Hacking with iOS: SwiftUI Edition

Project 1: WeSplit

Learn the basics of SwiftUI with your first project

Overview

• WeSplit: Introduction
• Understanding the basic structure of a SwiftUI app
• Creating a form
• Adding a navigation bar
• Modifying program state
• Binding state to user interface controls
• Creating views in a loop

Implementation

• Reading text from the user with TextField
• Creating pickers in a form
• Adding a segmented control for tip percentages
• Calculating the total per person
• Hiding the keyboard

Challenges

• WeSplit: Wrap up

Project 2: Guess the Flag

Build a game with stacks, images, and alerts

Overview

• Guess the Flag: Introduction
• Using stacks to arrange views
• Colors and frames
• Gradients
• Buttons and images
• Showing alert messages

Implementation

• Stacking up buttons
• Showing the player’s score with an alert
• Styling our flags
• Upgrading our design

Challenges

• Guess the Flag: Wrap up

Project 3: Views and Modifiers

Dive deep into Swift's rendering system

Overview

• Views and modifiers: Introduction

Concepts

• Why does SwiftUI use structs for views?
• What is behind the main SwiftUI view?
• Why modifier order matters
• Why does SwiftUI use “some View” for its view type?

Advanced Usage

• Conditional modifiers
• Environment modifiers
• Views as properties
• View composition
• Custom modifiers
• Custom containers

Challenges

• Views and modifiers: Wrap up

Project 4: BetterRest

Use machine learning to improve sleep

Overview

• BetterRest: Introduction
• Entering numbers with Stepper
• Selecting dates and times with DatePicker
• Working with dates
• Training a model with Create ML

Implementation

• Building a basic layout
• Connecting SwiftUI to Core ML
• Cleaning up the user interface

Challenges

• BetterRest: Wrap up

Project 5: Word Scramble

Build a letter rearranging game with List

Overview

• Word Scramble: Introduction
• Introducing List, your best friend
• Loading resources from your app bundle
• Working with strings

Implementation

• Adding to a list of words
• Running code when our app launches
• Validating words with UITextChecker

Challenges

• Word Scramble: Wrap up

Project 6: Animation

Spruce up your UI with springs, bounces, and more

Overview

• Animation: Introduction

Basics

• Creating implicit animations
• Customizing animations in SwiftUI
• Animating bindings
• Creating explicit animations

Advanced Usage

• Controlling the animation stack
• Animating gestures
• Showing and hiding views with transitions
• Building custom transitions using ViewModifier

Challenges

• Animation: Wrap up

Project 7: iExpense

Bring in a second view with this expense tracking app

Overview

• iExpense: Introduction
• Using @State with classes
• Sharing SwiftUI state with @Observable
• Showing and hiding views
• Deleting items using onDelete()
• Storing user settings with UserDefaults
• Archiving Swift objects with Codable

Implementation

• Building a list we can delete from
• Working with Identifiable items in SwiftUI
• Sharing an observed object with a new view
• Making changes permanent with UserDefaults
• Final polish

Challenges

• iExpense: Wrap up

Project 8: Moonshot

Teach users about space history with scroll views, Codable, and more

Overview

• Moonshot: Introduction
• Resizing images to fit the available space
• How ScrollView lets us work with scrolling data
• Pushing new views onto the stack using NavigationLink
• Working with hierarchical Codable data
• How to lay out views in a scrolling grid

Implementation

• Loading a specific kind of Codable data
• Using generics to load any kind of Codable data
• Formatting our mission view
• Showing mission details with ScrollView and containerRelativeFrame()
• Merging Codable structs
• Finishing up with one last view

Challenges

• Moonshot: Wrap up

Project 9: Navigation

Direct your user around your app, either programmatically or using explicit input

Presentation Values

• Navigation: Introduction
• The problem with a simple NavigationLink
• Handling navigation the smart way with navigationDestination()

Working with Data

• Programmatic navigation with NavigationStack
• Navigating to different data types using NavigationPath
• How to make a NavigationStack return to its root view programmatically
• How to save NavigationStack paths using Codable

Customization

• Customizing the navigation bar appearance
• Placing toolbar buttons in exact locations
• Making your navigation title editable

