Dialogs

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Dialogs

Dialogs inform users about a task and can contain critical information, require decisions, or involve multiple tasks.

A Dialog is a type of modal window that appears in front of app content to provide critical information or ask for a decision. Dialogs disable all app functionality when they appear, and remain on screen until confirmed, dismissed, or a required action has been taken.

Dialogs are purposefully interruptive, so they should be used sparingly.

Simple Dialogs

Simple dialogs can provide additional details or actions about a list item. For example, they can display avatars, icons, clarifying subtext, or orthogonal actions (such as adding an account).

Touch mechanics:

  • Choosing an option immediately commits the option and closes the menu
  • Touching outside of the dialog, or pressing Back, cancels the action and closes the dialog

Selected: user02@gmail.com


Alerts

Alerts are urgent interruptions, requiring acknowledgement, that inform the user about a situation.

Most alerts don't need titles. They summarize a decision in a sentence or two by either:

  • Asking a question (e.g. "Delete this conversation?")
  • Making a statement related to the action buttons

Use title bar alerts only for high-risk situations, such as the potential loss of connectivity. Users should be able to understand the choices based on the title and button text alone.

If a title is required:

  • Use a clear question or statement with an explanation in the content area, such as "Erase USB storage?".
  • Avoid apologies, ambiguity, or questions, such as “Warning!” or “Are you sure?”

You can also swap out the transition, the next example uses Slide.

Confirmation dialogs

Confirmation dialogs require users to explicitly confirm their choice before an option is committed. For example, users can listen to multiple ringtones but only make a final selection upon touching “OK.”

Touching “Cancel” in a confirmation dialog, or pressing Back, cancels the action, discards any changes, and closes the dialog.

    Interruptions
    Phone ringtone

    Dione

    Default notification ringtone

    Tethys

Full-screen dialogs

Form dialogs

Form dialogs allow users to fill out form fields within a dialog. For example, if your site prompts for potential subscribers to fill in their email address, they can fill out the email field and touch 'Submit'

Responsive full-screen

You may make a Dialog responsively full screen the dialog using withMobileDialog. By default, withMobileDialog()(Dialog) responsively full screens at or below the sm screen size. You can choose your own breakpoint for example xs by passing the breakpoint argument: withMobileDialog({breakpoint: 'xs'})(Dialog).

Accessibility

Be sure to add aria-labelledby="id...", referencing the modal title, to the Dialog. Additionally, you may give a description of your modal dialog with the aria-describedby="id..." property on the Dialog.

Scrolling long content

When dialogs become too long for the user’s viewport or device, they scroll.

  • scroll=paper the content of the dialog scrolls within the paper element.
  • scroll=body the content of the dialog scrolls within the body element.

Try the demo below to see what we mean:

API