swiftui-performance-audit

Savant verdict: Analyzed

Scanned or evaluated by Savant; not yet both passing.

Live evaluation

0 pass · 5 investigate · 1 fail across 6 cases. Jev accepted 6 of 14 LLM-drafted cases. Drafted and run by nvidia/nemotron-3-super-120b-a12b, validated and scored by jev-latest.

• Our SwiftUI list scrolls with jank on iPhone 14 Pro in Release mode. The list shows user posts with images and text. Each row uses AsyncImage and formats timestamps with DateFormatter inside the body. We suspect the formatter creation and image decoding are causing the issue.positive case · investigate
• When navigating to a settings screen, the UI freezes for ~300ms. The screen uses a Form with toggles that read from a shared @Observable AppSettings model. The model has 50+ properties, and every toggle reads a different property via model.propertyName. We're seeing this on iPad Air 5 in Debug builds.positive case · investigate
• In a chat view, scrolling feels slow when new messages arrive. The view uses a ForEach over @State var messages: [Message] and appends new messages with messages.append(newMessage). Each message row computes avatars and checks unread status via model.unreadCount(for: message.id). We're on iPhone 13, Release build.positive case · investigate
• Images in a grid look blurry and the UI feels slow. We're using Image(uiImage:) with UIImage(data:) and suspect it's main-thread work. The grid is in a ScrollView. We're testing on iPhone 12.edge case · investigate
• Can you write a SwiftUI view that implements a custom pie chart with animations?negative case · fail
• What are the latest SwiftUI features in iOS 18 that improve performance?negative case · investigate

Safety (NVIDIA SkillSpector)

0 patterns found

Structure

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SKILL.md

---
name: swiftui-performance-audit
description: Audit SwiftUI runtime performance from code first. Use when diagnosing slow rendering, janky scrolling, expensive updates, or profiling needs.
---

# SwiftUI Performance Audit

## Quick start

Use this skill to diagnose SwiftUI performance issues from code first, then request profiling evidence when code review alone cannot explain the symptoms.

## Workflow

1. Classify the symptom: slow rendering, janky scrolling, high CPU, memory growth, hangs, or excessive view updates.
2. If code is available, start with a code-first review using `references/code-smells.md`.
3. If code is not available, ask for the smallest useful slice: target view, data flow, reproduction steps, and deployment target.
4. If code review is inconclusive or runtime evidence is required, guide the user through profiling with `references/profiling-intake.md`.
5. Summarize likely causes, evidence, remediation, and validation steps using `references/report-template.md`.

## 1. Intake

Collect:
- Target view or feature code.
- Symptoms and exact reproduction steps.
- Data flow: `@State`, `@Binding`, environment dependencies, and observable models.
- Whether the issue shows up on device or simulator, and whether it was observed in Debug or Release.

Ask the user to classify the issue if possible:
- CPU spike or battery drain
- Janky scrolling or dropped frames
- High memory or image pressure
- Hangs or unresponsive interactions
- Excessive or unexpectedly broad view updates

For the full profiling intake checklist, read `references/profiling-intake.md`.

## 2. Code-First Review

Focus on:
- Invalidation storms from broad observation or environment reads.
- Unstable identity in lists and `ForEach`.
- Heavy derived work in `body` or view builders.
- Layout thrash from complex hierarchies, `GeometryReader`, or preference chains.
- Large image decode or resize work on the main thread.
- Animation or transition work applied too broadly.

Use `references/code-smells.md` for the detailed smell catalog and fix guidance.

Provide:
- Likely root causes with code references.
- Suggested fixes and refactors.
- If needed, a minimal repro or instrumentation suggestion.

## 3. Guide the User to Profile

If code review does not explain the issue, ask for runtime evidence:
- A trace export or screenshots of the SwiftUI timeline and Time Profiler call tree.
- Device/OS/build configuration.
- The exact interaction being profiled.
- Before/after metrics if the user is comparing a change.

Use `references/profiling-intake.md` for the exact checklist and collection steps.

## 4. Analyze and Diagnose

- Map the evidence to the most likely category: invalidation, identity churn, layout thrash, main-thread work, image cost, or animation cost.
- Prioritize problems by impact, not by how easy they are to explain.
- Distinguish code-level suspicion from trace-backed evidence.
- Call out when profiling is still insufficient and what additional evidence would reduce uncertainty.

## 5. Remediate

Apply targeted fixes:
- Narrow state scope and reduce broad observation fan-out.
- Stabilize identities for `ForEach` and lists.
- Move heavy work out of `body` into derived state updated from inputs, model-layer precomputation, memoized helpers, or background preprocessing. Use `@State` only for view-owned state, not as an ad hoc cache for arbitrary computation.
- Use `equatable()` only when equality is cheaper than recomputing the subtree and the inputs are truly value-semantic.
- Downsample images before rendering.
- Reduce layout complexity or use fixed sizing where possible.

Use `references/code-smells.md` for examples, Observation-specific fan-out guidance, and remediation patterns.

## 6. Verify

Ask the user to re-run the same capture and compare with baseline metrics.
Summarize the delta (CPU, frame drops, memory peak) if provided.

## Outputs

Provide:
- A short metrics table (before/after if available).
- Top issues (ordered by impact).
- Proposed fixes with estimated effort.

Use `references/report-template.md` when formatting the final audit.

## References

- Profiling intake and collection checklist: `references/profiling-intake.md`
- Common code smells and remediation patterns: `references/code-smells.md`
- Audit output template: `references/report-template.md`
- Add Apple documentation and WWDC resources under `references/` as they are supplied by the user.
- Optimizing SwiftUI performance with Instruments: `references/optimizing-swiftui-performance-instruments.md`
- Understanding and improving SwiftUI performance: `references/understanding-improving-swiftui-performance.md`
- Understanding hangs in your app: `references/understanding-hangs-in-your-app.md`
- Demystify SwiftUI performance (WWDC23): `references/demystify-swiftui-performance-wwdc23.md`
- In addition to the references above, use web search to consult current Apple Developer documentation when Instruments workflows or SwiftUI performance guidance may have changed.