From Zero to the App Store

Read before you buy: the PDF here is a free sample — the first 20 pages of the 521-page book (payments, sales and reviews on this demo site are sample data). Get the full e-book at thenexbooks on Gumroad.

Building iPhone apps has never been more approachable, as long as you learn it the modern way.

Swift, SwiftUI, SwiftData, and Swift concurrency are now the recommended way to build for Apple platforms. This book teaches that approach from the ground up. You build one realistic app across every chapter: Fernwise, a plant-care companion app.

Fernwise grows chapter by chapter:

• a plant list, forms, and a care history
• a species guide fetched from a REST API
• offline persistence
• watering reminders
• photos
• a home-screen widget and an App Intent
• maps
• iPad layouts and localization
• tests
• an App Store release

WHAT'S INSIDE
➔ 521 pages · 28 chapters in 6 parts + 4 appendices
➔ Swift from essentials to protocols, generics, and error handling
➔ Swift concurrency: async/await, tasks, actors, Sendable, and data-race safety
➔ SwiftUI: views, layout, state and data flow with @Observable, lists, navigation, forms, and animation
➔ Design and accessibility: SF Symbols, Dark Mode, and Dynamic Type
➔ Architecture, SwiftData persistence, networking with Codable, caching, and offline support
➔ Notifications, photos and the camera, widgets and App Intents, location, and MapKit
➔ Testing with Swift Testing and XCTest, Instruments, iPad layouts, and localization
➔ Security and privacy, TestFlight, App Store Connect, and life after launch
➔ Swift cheat sheet, SwiftUI reference, and an App Store release checklist

Table Of Contents

PART I — THE SWIFT LANGUAGE

• Ch 1 · iOS Development Today: The Platform, the Tools, and What We Will Build
• Ch 2 · Xcode, Simulators, and Your First App
• Ch 3 · Swift Essentials: Constants, Types, Optionals, Control Flow, and Functions
• Ch 4 · Swift in Depth: Structs, Classes, Enums, Protocols, Generics, Closures, and Error Handling
• Ch 5 · Swift Concurrency: async/await, Tasks, Actors, Sendable, and Data-Race Safety

PART II — BUILDING INTERFACES WITH SWIFTUI

• Ch 6 · SwiftUI Fundamentals: Views, Modifiers, and Layout Stacks
• Ch 7 · State and Data Flow: @State, @Binding, @Observable, and the Environment
• Ch 8 · Lists, Grids, and Navigation
• Ch 9 · Forms, Input, Sheets, Alerts, and Confirmation Dialogs
• Ch 10 · Design and Accessibility: SF Symbols, Color, Typography, Dark Mode, and Dynamic Type
• Ch 11 · Animation, Transitions, and Gestures

PART III — ARCHITECTURE AND DATA

• Ch 12 · App Architecture: Models, Observable View Models, and Dependency Injection
• Ch 13 · Persisting Data with SwiftData
• Ch 14 · Networking with URLSession, async/await, and Codable
• Ch 15 · Caching, Offline Support, and Sync
• Ch 16 · Settings, Files, and the Keychain (@AppStorage, FileManager, Keychain Services)

PART IV — PLATFORM FEATURES

• Ch 17 · Local Notifications and Reminders
• Ch 18 · Photos and the Camera (PhotosPicker, image handling)
• Ch 19 · Widgets and App Intents (WidgetKit, App Intents, Shortcuts)
• Ch 20 · Location and Maps (Core Location, MapKit for SwiftUI)
• Ch 21 · Background Work, Scene Phases, and the App Lifecycle

PART V — QUALITY

• Ch 22 · Testing: Swift Testing, XCTest, and UI Tests
• Ch 23 · Debugging and Performance with Xcode and Instruments
• Ch 24 · iPad, Adaptive Layouts, and Localization
• Ch 25 · Security and Privacy (permissions, privacy manifests, data protection)

PART VI — SHIPPING

• Ch 26 · Case Study: Building Fernwise End to End
• Ch 27 · Releasing to the App Store: Signing, TestFlight, App Store Connect, and Review
• Ch 28 · After Launch: Analytics, Crash Reports, Updates, UIKit Interop, and Next Steps

APPENDICES

• App A · Swift Cheat Sheet
• App B · SwiftUI Reference
• App C · App Store Release Checklist
• App D · Glossary

WHO IT IS FOR
This book is for:

• Developers new to iOS, whether they come from the web, the backend, or Android.
• Students and career changers.
• UIKit developers moving to SwiftUI.
• Anyone who wants to build and ship a real iPhone app.

Basic programming knowledge is assumed. No prior Swift or iOS experience is required. You need a Mac with a recent version of Xcode.

FORMAT
PDF (A4), 521 pages, English, clickable table of contents and PDF bookmarks. 1st Edition, 2026. Published by thenexbooks. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Apple Inc.

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