Benzy Neez Commented 15 hours ago
• And fyi it is .sheet(item: selectedItem) – malhal Commented 13 hours ago

2 Answers 2

In SwiftUI NavigationStack is unrelated to the sheet and fullScreenCover.

NavigationLink is like show with the controller.

If you want the global show and push or present you do need a custom setup. SwiftUI does not have a global push.

The presenting a screen functionality using sheet/fullScreenCover in SwiftUI has nothing to do with the navigation stack like in UIKit where in we require a navigation controller to either push or present the new screen.

SwiftUI Screens operates via views and not like controllers. In these cases the modifiers sheet/fullScreenCover are used to present the required view.

NavigationStack is useful when we want to operate the push functionality essentially linking a SwiftUI view to a particular destination.

If you want a global functionality I would recommend creating a boiler BaseView with fullScreenCover and have a Navigation functionality via there all handled by a ViewModel to take advantage of MVVM pattern.

• BaseView That Wraps All Screens

    struct BaseView<Content: View>: View {
        @StateObject private var viewModel = BaseViewModel()
        let content: Content  // Child view to be wrapped
  
        var body: some View {
            content
            .fullScreenCover(item: $viewModel.activeFullScreenCover) { cover in
                viewModel.destinationView(for: cover)
            }
            .environmentObject(viewModel)
        }
    }
  
  

• BaseViewModel for Global Navigation

  class BaseViewModel: ObservableObject {
       @Published var activeFullScreenCover: AnyView?
  
        func presentFullScreenCover<Content: View>(_ view: Content) {
            activeFullScreenCover = AnyView(view)
        }
  
        func dismissFullScreenCover() {
            activeFullScreenCover = nil
        }
    }
  

• Make Sure to wrap the views inside Base view

  @main
  struct MyApp: App {
      var body: some Scene {
          WindowGroup {
              BaseView(content: HomeView()) // HomeView is now inside BaseView
          }
      }
  }
  

• Child Views Can Trigger Full-Screen Presentation

  struct HomeView: View {
      @EnvironmentObject var viewModel: BaseViewModel
  
      var body: some View {
          VStack {
              Button("Show Full-Screen Modal") {
                  viewModel.presentFullScreenCover(ChildView())
              }
          }
          .navigationTitle("Home")
      }
  }