Although Android is still the number one used mobile OS worldwide – it holds a 73-percent share as of June 2021 – that’s not a reason to dismiss iOS users. And since you’re reading this, a not-so-insignificant portion of your target audience uses iOS devices in their daily lives. Check ios app development here.
So, it’s settled – you need an iOS app. But when it comes to the technical nitty-gritty, you might feel a bit lost. And your main question is likely to be, “What language should I use?”.
Fear not – friendly folks at Develux have compiled this list of the seven top iOS programming languages that can make your product vision a reality. And yes, there’s an overview of native, cross-platform, and hybrid app development too!
Part 1. Native iOS Development
If you’re unfamiliar with the concept itself, here’s the gist: you get an app tailored only to one OS. In a nutshell, the code won’t be reusable for creating a similar Android app – you’d have to write one from scratch.
This approach has its pros and cons.
| Pros | Cons |
| Native apps typically show higher performance. | If you need both Android and iOS apps, you’ll have to multiply the costs by at least two. |
| The UX is tailored to the platform. | Creating two separate apps for two operating systems will take more time. |
| Developers have full access to the device’s features and capabilities, so they can implement advanced functionality. |
Now, let’s kick off this list with two native iOS programming languages: Swift and Objective-C.
Swift
This is the standard iOS programming language today. If you want a native app, this is your number one choice.
Introduced in 2014, Swift is praised for its scalability, security, and ease of use. It’s also regularly updated by Apple and stable enough to be a worthy option.
The only potential downsides you may encounter are a limited pool of programmers and resources as it’s a fairly recent invention.
To use this iOS programming language, you’ll need Xcode – Apple’s IDE. There’s just one hiccup: it runs only on macOS. If you want to code in Swift on a Windows computer, your best option is to install macOS on a virtual machine.
Objective-C
Although it started out as a general-purpose language back in 1984, Objective-C has been the standard language for iOS programming for almost two decades. That changed in 2014, with – you guessed it – the introduction of Swift.
Nowadays, it remains supported by older versions of iOS. And this is, probably, the only reason you might want to use Objective-C – i.e. if you need the app to run on those outdated iOS versions.
If that’s not the case, go ahead and use Swift. That’s because Objective-C is fairly outdated itself (it hasn’t been updated since 2016), which means limited functionality and plenty of potential security issues.
Part 2. Cross-Platform App Development
So, what if you can’t afford native iOS development? Going cross-platform could be your answer in this case.
What does it mean, exactly? In a nutshell, developers write the app for both platforms in a non-native language. That codebase is then connected to native components via bridges to render the app itself.
Sounds easy, right? Well, this approach is not without some tradeoffs.
| Pros | Cons |
| Shorter time-to-market | Slower performance |
| Lower development costs | Limited access to the device’s and OS capabilities |
| Close-to-native UX | Potential issues in interacting with other native apps |
Now, let’s review the top three languages used for cross-platform Android and iOS programming today.
C#
Just like Objective-C, C# is a general-purpose language based on the C language. The reason it’s on this list is Xamarin, an open-source development platform that uses C#, .NET framework, libraries, and compilers to bring you cross-platform apps that run on both Android and iOS. What’s more, it’s 100% free to use!
What makes Xamarin so great at its job is the compilation process. Once the codebase is written, it’s compiled into the native machine code. Essentially, the final product is a native app.
That helps mitigate the typical cons of cross-platform development: the app’s slower performance and limited native APIs integration capabilities.
Dart
Dart is the youngest one among cross-platform programming languages – it was first released in 2011.
But Dart on its own isn’t all you’ll need to create an iOS app. You’ll also need Flutter – a Dart-powered SDK (software development kit). It was created by Google and released in 2017. Now, it’s an open-source, free-to-use solution for building user interfaces.
This UI toolkit comes with plenty of widgets and packages that allow using the device’s in-built capabilities (like camera and GPS) and other services (payments, authentication, etc.). Plus, the codebase can be compiled into native code for iOS, Android, web, and desktop apps.
JavaScript
As for this programming language, it’s most famous for powering the World Wide Web. But long gone are the days when that was JavaScript’s only application. Thanks to React Native, a framework developed by Facebook, it can now be used for creating mobile apps too.
React Native allows developers to combine the JavaScript-powered React framework along with native components. For example, they can use Swift for native-only iOS modules while the shared code remains written in JavaScript.
Part 3. Hybrid App Development
Although you might see the words “cross-platform” and “hybrid” used interchangeably online, they’re not the same. They have just two things in common – both are an alternative to native development and reduce time-to-market thanks to reusing code.
Simply put, hybrid apps combine web elements with mobile ones. The codebase is written using typical web development languages and is then wrapped in a native container for one or both platforms.
The pros and cons of hybrid development are similar to the ones of the cross-platform approach.
| Pros | Cons |
| You get your apps faster | Performance remains slow |
| Overall costs are lower | Access to the device’s and OS capabilities is even more limited |
| Customizing the app isn’t limited | Interacting with other native apps is impossible |
Last but not least, let’s take a look at HTML5.
HTML5
This is the latest version of the markup language that powers the web as you know it. But website development isn’t the only application for HTML5 – thanks to Apache Cordova, it can also be used to create mobile apps for both Android and iOS.
Although you can create offline apps with it, HTML5 and its simplicity come with a bunch of tradeoffs. It doesn’t allow you to build native apps like Xamarin or Flutter. Plus, responsive design can be challenging.
On the other hand, if all you want is a simple app that runs on both Android and iOS without using any native components, HTML5 is a cost-effective and alluring solution.
In Conclusion: 6 Things to Factor in Before Starting Development
Unfortunately, the programming language isn’t the only thing you have to take into consideration before kicking off your iOS development. You’ll have other things to think through too.
- Apple’s rigorous vetting process. Does your product vision account for App Store’s extensive guidelines on UI and functionality?
- Compatibility. Is your app going to run well on various versions of the OS and different devices?
- Talent. Do you have enough skilled staff to pull this off?
- Cost. What’s your budget? Is it realistic enough?
- Security. How is your app going to handle personal data? Are there any security risks you need to account for?
- Your plans. Do you want to create apps for other platforms (Android, web, Windows, macOS) later on?