Should I use UISegmentedControl or UITableView for navigation?

Question

Fellow stackers, I am developing the interface for my iPhone application and I'm in doubt about an important paradigm that is present in almost every view I am making. I've read the Apple Human Interface Guidelines but I think that my question isn't answered there.

The problem is, e.g. in the "My Account" view I have to display all the kinds of content the user has created (Comments, Favorites, Notes, etc.). I am currently planning of displaying those as UITableViewCells in the main UITableView of "My Account": there will be a cell for Comments, that pushes the comment controller in the navigation controller, and so on for the other kinds.

One problem arises anyway: I've noticed that many applications use UISegmentedControls to accomplish the same task, and they seem to do so in a non coherent manner. Sometimes they use one method or sometime another. Is there a clear way of choosing one over the other? Or is it just personal preference?

Answer 1

I believe that there are situations where one is likely to be better than the other. As a personal rule of thumb, I avoid cluttering the current view with buttons that link to all the other available sections. I instead prefer an index where I can pick a section and have it load up that, then when I'm done, go back if need be.

So for example if you were using a tabcontroller to navigate between views like the "My Account" view, I would not use a UISegmentedControl. I would use a UITableView. This just allows for you to be more focused on the task at hand.

However, if you belive that your users will be flipping between sections in the account view more frequently, then maybe a semgented control would be the way to go for you.