Action sheet

Problem Context

• The user has already tapped, clicked, or invoked a control such as Cancel, Share, More, Remove, or Report.
• There are several immediate outcomes rather than a single yes-or-no confirmation.
• The choice is short-lived and should resolve without a route change, long form, or durable panel.
• The product can clearly distinguish safe choices, cancel, destructive choices, and follow-up review when risk is high.

Selection Rules

• Choose action sheet when an intentional user action needs a small set of immediate choices related to the current object, draft, page, document, or selected item.
• Use action menu when the broader problem is organizing many contextual commands with grouping, disabled reasons, bulk scope, or repeated object menus.
• Use bottom sheet when the surface needs mobile bottom-edge reach, richer contextual detail, detents, scroll coordination, or persistent orientation to background content.
• Use confirmation dialog when there is one primary consequence decision and the user needs focused review rather than several possible action paths.
• Use alert dialog for urgent system or safety conditions that require response and are not simply choices related to a user-started action.
• Use popover or menu button on larger screens when platform conventions present the same choices as an anchored popover rather than a bottom action sheet.
• Use a full page or flow when choices require forms, previews, authentication, multiple steps, history, or saved progress.
• Use visible buttons instead of an action sheet for one or two frequent low-risk choices that should remain directly available.

Required States

• Resting state with an initiating control or task context.
• Opening state that ties the sheet to the action the user just invoked.
• Visible title, message, or object label when needed to clarify the scope.
• Safe action choice state.
• Cancel or keep-current-state choice state.
• Destructive choice state with visual and semantic separation.
• Unavailable or permission-blocked choice state with omission or explanation.
• Follow-up review state for high-risk choices that exceed simple action-sheet commitment.
• Dismissed state that preserves or returns focus to the initiating task.
• Large-screen adapted state that uses platform popover or anchored presentation while keeping the same action roles.

Interaction Contract

• The sheet opens only after a user-initiated action, not as unsolicited promotion, onboarding, or error display.
• Every choice directly answers the initiated action and names the object when ambiguity is possible.
• Cancel leaves the task unchanged and is visually or structurally distinct from action choices.
• Destructive choices are separated, styled by role, and named by consequence.
• The sheet contains only a few choices; it does not require ordinary users to scroll to inspect actions.
• Choosing a safe action closes the sheet and reports the result.
• Choosing a high-risk action either commits a clearly named reversible action or moves to stronger review before commitment.
• Scrim tap, Escape, back, drag, or Cancel all follow the same safe-dismissal rule.
• Focus moves into the sheet on open and returns to the initiating control, object, or logical successor after close.
• The same action roles remain understandable when the platform adapts the presentation to a popover on larger screens.

Implementation Checklist

• Define the initiating control, current object, and exact user question the sheet answers.
• Limit choices to the few immediate outcomes of that initiated action.
• Write labels as concrete verbs and objects, such as Save draft, Discard draft, Share photo, or Report message.
• Provide Cancel or Keep editing when abandonment or backing out is a meaningful safe path.
• Assign destructive role styling and separate destructive choices from safe choices.
• Escalate severe irreversible actions to confirmation, typed confirmation, restore, or undo rather than relying on color alone.
• Avoid scrollable action sheets; reduce, group elsewhere, or move to a richer surface when choices multiply.
• Implement focus placement, Escape or back dismissal, scrim or drag behavior, result status, and focus return.
• Test touch targets, screen reader order, large text, landscape, keyboard access, platform popover adaptation, and accidental-tap prevention.

Common Generated-UI Mistakes

• Showing an action sheet before the user starts an action.
• Using an action sheet as an alert for information that has no choice set.
• Adding many options until the sheet scrolls and users can accidentally tap while inspecting.
• Mixing commands with forms, previews, navigation links, search, filters, and settings.
• Omitting Cancel when leaving the current task unchanged is important.
• Styling a destructive option like an ordinary safe choice.
• Using an action sheet for a long workflow that needs progress, validation, or save recovery.
• Treating a detented bottom sheet or share activity view as the same pattern without checking the additional behavior.

Critique Questions

• What intentional user action opened this sheet?
• What exact question is the sheet asking, and can every choice answer that question?
• Can users safely cancel without losing the current task or object context?
• Is there any choice that needs confirmation, undo, restore, or stronger review before commitment?
• Would the content become clearer as an action menu, bottom sheet, confirmation dialog, popover, or page?
• Does the sheet still work with keyboard, screen reader, large text, landscape, and platform popover adaptation?