[2023] Top 5 Programming Languages for iOS App Development

Every year, millions of apps are published on Apple's App Store-supported iOS platform, but building one isn't nearly as simple. iOS comes with checklists, language choices, and guidelines that developers must follow.

So this time, we'll introduce the top 5 programming languages for iOS app development. Let's go through them one by one.

1. 5 Points to Note Before iOS App Development

Building a truly great, well-rounded iOS app is a major undertaking that requires careful analysis and planning. So here's a short but handy list of things to keep in mind if you want your app to succeed.

1.1　Clarify Your Main Purpose

Before you start, think about why you wanted to build the app in the first place, and try answering some simple questions like the ones below.

• Why did you decide to build this app?
• What user needs does your application address?
• Are there similar solutions already on the market? If so, what makes my product unique?

Answering these questions not only makes it easier to present your app to users, it also helps you judge future development plans more clearly.

1.2　Conduct Market Research

The next step matters a great deal, yet many entrepreneurs still forget it. To make people want to download your app, you first need to really understand them.

You can run surveys or use customer segmentation to build a profile of your average target user based on nationality, age, gender, and other criteria.

This lets you create tailored marketing campaigns, which in turn helps maximize the number of downloads.

1.3　Create a Detailed iOS App Development Plan

Once you've cleared the first two points well, move on to planning.

Your plan should be as detailed as possible and include all the necessary information. Below is a list of questions you should ask yourself when drawing up a plan like this.

• What technology is best suited for developing this application?
• What are the details of the user interface?
• How will you measure the app's success?
• What activities will help turn your app idea into reality?
• What security issues do you need to consider?
• Do you plan to develop versions for other operating systems in the future?
• What goals do you want to achieve?

1.4　Consider Compatibility With Multiple iOS Versions

When developing an iOS app, don't forget that not every iPhone user regularly updates their device's system. For example, if your app only supports the latest version and a user is still on an older one, they may get frustrated and delete the app right away.

So you should focus on preparing your application to support as many versions as possible. It takes time, but it's far easier than convincing a disappointed user to reinstall.

Reference: [2023] An Easy-to-Understand Guide to the App Development Process

1.5　 Assess Your In-House Capability to Build This App

The time and cost of developing an iOS app depend on its feature set and complexity. It's typically a job for several specialists, including iOS developers, front-end developers, UX designers, UI designers, graphic designers, and even QA engineers or a project manager.

What's more, this team needs solid market knowledge and hands-on experience building this kind of app. So early on, you need to decide whether to bring in an in-house team or outsource iOS app development.

2. Top 6 Programming Languages

2.1.　Swift

Since its release, Swift has become one of the most popular languages used to build iOS, iPadOS, macOS, WatchOS, and tvOS apps. Apple introduced it in 2014 as a replacement for Objective-C, and it's been widely adopted by iOS developers ever since.

According to the PYPL Index (Popularity of Programming Language), Swift ranks 8th worldwide in popularity, with about a 2.03% share. Its popularity mainly comes down to three key traits.

• Speed: Apple positioned Swift as an alternative to Objective-C, C, and C++, and compared to those, Swift is remarkably fast and smooth, delivering impressive performance on most tasks.
• Security: Working in Swift is cleaner and safer than in many other languages. If you're working on a project, safety is a top priority. With that in mind, Swift variables can't be "nil" by default, and its compiler eliminates "nil" usage, protecting your app from unwanted crashes.
• A great first language: For beginners, Swift is a solid choice. Swift offers free tutorials for developers in a highly interactive way, now available on iPad through Swift Playgrounds.

2.2　C#

C#, pronounced "C sharp," is a general-purpose, modern object-oriented programming language. It was developed by Anders Hejlsberg and his team as part of Microsoft's .NET initiative, and has been standardized by the European Computer Manufacturers Association (ECMA) and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

C# is one of the Common Language Infrastructure languages, currently at version 7.2. Its syntax closely resembles Java, so it's easy to pick up for anyone with knowledge of C, C++, or Java. As for the .NET framework, .NET applications are cross-platform, and the framework can be used with languages such as C++, C#, Visual Basic, and COBOL.

Want to know more about the .NET framework? Why C#? There are plenty more reasons C# is popular and in demand. A few of them are listed below.

