iPhone guide (Beta)

Folio for iPhone and iPhone Duo is coming soon. It needs iOS 26 or later and starts as a Beta: it works for everyday editing, but it is newer than the iPad app and has not been checked on every iPhone. Folio loads Figma’s own website and requests its desktop version, like Safari’s Request Desktop Website. Your Figma account and file permissions still decide what you can open and edit. See getting started for installation and sign-in.

Home, top bar and tabs

Home shows Figma’s file browser; tap a file to open it in a tab. The top bar has Home, the current tab’s title with the tab count, and ⋯. It is always shown.

Tap the title to open the tab list. Select a file, swipe left to close an unpinned tab, swipe right to pin or unpin it, or drag to reorder. The list also offers New Design file, Open link and Reopen closed tab. Use Open link to paste a file link. iPhone has no New window or Move to window command. Back, Forward, Reload and Downloads are in ⋯.

To save memory, Folio keeps one file loaded plus Home; other tabs reload when you select them. Settings > General also offers a two-file limit. A reload can lose unsaved editor state such as an open menu, never your Figma file.

Touch and zoom

iPhones use Touch Only. One finger on the canvas selects, moves or draws; hold still for about half a second for a context menu. Two fingers pan and pinch to zoom the canvas. Panels scroll with your finger. See input controls for gesture details.

Interface zoom starts at 100%. Change it in ⋯ or Settings > Display. It scales Figma’s interface and Folio’s controls, separately from the design’s canvas zoom. The folded and unfolded Duo each keep their own zoom. Folio’s own buttons never shrink below their 100% size.

Canvas and panels

In a Design file, Folio keeps Figma in its own minimized UI so the canvas gets the whole screen, and hides Figma’s tool sidebar and floating tool bar. If you expand Figma’s UI yourself, Folio respects that.

Layers and Properties sit at the left of Folio’s bottom bar. Tap one to open it as a full-width sheet; tap it again to close. Drag the grab bar to change the sheet’s height, from about a quarter to 85% of the screen; Folio remembers your height while the window is open. In Dev Mode, Properties shows Figma’s Inspect panel.

In landscape, Layers opens on the left and Properties on the right, at Figma’s own widths, and both can be open at once. Properties moves to the right end of the bar. Folio shifts the canvas back when Layers opens or closes, so your design stays in place. Rotating carries an open sheet to its side panel and back.

The floating tool bar above the bottom bar shows Figma’s Design or Dev Mode tools. It moves out of the way for Figma’s menus and the keyboard.

Tools

Tap a tool to select it. Tap the lit tool again to step through its group, or tap its chevron or touch and hold to choose from the menu.

Image or video… is in the Rectangle menu. Polygon and Star have no keyboard shortcut in Figma, so the tool bar doesn’t offer them.

The Design | Dev switch stays at the right end of the tool bar. Tap the other side to switch modes. Dev Mode shows Move, Measurement, Annotation and Comment.

Bottom bar, Keys and Tools

The bottom bar never scrolls. On the left: Layers, Properties, then Keys and Tools. On the right: Undo and Redo, then Cut, Copy and Paste. On narrow iPhones the buttons get slightly narrower so everything fits.

• Keys opens a row above the bar with Shift, Control, Option, Command and a flick arrow. Tap a modifier to turn it on (solid blue) and again to turn it off; it stays on across actions. Hold a modifier to use it only while pressed. Flick the arrow in a direction; hold to repeat. Modifiers also apply to the tool bar’s shortcuts.
• Tools opens a row with Duplicate, Select all, Group, Ungroup and Frame selection.

Tap Keys or Tools again to close its row. See keyboard shortcuts for Folio’s tab and display commands.

Number keyboard

Number fields such as X, Y, W and H open the decimal keypad with a row above it: ±, −, +, ×, ÷, % and a decimal point. ± flips the sign; × and ÷ type * and /, which Figma calculates. Tap Done or move to another field to finish. Names, colours, search and canvas text keep the normal keyboard. While you type in a sheet, Folio scrolls the field into view and raises the sheet if needed, then puts it back.

iPhone Duo

Folded, the Duo works like any iPhone, with a short top bar. Where iOS shows its side column, Folio puts its edit commands there: Undo at the top (hold it for Redo), Cut, Copy and Paste at the bottom, and a tools button for Duplicate, Select all, Group, Ungroup and Frame selection. The modifier keys stay in the bottom bar.

Unfolded full screen, the Duo gets the iPad layout: the tab strip, the full bottom toolbar and Figma’s own panels and tool bar. In landscape, Home and the tabs line up with Figma’s sidebar, and a thin border separates Figma’s properties panel from the side column. Folding or unfolding switches layouts without reloading the file.

Touch Only is the default on the Duo too. Touch-mode and Apple Pencil choices appear once Folio sees the Duo unfolded or a Pencil touch.

Settings and recovery

Open ⋯ > Settings for interface zoom (Display) or tab restoration and memory (General). On iPhone, Settings and Developer Tools show one section at a time; use Back to return to the list.

Developer Tools > Input has these iPhone switches, all on by default:

These switches apply to the current tab and new tabs. Safe mode turns all iPhone adaptations off. See troubleshooting for reloads and reports.

Known limits

Figma doesn’t officially support editing on phones, and a desktop request doesn’t change your permissions. Figma updates can change its panels and break Folio’s layout until Folio catches up; Developer Tools switches and Safe mode are the way out. Google sign-in doesn’t work in Folio, and signing into Safari doesn’t sign Folio in. Folio needs an internet connection.