Software Development Engineer - iOS and MacOS for Keyboard

Apple • Cupertino, CA

5d

About The Position

Join the Keyboard Infrastructure team to build and maintain the foundational systems that power keyboard behavior across iOS & iPadOS. You'll own keyboard focus, lifecycle management, and the APIs that apps use to interact with keyboard layout — directly impacting every text input experience on iPhone and iPad.

Requirements

• BS in Computer Science or equivalent experience
• 2+ years of experience in iOS/macOS development (Swift, Objective-C)
• Strong foundation in systems programming, state management, and framework design
• Experience designing or maintaining public APIs
• Deep knowledge of UIKit internals — responder chain, UIWindow, UIScene, and view layout systems
• Familiarity with keyboard avoidance, input accessory views, and text input architecture (UITextInput, UIKeyInput)
• Experience shipping frameworks or infrastructure used by other engineering teams
• Understanding of accessibility requirements for keyboard and focus interactions
• Track record of diagnosing and fixing subtle lifecycle and state-management bugs

Nice To Haves

• You think in terms of contracts and invariants — your APIs are hard to misuse
• You care about edge cases: split view, external keyboards, hardware/software transitions
• You can trace a bug from an app's unexpected behavior down through the responder chain to a lifecycle timing issue
• You balance stability and evolution, keeping existing adopters working while enabling new platform features

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and maintain the keyboard focus system, ensuring correct and predictable focus behavior across complex app hierarchies
• Own keyboard lifecycle management — presentation, dismissal, transitions, and state restoration
• Build and maintain APIs for keyboard layout that apps rely on for positioning, insets, and animation coordination
• Ensure keyboard infrastructure works reliably across multitasking, Stage Manager, and diverse app architectures
• Collaborate with UIKit, SwiftUI, and framework teams to provide consistent keyboard behavior
• Debug and resolve complex issues spanning focus engines, responder chain, and windowing
• Write clear documentation and provide guidance to internal and external developers adopting keyboard layout APIs

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level