The one prime announcement that made up to the ears of every mobile developer present at the annual Worldwide Developers Conference, year 2019 was the launch of the Swift UI framework. Apple’s Craig Federighi at the conference, demonstrated that a code piece of hundreds of lines can be compiled into just dozens of lines using SwiftUI!!
Isn’t that something on every developer’s radar? In this blog we have listed out the exclusive features of SwiftUI and how it is going to revolutionize the way we code. Have a detailed look in this blog below...
Ever since its launch at the conference, developers are anticipating the features of Swift UI. Well, Swift is a breakthrough Apple framework that will help in developing the most outstanding and powerful applications. If you are a newbie into development and don’t know what SwiftUI is all about then here is the answer.
“SwiftUI is an innovative, exceptionally simple way to build user interfaces across all Apple platforms with the power of Swift. Build user interfaces for any Apple device using just one set of tools and APIs. With a declarative Swift syntax that’s easy to read and natural to write, SwiftUI works seamlessly with new Xcode design tools to keep your code and design perfectly in sync. Automatic support for Dynamic Type, Dark Mode, localization, and accessibility means your first line of SwiftUI code is already the most powerful UI code you’ve ever written”
So breaking down the definition laid down by Apple, Swift is a new and advanced tool kit that will change the way iOS app development companies , design and build the applications. Again to repeat, SwiftUI specifically aims at all the Apple platforms i.e iOS, macOS, or tvOS.
It makes app development in Apple easier, approachable and faster that too by using the Swift programming language. SwiftUI framework makes code more readable and also reduces the app development time. It facilitates developers to build user interfaces, like Custom Controls, Animations and Effects in an easy and declarative way.
Let us move further and unveil the potential of Swift Ui. The framework gives an option to enjoy the classic and unique features of the Apple platform. You can enjoy features like the speed of the mouse & trackpad, touch bar, Dakmode, dynamic type, localization and more.
It wouldn’t be early to say that SwiftUI will soon be a tough competitor to Google’s Flutter UI framework.
Another question that may arise looking at the feature list above is,
Will SwiftUI replace UIKit?
The simple answer is No, it will not replace the UIKit. The reason being, Apple has made the SwiftUI compatible with every property and process of UIKit. And therefore, there is no need to change your code during the development. Additionally, you can combine UIKit and Swift and create your own view.
Let’s delve deeper into the SwiftUI features and how are the features going to bring a paradigm shift into app development.
It runs on Apple’s latest OS:
Let us clear you out that the applications developed using SwiftUI will be compatible across all Apple’s OS platforms but, it will not support the former versions of OS. SwiftUI extends its support to iOS 13 running in XCode 11.
Native characteristics:
Even though the code developed using Swift UI works across all Apple’s OS, it is absolutely native. It adapts all the native features and functionalities of the platform and thereby delivers interactive user-interface at a quick(swift) speed.
Adding more to the swiftness, the SwiftUI app development framework can be integrated with APIs such as ARKit and automatic language optimization. This means that it will make the Swift iOS experience seamless for the developers as well as the users.
Doesn’t support Auto Layout:
Auto Layout allowed developers to make UIs more flexible and was one of the preferred ways of layout declaration. However, the new SwiftUI doesn’t support Auto Layout instead, it supports layout with constructs. The functioning of it is almost similar to the layout handling in WatchOS.
Declarative Syntax:
The Declarative Syntax feature drew millions of eyeballs towards SwiftUI. Declarative syntax means guiding the UI about the next steps in an easy and readable way. You can make a collection of items that you want in the app along with the font type, size, alignment, color, etc. Developers further can easily introduce complex animations using just a few lines of code. This declarative syntax makes handling, managing and creating things much smooth, aligned and effortless. This ease of development and deployment reduces the total time of app development.
Doesn’t support Storyboard:
Helping the team of developers to be one step ahead of the game, SwiftUI replaces storyboards with code. This means it would be easier to make a reusable view using the framework. Developers feel more powerful because they can decide whether they would like to work visually or directly in the code.
Drag and drop:
Adding more to the amazement, SwiftUI allows developers to select any element, by just dragging various controls from the library and customizing it on the canvas directly. A developer is free to rearrange the controls, change the design, font, color, etc. This way, a developer can bring the UI in perfect synchronization with the code! Are you ready to have a new competitor to Python language on the list now?
It supports Dark mode:
The dark mode was the need of the hour it seems and SwiftUI suffices that. SwiftUI made it possible to visualize the screens even during the night times for a better feel. This is good news especially to the developers who were not comfortable using bright themes during nights.
Previews:
Using Swift UI framework’s Preview features, developers have the opportunity to create more than one preview of their designs and display it on multiple devices and varied orientations. This is a good way for them to experiment with their designs, colors and other aspects at the same time.
Dynamic Replacement:
Adding more to the features list, Swift compiler and runtime are embedded with Xcode 11. Hence, an iOS app development company can build and run the codes in real-time. Let us simplify this in more detail. This feature means that the design canvas will not showcase an approximate picture of the user-interface but the actual scenario of the live application and its functioning. Also, developers who use Xcode can swap the code in the live application directly by using the Dynamic replacement factor.
View Composition:
The views in the new SwiftUI are extremely lightweight and charge zero performance penalties while creating them. The Swift views are accessible as a Swift struct and the developer can create, or pass it as a value parameter. This benefits the developers by eliminating excess memory allocations as well as the development of several subclasses and dynamic messages. This feature is not supported by the UIViews.
Additionally, the parameters and modifiers can be unified as a single entity during the display and layout cycles. Hence, it is a boon for the developers that they can build special-purpose views depending on the requirements.
iOS13 compatibility:
With so many powerful SwiftUI framework features like dark mode, localization, etc, we can say, SwiftUI is the best for coding. With the ease of coding, SwiftUI has revolutionized the way we develop iOS applications. Additionally, it is cross-platform compatible, which means, a developer without losing the native functionality can build an app seamlessly.
Semantic colors:
Every single feature of SwiftUI is compelling developers to make a quick shift towards it. Hence, when it comes to colors, the framework doesn’t disappoint you. SwiftUI framework colors automatically change depending on the dark and light mode. The framework has the standard colors like green, blue and red but not as pure as that of UI color.
Wrapping up:
We hope that now you all agree with the thought that “SwiftUI is incredibly powerful” and will give a strong competition to the other top languages. More potential of the framework is yet being explored, however, if you hire iOS developers, they will help you in building a classic iOS using the SwiftUI’s features.
If you wish to develop a top-notch app, get in contact with us. We leverage the best Swift programming skills and help you build your desired app.
Connect with us for further information.
Jatin Patel
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