iOS Development with Swift: Why and How

 

The widespread adoption of the smartphone has grabbed everyone’s attention. The accessibility they provide is unrivalled by any other device. In this highly connected world, mobile applications have become a standard practice for businesses to reach their customers and app development services demand skyrocketed.

Big corporations saw the potential of apps and started to invest in mobile app development companies but now everyone is eyeing to utilize this platform as much as possible to grow their business.

Apple on one hand is the most respected company worldwide and the prestige that the iOS apps have is unrivalled. Android too is a great platform but Apple has its own place.

The first iPhone resulted in a smartphone revolution that everyone was hoping for years. Similarly, when Apple came up with iPad the whole industry rushed to innovate and develop tablets to compete with the product.

Consumers know Apple’s reputation and this has followed them to the App store. This may also benefit you.

 

Why should you build for Apple?

Apple however good is still not on the same note as Android. We can find millions of apps on Play Store and whatever we can even think of is already available to download. This is something that the App Store lacks.

Then Why?

There are numerous reasons for this. Apple holds the title for the most popular platform in the US and iOS has many other advantages on Android.

Apple is no longer just a company, it’s a brand. And not building apps for Apple will only mean that you are not that big of a company because of the perception of people.

Although the ideal situation will be creating an application for both iOS and Android, this will increase the potential and you will not be left with any platform.

A few reasons why you shouldn’t ignore the App Store are here.

 

1.    Return on Investment

Developing an application is by no means cheap and the cost needs to be recovered and the desire for a strong return on investment is everyone’s need. After all, profit is what makes these apps happen.

Apple is the leader in paying customers. Users of iOS have proven to be willing to pay for the services they use. Android on the other hand is more open sourced and offers various free apps which makes it very unlikely for the customers to pay for the app.

2.    Efficient Developing

Android as a platform is spread over an array of devices, but with iOS, we know it is only for iPhone and iPad. This makes it easier for developers as they only have to focus on limited devices.

With the introduction of M1 Macs which allows Ios apps to run natively on Mac, developers can create apps that can run on most Apple devices which reduce the whole cost.

3.    Security

Security and privacy are the biggest highlights of Apple products. They have the reputation of being secure and safe from cyberattacks because of their closed ecosystem. Their Macs are reputed to be the safest in the industry, and iOS excels in keeping its users safe in the whole ecosystem.

People don’t have to worry about their personal data getting leaked by means of some hack or cyber-attack.

Is Swift worth Learning

Earlier late Steve Jobs had a feeling towards Java, but iOS apps tend to be built using Objective-C. This language is however not very learner-friendly and is difficult to master. After the demand for iOS apps skyrocketing following the popularity of iPhones a new language was needed.

Apple decided to create an alternative language that was easy to learn and now it is the main programming language to develop iOS apps.

Swift was with education in mind and is hence a lot learner-friendly. Swift is powerful and offers simple syntax and helps to develop apps faster.

As Apple’s reputation, Swift is 2.6x faster than Objective -C and 8.4x faster than Python.

Swift creators also acknowledged the fact that for any language to become mainstream, the technology should be open for all. Hence, after just 3 years of its creation, Swift acquired a large supportive community and numerous app development services were provided.

How to Get started with iOS Development

1.      Buy a Mac

There can be numerous workarounds but the application which allows you to code for Macs and iPhones are only available on Macs.

2.      Install Xcode

Xcode can easily be installed from the Apple store and it's free to use by all means.

3.      Learn the Basics of Swift

Now, this may be the hardest part but as discussed Swift is very learner-friendly and can be learned easily. You don’t have to learn it all, just start developing some easy applications and then the experience will follow.

4.      Use Step by Step tutorials

The point is to start, you can use Github to look at other people's code and learn from it or else use AppCoda, a service that provides you with step-by-step tutorials to build your first app.You will soon do good.

5.      Publish your app on the App Store

Now, this is the main step however is costly as you have to pay $99/ yearly to publish your app on the App Store and most apps don’t break even the cost.

It’s up to you. However, having published some apps on the App Store definitely will provide some valuable experience.

 Another workaround to avoid this much hassle is to outsource this job to a Mobile app development company who specialise in app development services.

They will provide you with your app without all this hassle.

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