Prototyping, Libraries on Sketch Cloud and an official iOS UI kit in Sketch 49

Sketch 49 has arrived and, hot on the heels of our Libraries update, we’re adding yet another huge and highly anticipated feature to Sketch. We understand design, so we know that you can’t always tell if something works based on static screens alone. Sometimes you need to see the entire flow in action and the best way to do this is to turn your designs into interactive prototypes. With our latest update, we’re making that whole process seamless — say hello to Prototyping in Sketch.

That’s not all though. Alongside Prototyping we’re adding new ways to share Libraries via Sketch Cloud and the official iOS 11 Apple UI Design Resource is now built right into Sketch as a Shared Library. Here’s an overview of the headline features in Sketch 49:

• Prototyping in Sketch
• Apple’s official UI design resource for iOS
• Shared Libraries on Sketch Cloud
• Over 60 other enhancements and bug fixes, including massively improved performance of Sketch in general, particularly when working on complex documents with lots of Symbols

Prototyping in Sketch

In Sketch 49, we’re introducing Prototyping, letting you transform your designs into interactive prototypes and preview them, without ever leaving the app.

This new set of tools allows you to connect your Artboards, apply transitions, and then preview your designs right inside Sketch, on your mobile devices with Mirror, or on Sketch Cloud, where you can share your prototypes with colleagues, clients and the world.

To turn your static designs into clickable prototypes, simply select a layer and add a Link to an Artboard. Once you have two Artboards connected, you can add a simple animation for a smooth transition from one state to the next. Rinse and repeat across your whole project and you can quickly and easily build a lightweight, working prototype of your app or website — perfect if you’re working on a project and need to share a quick demo or you want to check the usability of a specific workflow.

To view your Prototype in action just click the Preview button in the toolbar and your prototype will launch in a dedicated window, allowing you to interact with your app or web design as if it were the real thing.

Prototyping makes presenting your work and getting sign-off on projects a whole lot easier. If you want to share a working prototype with a developer, colleague or client, just upload to Sketch Cloud, send them the link and they can interact with and comment on your designs, right in the browser. You can even create Start Points that let you launch your preview at a specific Artboard, so they know exactly where to begin.

If you’re working on designs for iPhone or iPad, we’ve now added Prototyping support to Sketch Mirror for iOS, so you can preview your prototypes on the screens they were designed for. Don’t forget to download the new Sketch Mirror update to try out your Prototypes there.

With Prototyping built right into Sketch, it’s now easier than ever to take your designs from ideation through to realization and to share your concepts with the people that matter.

You can find out more about how to make the most of Prototyping in our documentation.

Shared Libraries in Sketch

In Sketch 47 we introduced Libraries and they’ve empowered you and your teams to work better, together. In Sketch 49 we’re building on this foundation and bringing you a new way to share and access Libraries.

With Shared Libraries, you can now download, and subscribe to, Libraries that have been uploaded to Sketch Cloud and, because all of this is built on open web technologies, these Libraries can be stored and accessed from anywhere on the web. We’re excited to say that we’ve taken advantage of this feature and teamed up with Apple to build their official iOS 11 UI kit right into Sketch, as a Shared Library.

Shared Libraries on Sketch Cloud

With Sketch Cloud, you can already upload a Document and share your designs with colleagues or clients, all from inside the app. With the latest update, you can now subscribe to Documents uploaded to Sketch Cloud and they’ll be added directly to Sketch, as Shared Libraries.

When you subscribe to a Shared Library, your Library file will remain linked to the original Sketch Cloud Document so, if the creator uploads a new version, you’ll get a notification and you can choose to update your local Library as well. This is really useful if you’re working with a team and need a single source of truth for your design system or style guide. Working on a free UI Kit or another cool project you want to shout about? Sketch Cloud is now the easiest place to share your Library with the community.

If you want to allow your Documents to be added as Shared Libraries, simply select the Allow others to download this Document option when you upload your file to Sketch Cloud.

If you want to add a Document from Sketch Cloud as a Shared Library, just click Download > Add Library to Sketch and the Document will be added to the Libraries tab in Preferences, and you’ll be notified if the original Document is updated.

Apple iOS UI Library Built-in

Apple’s design templates have always been the gold standard when it comes to iOS design resources and the obvious go-to when designing for iPhone or iPad.

We’re really excited to say that we’ve integrated Apple’s iOS 11 design template into Sketch, and can now offer this invaluable resource as a built-in Library.

The Apple iOS UI library has all of the components you’ll need to start working on your next project, carefully crafted for Sketch. This expansive Library includes everything, from tab bars and status bars to buttons and switches, ready to be inserted into your latest designs.

You can download the Apple iOS UI Library from the Libraries tab in Preferences and, when Apple updates their Document, you’ll be notified and can update your designs to the latest version.

More than 60 other improvements and bug fixes

As always we’ve been listening to your feedback and made some other, smaller improvements and bug fixes since Sketch 48. Here are some of the highlights:

• We’ve massively improved performance of the app as a whole, especially when working in complex documents with many, nested Symbols
• When vector editing, you can now bend a path segment by holding the Command key and dragging to create or adjust curves
• When using the Pen tool, a preview of new points will be displayed on hover

You can find a full list of bug fixes and improvements on our updates page

Sketch 49 is a free update for everyone with an active license. If you need to renew your license, you’ll get Sketch 49 and a whole year’s worth of updates after that.

We always love to see what you’re creating with Sketch so if you’ve made an awesome Library and uploaded it to Sketch Cloud, let us know — we might even feature it online or in our newsletter. If you’ve got questions or feedback, you can get in touch with us via our support page or join in the conversation on Twitter, or on our Facebook group.

We’re already working on Sketch 50 and we’ll tell you all about it soon.