Apple Releases Swift Playgrounds 4

Swift Playgrounds 4 lets anyone build iPhone and iPad apps right on an iPad and submit them directly to the Apple App Store.

“Swift Playgrounds is the best and easiest way to learn how to code,” the Apple announcement notes.
“And with Swift Playgrounds 4, you have the tools to build iPhone and iPad apps right on iPad and submit them directly to App Store Connect, providing a new way for you to easily create apps and share them with the world. Code is immediately reflected in the live preview as you build apps, and you can run your apps full screen to test them out.”

Windows Intelligence In Your Inbox

Sign up for our new free newsletter to get three time-saving tips each Friday — and get free copies of Paul Thurrott's Windows 11 and Windows 10 Field Guides (normally $9.99) as a special welcome gift!

"*" indicates required fields

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

In addition to using Apple’s Swift programming language, Swift Playgrounds also lets budding programmers access SwiftUI, a modern UI framework, and Swift Packages, bundles of reusable code, to create apps. But unlike other developer environments, Swift Playgrounds was built for touch, with touch-based color pickers and the ability to drag blocks of code from place to place.

The Mac version of the app is basically just the iPad version adapted via Mac Catalyst, and you can open Playground projects in the more professional Xcode on Mac if desired as well.

Tagged with

Share post

Please check our Community Guidelines before commenting

Conversation 6 comments

  • lvthunder

    Premium Member
    16 December, 2021 - 9:15 pm

    <p>That’s great. I’m surprised there isn’t something like this for other languages.</p>

  • sentinel6671

    Premium Member
    18 December, 2021 - 2:00 pm

    <p>Direct submission to the app store is all very well, but I find it unlikely that anything created using these tools would ever be accepted by Apple for publishing. Even the pros, with pro tools, struggle with Apple’s approval process. Some walk away because they can’t navigate the "eccentricities".</p><p><br></p><p>This is terrific for learning and practice, but anyone who thinks they’ll create the next big thing this way needs to give their head a shake.</p>

    • lvthunder

      Premium Member
      20 December, 2021 - 7:58 pm

      <p>Who says everyone writing an app thinks it will be the next big thing? I got my app though App Store review on the third try. They rejected a picture I was using the first couple of times. So I just picked a different picture and my app has been there probably 6 or 7 years now. It’s a simple paid app that has been bought a few hundred times. Yes, I’ve spent more money keeping the Developer Account open, but that doesn’t bother me.</p>

      • sentinel6671

        Premium Member
        25 December, 2021 - 11:51 am

        <p>Good for you.</p>

  • rm

    20 December, 2021 - 7:29 am

    <p>So, basically a way for people that don’t know what they are doing to put a lot of apps in the app store. Is the so their marketing can spew more statistics on how many apps are in the app store?</p>

    • lvthunder

      Premium Member
      20 December, 2021 - 8:00 pm

      <p>I doubt it because of App Store Review will weed out a lot of useless apps. Also, remember the developer has to pay $99 a year (developer account) to be able to submit an app to the store.</p>

Windows Intelligence In Your Inbox

Sign up for our new free newsletter to get three time-saving tips each Friday

"*" indicates required fields

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Thurrott © 2024 Thurrott LLC