The 5 Best iPhone App Development Languages and Frameworks

As a leading iOS app development company in Canada, we often get flooded with questions and recommendation requests. One among them is: which is the best iPhone app development languages and frameworks?

With our immense experience in developing custom iOS mobile applications serving diverse industry verticals, we just thought of jotting some of our knowledge down to answer some relevant popular questions related to the iPhone app development languages. This piece also covers the best frameworks when you want to create cross-platform applications that run on iOS.

So, in a nutshell, this is a great read for you if you want to know

·         The right programming language for iOS application development.

·         The frameworks that help you create cross-platform applications

Though the basics of every programming language may look the same, each of them is designed with a purpose, an intent, that is different from each other. Frameworks you choose play a greater role in determining the results you get from coding in it.

Being a reliable mobile app development company in Canada, we have an opulent tribe of iOS app developers serving the mobile app development needs of our impressive client base across the US and Canada. We‘ve written this blog by collecting the views of our developers.

Now, before jumping into exploring the best iPhone app development languages and frameworks, it will be prudential to know some important things.

A handy list of things to remember before starting on your iOS app

Define the main purpose of the app – You need to have crystal clarity on the purpose, target audience, and competitors.

Conduct market research – Researching your target audience is the best way to know what they actually want.

Create a comprehensive plan – Create a detailed [plan with all necessary information covering technology to be used, user interface details, success measurement parameters, dealing with security issues, achievable goals, etc.

Consider compatibility with multiple iOS versions – Your app should also work on those iPhone users who don’t regularly update the system on their devices. So consider making it compatible with all possible versions of the system.

Evaluate if you can build this app with your existing in-house team: Assessing your internal capabilities is a crucial thing to do. If you can’t manage a solid team of iOS Developer, Frontend Developer, UXUI Designer, QA, and Project Manager it’s better to consider hiring able hands to augment your internal skills. Cleffex is a great provider of the right software development specialists as per your need.

 Now is the time to choose the best iPhone app development languages and frameworks in which your application will be written Hang on with us as you explore them here. We’ve curated a list of both iOS-dedicated and general-purpose languages along with cross-platform frameworks to create cross-platform applications.

5 BEST  IPHONE APP DEVELOPMENT LANGUAGES AND FRAMEWORKS

1.    Swift Programming Language

Swift programming language is a relatively new one that made its entry in 2014. Apple introduced this open-source general-purpose programming language as the successor to Objective-C. It has quickly surpassed its competitors and has grown to be a popular iPhone app development language on Apple platforms. Swift works across the entire Apple ecosystem and excels in speed, type safety, security, and hardware performance when compared to Objective-C.

This multi-paradigm, object-oriented, and block-structured language is used to develop applications for the iOS operating system, for example, macOS, iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, and tvOS solutions, and even Linux apps. It Swift works with the frameworks: Cocoa, Cocoa Touch, and the broad codebase written in Objective-C for Apple products. 

StackOverflow ranked Swift as 20th among the most popular programming languages of 2021 and 8th among the most loved languages. About 5.64% of developers use Swift globally thanks to its modern approach to safety, performance, and software design patterns of applications. No wonder, Swift has found its place among the best iPhone app development languages and frameworks list.

Why should you choose Swift for iOS app development?

Swift is your ideal pick when you want to create an application rapidly with the intent to expand it later rather easily. It’s open-source, expressive, and easy to learn, hence ensuring a faster development process. It helps you write safe and reliable code and is enterprise-ready. It is regularly updated and is considered to be the future of Apple development. You can make improvements to your applications without any worries.  

Some of the popular apps made using Swift are Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Uber, Slack Khan Academy, Airbnb, LinkedIn, etc.

If you are a technology firm or business enterprise seeking to collaborate with an iOS app development company in Canada to build an iPhone app, we can help!

2.     Objective-C Programming Language

Objective-C is an object-oriented programming language that used to enjoy the status of being the sole language for iOS app development till Swift entered the scene. This original Apple language was released in 1984 as a superset of the C programming language. Many older iOS apps are written in this language which is treated as one of the best iPhone app development languages and frameworks, even now.

It has dynamic runtimes and derives its syntax from the Smalltalk programming language. The transition between Objective-C to Swift is designed to be smooth. These two languages can work together pretty fine. Therefore, there is no need to worry if you have to work in a company whose app was built before 2014 (Swift’s launch year). You can effortlessly work in both Objective-C and Swift.

Why should you choose Objective-C for iOS app development?

It’s a great pick to develop mature native iOS applications with complex server-side logic. It is good in creating stable software solutions in Apple operating systems. The reason is the absence of frequent updates when compared to new alternatives. Objective-C also comes in handy when you want to add backend compatibility with C and C++ programs. If you are comfortable with C & C++, you can easily deal with Objective-C as well.

3.     Flutter Programming Framework

Flutter is a UI toolkit by Google and a popular iOS app development framework written in Dart language. You can build applications for the web, mobile, and desktop. You can build apps for iOS, Android, Mac, Linux, Windows, and Google Fuchsia. Google launched this comprehensive app Software Development Kit (SDK) in 2017. This highly versatile open-source development kit contains ready-to-use widgets and tools.

Flutter helps you build cross-platform apps with a single codebase. In other words, you can create pleasing, intuitive, and natively compiled mobile, web, and desktop applications easily.

 Why should you choose Flutter for iOS app development?

Flutter is a great pick when you want to build an iOS app and have plans to make the Android, desktop, and Web app versions for it. If you or your team members are Dart experts, Flutter can be a great choice.

4.     C# Programming Language

Microsoft’s C# with Xamarin helps you build native apps for Android, iOS, and Windows separately or at once. This high-level, object-oriented, general-purpose programming language is tightly integrated with the .NET platform. Xamarin app building platform extends the .NET developer platform with tools and libraries specifically for building apps for Android, iOS, by interacting well with their APIs. You can use Visual Studio for Mac (a Microsoft IDE for Mac) to create a C# application that will run on Android and iOS. It might be a little tough for beginners as it is based on the Microsoft .NET framework.

As per the 2020 report, Stack Overflow has rated C# as the 7th most popular programming language globally.

 Why should you choose C# for iOS app development?

C# is an ideal pick for you to build an iPhone app if you are from a C# background along with Visual Studio. It facilitates a fast development process and is simple to learn. It assures safe and reliable code. You can confidently make further improvements to your app as it gets regularly updated. If your team contains experienced C# developers and if you have plans to build Android apps as well, go ahead with C# and Xamarin as the best iPhone app development languages and frameworks.

5.     React Native Programming Framework

 React Native is a well-known JavaScript library to build iOS and Android applications. This cross-platform framework by Facebook JavaScript to create native mobile applications using website technology. As JavaScript programming language has the inherent ability to seamlessly run in different environments and also outside of browsers, you can have full control and efficiently manage the mobile app development process, including iOS apps.

React native is low-code and offers compatible third-party plugins. It has a declarative API for predictive UI.

 Why should you choose React Native for iOS app development?

It is a suitable pick if your team comprises JavaScript or React Native experts, and intends to develop a mobile app for iOS and Android simultaneously. It is an ideal choice if you are looking at saving time and money.

WRAPPING UP

Now, that gives a comprehensive list of the best iPhone app development languages and frameworks you can consider building your next iPhone mobile app. If your in-house team lacks some capabilities in this regard or if you are seeking to hire the right technology, contact us now! Being a seasoned iOS app development company in Canada, we can assure the services of seasoned mobile consultants and mobile developers to build the mobile apps of your choice or to suggest the best solution.