Which Language Should You Prefer for iOS App Development?

iPhone operating system, or iOS for short, is the second most popular mobile operating system in the world, only behind Google’s Android. It was designed and developed by Apple and is a closed source operating system(a proprietary software) that is known for its unique design, speed and security.

Apple has an official app store, on which you can host your iOS app for end-users, but you have to meet some of the strictest app approval requirements of any major marketplace before you can do that. It is natural to ask yourself which is the best language you can develop your iOS app in so that you can both meet such guidelines and also with ease.

For any high-performance apps that you may want to develop, you can always hire a good iOS app development company, as they will have all the necessary expertise in meeting such requirements.

This article hopes to give enough knowledge on the languages that can be used to develop an iOS app. Survey results show that 27% of all mobile devices connected to the internet are devices with iOS installed in them. With 2.22 million apps on the official app store, there is already plenty of competition for you.

You need to gain mastery over whatever language you pick, but it helps to pick the one that can be gained mastery over easily. You can take care of other important factors in iOS app development after you have selected your language, such as cross-platform support, scalability, development costs, etc. as such things often have a deep-seated relationship with the language you choose.

We have made it easier for you to understand the structure and advantages of each language in this article.

Languages used to develop iOS applications

Following are the list of languages that can be used to develop iOS applications. They are listed according to their ease of use and popularity. We will also tell you when to use such a language and what kind of advantages you can expect from each.

Swift

Developed by the company that developed the iOS operating system, Swift was launched in 2014 and is completely open-source as of December 2015. It is the preferred language of iOS app developers and can also be used to develop apps for other Apple-based devices like the macOS.

Swift is a general-purpose programming language and is thus a good choice for any kind of app development. The language works well with the frameworks like Cocoa and Cocoa Touch.

The advantages associated with Swift are scalability, open-source nature, interoperability with other languages like Objective-C. It is also much easier to work in than its predecessor, Objective-C. 

Objective-C

Objective-C was a language developed in 1984 and was the primary language in which iOS apps were designed prior to 2014. It has served the app development world for almost 30 years. It has also decreased in popularity recently, but it still has significant numbers of users.

Apps designed in this language can also be much more unique because of the nature of the language. However, it is not open source, and may not get updates as Swift does. Security may also be a concern because many advancements have been made in various technologies now.

It still remains the language of choice for developers who want to develop or update old apps made for iOS versions that are not supported by Swift.

Flutter

Flutter is an interesting pick for developers as it is also a recently developed language that can be used to develop iOS-based apps. It was developed by none other than Google, and Flutter app development focuses mainly on its cross-platform capability.

It is also very easy to work with and the ease of use can be compared to Swift. It is also highly cost-effective and promotes faster app development. Flutter is one of the open-source languages on this list, but it has a young talent pool and has limited features compared to the languages discussed above.

It is the best pick for creating an app that you may also then want to replicate in Android or as a web application. 

C#

The language C#(Pronounced “C sharp”) was developed in 2000 by Microsoft, and it has borrowed a lot of features of Java which is closely related to. It has similar levels of capabilities as its predecessor. C# can be described as a high-level, object-oriented, general-purpose programming language.

It is ranked 5th according to the Tiobe august 2021 index according to the survey conducted by Stackoverflow. It can also be used to develop cross-platform apps, is open source, has a vast talent pool and can be a good choice for intermediate and advanced level developers. It is considered to have a poor platform GUI which can make it hard for beginners to learn.

It still has a rich library and provides better cost-benefit analysis than other coding languages for iOS apps. It is good to use it when you have someone who has expertise in it and when you want an Android, Windows and web version for your app.

HTML5

HTML5 is a highly preferred language when combined with things like CSS and JavaScript to develop iOS apps. They are together used for the development of hybrid apps, mainly web apps as it is estimated that almost 88% of all websites now run HTML5.

HTML5 is not used to develop native apps. It has advantages like multiple browser support, offline browsing support, and is even reported to be better for page ranking. It however only works for hybrid app development and may cause problems with design responsiveness.

It is the best choice if you don’t want to invest too much time and resources in the development process.

Verdict

The way things are right now, Swift is probably the best pick for developing the app of your choice. Flutter may be the choice you want to go for if you want to build hybrid apps.

Conclusion

It is always good to have prior knowledge of the type of language you may want to develop your iOS app in. Such knowledge can greatly reduce the cost of the development process and increase the speed of app development.

Nextbrain Technologies is a leading mobile app development company in Canada. We are located in Toronto, Canada. We develop both Android and iOS apps and also develop cross-platform applications. We have expertise in using various technologies and languages in the field of iOS development, and our employees constantly update their skillsets on upcoming technologies.

We serve clients all over the world and follow all the best practices regarding app development. Contact us with your requirements to get your app developed swiftly and efficiently at an affordable price.