Swift Development

From Idea to App in Two Months — When Less Tech Means More Progress

How picking the right tools can accelerate both learning and development

I had a clear vision of what I wanted to build. I just didn’t know how… yet. (Image generate by DALL-E.)

Around New Year, I made a decision to craft my first native iOS app. I’ve built hybrid apps before using and , but coming from a web development background, I craved a fresh challenge. To create something that felt, behaved, and looked truly native.

I remembered a simple game I crafted back in college using ActionScript. RIP Flash, we don’t miss you. This sparked the idea for my starting point. I had a clear vision of what I wanted to build. I just didn’t know how — yet.

The Dilemma

So I faced a dilemma — Which platform(s) should I use? I only knew one thing for certain: I wanted to use Swift. At first, I tried building a prototype using a mixed approach, blending:

• SwiftUI for modern declarative user interface,
• UIKit for some conventional methods of UI flow control,
• and SpriteKit for some of the game’s dynamic elements.

This “best-of-all-worlds” strategy seemed promising but… soon proved to be more of a headache.