iOS App Development: Steps To Develop Your First iOS App

Published on February 22nd, 2023

Developing your first iOS App is always exciting. Every tech nerd dreams of being able to curate their app. iTechnolabs, a leading mobile app development company, has jotted down some steps that will guide you through the best approach to learning the ways and methods, that will help you in developing your iOS App from scratch. 

iOS is Apple’s smartphone OS that runs on iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch hardware. Apple provides tools and services to help you develop iOS apps and accessories for these computers.

React Native (JavaScript), or Xamarin(C# &F#) can be used by iOS developers to program in native languages such as Swift or Objective-C, or create native cross-platform apps.

This article will show you how to create iOS apps. We will show you how to create an iOS app and use existing apps.

Learning how to build iOS is hard, just like learning something new. However, it is fun, exciting, and rewarding!

Let’s see what we can do:

1. Setup your MAC for iOS app development
2. Setup your editor for the iOS application
3. Create your first iOS app
4. Run the ios app
5. After reading this guide, you will be able to follow a step–by–step process to create an iOS app. Now you know exactly what to do, how to do it, and what steps to take. You don’t even need to have any programming experience to get started.

Steps To Develop Your First iOS App

1. Setup your MAC for ios app development

Apple prefers an open ecosystem to an open one. iOS can only run on Apple devices such as the iPhone and iPad.

VMWare and Hackintosh can be used to run Macs on Windows machines, but they are not recommended for iOS programming. So basically, as an iOS developer, you will need a Mac for the development/debugging/testing of an iOS app.

2. Setup your editor for the iOS application

Xcode is all you need to start creating iOS apps. Apple provides Xcode as an integrated development environment (IDE). It contains the iOS SDK (Software Development Kit), an editor for source code, debugging tools, and many other features.

Many simulators and tools that are required for a specific iOS version can be downloaded and installed in Xcode. To download Xcode and deploy your app on an actual iPhone/iPad to test it, you will need an Apple ID.

Apple ID is used for authenticating a user on Apple devices. It can be created by visiting the official apple site.

Go to the Mac App Store to install Xcode. The app Store is located in the Dock. Log in with your Apple ID. To download it, go to the Mac App Store and search for “Xcode”.

3. Create your first ios app

Click on the Launch Xcode button. To create a brand new project, choose the Create a New Xcode Project option. Select Single View App as the type of project, and then click Next. The project will include a single view controller as well as a storyboard, which you can further customize.

Let’s call your project HelloWorld according to the convention. Choose Team None for now. Choose Swift as the Language and click Next. Your empty app will do nothing.

Notable: To create a native iOS application you must use either Objective-c or Swift. Swift, a simple language that Apple has created, gained so much popularity in such a short time.

You won’t have to worry about it, as you will be modifying your app to say Hello to the World. Xcode allows you to navigate to a file or folder using the left panel of the code editor. The utility Area is the right panel of the code editor. It allows you to access views and any component within the storyboard.

The Run and Stop buttons can be found on the toolbar’s top. The debug/console area can be found at the bottom of the code section. It contains breakpoints and other runtime tools.

Click on Main. storyboard to open in your project directory. To design the view, you will need to use the storyboard to display and arrange all components, such as labels, lists, and tabs. This will show you a blank view. Click on the image to select the view.

Xcode 10 and above allows you to add objects such as labels. To do this, click View menu in the menu bar>click Show library, then drag the label to a focused view. In older Xcodes, the Object Library may be found in the bottom right of the Xcode. Double-click on the label that you dropped onto the view to change its text to Hello World!

Are you feeling excited?

4. Run the iOS app

From the Xcode screen, select the simulator or device destination from the top left corner. To run the app, press Command + R or click on the run button. This will launch the iOS simulator, and your first app will be run.

To run the app on a device that is not a virtual one, connect it via cable to Mac. You will see the device in the list. Select the device you wish to use and then press Command + R.

Feel proud and share your first app with your family and friends.

You can use an existing app/demo to debug and run it instead of creating your own. One example is that you might have Github projects on your local system. Follow the steps on GitHub for the project to be explored. You can open the project in Xcode. Run it in a simulator, or on a real device. Follow step 4 above.

Important Article: Top 10 New Swift Features to Consider in iOS App Development

Do you want to Develop Your First iOS App For Business?

It is incredibly fun and rewarding to develop your app idea. The result is not what matters. What makes it worthwhile is the slow progress in learning, refining, and improving. You will also develop a unique, valuable skill in iOS development. iTechnolabs, the leading app company focuses on providing overall knowledge in developing iOS Applications, that will help you to score your first app development from scratch.