• Easy to get started: Since C# is a high-level language, it's close to other common programming languages such as C, C++, and Java, so anyone can pick it up easily.
• Widely used for desktop and web app development: C# is widely used to build web and desktop applications. It's one of the most popular languages for professional desktop use, and if you want to build Microsoft apps, C# is the first choice.
• Community: The bigger the community, the more new tools and software get developed, making the language even better. C# has a large community, so it keeps getting developed and stays firmly in the ecosystem.
• Game development: C# is widely used in game development and is likely to remain mainstream. Since C# integrates with Microsoft, it reaches a broad audience. Features like automatic garbage collection, interfaces, and object orientation make C# a popular game development language.

Reference: [2023] The Best Mobile App Development Languages and How to Choose One

2.3　Objective-C

Objective-C was introduced in 1984 by Tom Love and Brad Cox, aiming to provide OOP extensions and similar capabilities.

Today, it remains one of the best solutions for iOS app development, and it was actively used by developers long before Swift was introduced.

On top of that, since the iOS market offers more financial potential, there are several points worth considering when implementing Objective-C during iOS app development.

• Derived from C/C++: Since Objective-C's foundation is derived from C/C++, its compiler can compile any C program, and C code can be added inside Objective-C classes — making it simple, flexible, and scalable for mobile app development.
• Community support: With any language, you'll sometimes get stuck somewhere, and that's just part of the process. Since Objective-C has been around far longer than Swift, forum support is extensive, with thousands of questions posted every day — so you can quickly get help with your own.
• Simple to work with: Thanks to its simplicity and solid runtime, Objective-C remains one of the most fundamental programming languages today, and it's the right choice especially when working with a powerful SDK.

2.4　Flutter

What if you had the chance to choose an incredibly fast language that fits today's digital age? Flutter offers a fast experience and instant reload, letting you see all your recent changes without losing any related data.

If you're getting into iOS app development, it's worth considering this comprehensive app development kit, a.k.a. SDK, introduced by Google in 2015 and launched in 2017.

There should be solid reasons behind choosing Flutter — let's take a look at them.

• Widgets: Flutter offers a wide range of ready-to-use widgets that developers can implement when building iOS applications.
• Implementation flexibility: Through custom UIs that deploy across platforms, Flutter lets any user handle complex implementations, saving developers time and effort.
• Less code: Google introduced Flutter in 2017 with the concept of saving time and workload. Built on the Dart programming language using JIT and AOT, Flutter makes it possible to save extra time. On top of that, Flutter lets you refresh the UI without making unnecessary changes.

2.5　React Native

Our React Native tutorial covers everything from basic to advanced concepts of discrete mathematics. It's designed for beginners and experts alike.

React Native is a JavaScript framework used to build mobile applications for iOS and Android.

The React Native tutorial covers all the topics that will help you learn TypeScript: an introduction to React Native, environment setup, your first "Hello World" app, state, Flexbox, height and width, TextInput, and more.

Benefits of React Native

React Native offers several advantages when building mobile applications. Here are a few of them.

• Cross-platform use: it offers "learn once, write anywhere" capability, running on both Android and iOS devices.
• Great performance: code written in React Native compiles to native code, so it works well and performs consistently across both operating systems.
• JavaScript: JavaScript knowledge is used to build native mobile apps.
• Community: the large React and React Native community helps you find answers to just about anything you need.
• Hot reloading: make a small change to your app's code and see it reflected immediately during development. If business logic changes, it live-reloads right on the screen.
• Improving over time: some iOS and Android features aren't yet supported, but the community keeps devising best practices.
• Native components: if you want to build a native feature that hasn't been designed yet, you'll need to write platform-specific code.
• Uncertain future: Facebook develops this framework but reserves the right to discontinue the project at any time, so its future isn't fully certain. That said, as React Native's popularity grows, this risk keeps shrinking.

3. Summary

If you're about to start a project developing an iOS app, or want to learn any of these languages, this should help you get a handle on it. It really comes down to the requirements that matter most for deciding the best language to launch your career or business — it's all about your priorities and the specific requirements of each language.

Miichisoft is a company specializing in app development consulting. We can provide excellent resources at the right cost.

If you have any questions about app development, please feel free to contact Miichisoft.

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