Statistics show that as of early 2021, the Apple App Store has around 2.2 million apps available for iOS users. These figures indicate the popularity of iOS apps – both paid and free iOS and are also a testament to the iOS app development tools that are available for app developers.
iOS apps are popular due to their security, seamless functionalities and usability. With the iPad and the iPhone, Apple has continued its penchant to provide high-functionality devices that began with desktop computers, laptops and portable music devices – Macintosh, MacBooks and iPods respectively.
Building apps for iOS becomes easy with some of the best app development tools that the iOS ecosystem makes available to developers.
We look at some of the best iOS app development tools that enable developers to build scalable and secure apps with stunning user interfaces.
1. Atom
Atom is a versatile text editor created by GitHub that offers cross-platform editing, an in-built package manager and a file system browser among other useful app development tools.
2. AppCode
Launched by JetBrains, this tool is compatible with Swift, Objective-C, C++, and JavaScript and enables iOS app developers to build apps for all Apple devices. Its IDE and editor tool highlight any errors in coding errors to alert developers.
3. XCode
Apple released XCode to support Swift applications for Mac, iPad, iPhone, Apple Watch, and Apple TV to bring consistency into development efforts across the board and also improve the app development process.
4. RxSwift
A popular tool among the iOS app development community for asynchronous programming, it also comes with a massive library and other helpful resources.
5. Applyzer
Many iOS developers use this tool to monitor the app performance and ranking on the App Store and iTunes. It also helps developers to monitor several keywords used in the app content to manage performance and optimize it for SEO.
6. Fastlane
Fastlane is an automation tool that allows developers to run the entire application cycle. This includes code signing, beta releases and distribution. As the name suggests, in Fastlane, every lane aims to complete unique tasks.
7. Charles Proxy
An effective testing tool that is used to track HTTP requests made by an application. It has an easy interface and debugging features that help save multiple hours when it comes to testing app features.
8. Knuff
Knuff is another popular testing application that is especially useful when it comes to running debugging tests for the Apple Push Notification Service. Developers can send notifications directly to the device by enabling device tokens.
9. RVM
RVM allows developers to install, manage and perform tasks using several Ruby environments. This is especially useful in older operating systems such as macOS Catalina that does not come with Ruby preinstalled. RVM helps run tasks seamlessly with Fastlane and CocoaPods tools that are created using Ruby.
10. MockingBird
A versatile tool that helps developers scrutinize app performance in the initial stages of development. A popular aspect of this tool is generating immersive wireframes and prototypes before the actual development of the app.
Mockingbird empowers iOS app developers to make changes to the fonts as they see fit, link multiple app pages, arrange wireframe sequences correctly and format collars and also share prototypes with other developers for easy collaboration.