Challenges

• Navigation: Wrap up

Project 10: Cupcake Corner

Build an app that sends and receives JSON from the internet

Overview

• Cupcake Corner: Introduction
• Sending and receiving Codable data with URLSession and SwiftUI
• Loading an image from a remote server
• Validating and disabling forms
• Adding Codable conformance to an @Observable class
• Adding haptic effects

Implementation

• Taking basic order details
• Checking for a valid address
• Preparing for checkout
• Sending and receiving orders over the internet

Challenges

• Cupcake Corner: Wrap up

Project 11: Bookworm

Use Core Data to build an app that tracks books you like

Overview

• Bookworm: Introduction
• Creating a custom component with @Binding
• Accepting multi-line text input with TextEditor
• Introduction to SwiftData and SwiftUI

Implementation

• Creating books with SwiftData
• Adding a custom star rating component
• Building a list with @Query
• Showing book details
• Sorting SwiftData queries using SortDescriptor
• Deleting from a SwiftData query
• Using an alert to pop a NavigationLink programmatically

Challenges

• Bookworm: Wrap up

Project 12: SwiftData

Take an in-depth tour of how SwiftUI and SwiftData work together

Basics

• SwiftData: Introduction
• Editing SwiftData model objects
• Filtering @Query using Predicate

Advanced Techniques

• Dynamically sorting and filtering @Query with SwiftUI
• Relationships with SwiftData, SwiftUI, and @Query
• Syncing SwiftData with CloudKit

Challenges

• SwiftData: Wrap up

Project 13: Instafilter

Learn to link SwiftUI, UIKit, and Core Image in one app

Overview

• Instafilter: Introduction
• How property wrappers become structs
• Responding to state changes using onChange()
• Showing multiple options with confirmationDialog()
• Integrating Core Image with SwiftUI
• Wrapping a UIViewController in a SwiftUI view
• Using coordinators to manage SwiftUI view controllers
• How to save images to the user’s photo library

Implementation

• Building our basic UI
• Importing an image into SwiftUI using PHPickerViewController
• Basic image filtering using Core Image
• Customizing our filter using confirmationDialog()
• Saving the filtered image using UIImageWriteToSavedPhotosAlbum()

Challenges

• Instafilter: Wrap up

Project 14: Bucket List

Embed maps and make network calls in this life goals app

Overview

• Bucket List: Introduction
• Adding conformance to Comparable for custom types
• Writing data to the documents directory
• Switching view states with enums
• Integrating MapKit with SwiftUI
• Using Touch ID and Face ID with SwiftUI

Implementation

• Adding user locations to a map
• Improving our map annotations
• Selecting and editing map annotations
• Downloading data from Wikipedia
• Sorting Wikipedia results
• Introducing MVVM into your SwiftUI project
• Locking our UI behind Face ID

Challenges

• Bucket List: Wrap up

Project 15: Accessibility

Learn how to make your apps available to everyone

Overview

• Accessibility: Introduction
• Identifying views with useful labels
• Hiding and grouping accessibility data
• Reading the value of controls

Fixing Projects

• Fixing Guess the Flag
• Fixing Word Scramble
• Fixing Bookworm

Challenges

• Accessibility: Wrap up

Project 16: Hot Prospects

Build an app for conferences with tabs, context menus, and more.

Overview

• Hot Prospects: Introduction
• Reading custom values from the environment with @EnvironmentObject
• Creating tabs with TabView and tabItem()
• Manually publishing ObservableObject changes
• Understanding Swift’s Result type
• Controlling image interpolation in SwiftUI
• Creating context menus
• Adding custom row swipe actions to a List
• Scheduling local notifications
• Adding Swift package dependencies in Xcode

Implementation

• Building our tab bar
• Sharing data across tabs using @EnvironmentObject
• Dynamically filtering a SwiftUI List
• Generating and scaling up a QR code
• Scanning QR codes with SwiftUI
• Adding options with swipe actions
• Saving and loading data with UserDefaults
• Adding a context menu to an image
• Posting notifications to the lock screen

Challenges

• Hot Prospects: Wrap up

Project 17: Flashzilla

Use gestures and haptics to build a learning app.

Overview

• Flashzilla: Introduction
• How to use gestures in SwiftUI
• Making vibrations with UINotificationFeedbackGenerator and Core Haptics
• Disabling user interactivity with allowsHitTesting()
• Triggering events repeatedly using a timer
• How to be notified when your SwiftUI app moves to the background
• Supporting specific accessibility needs with SwiftUI

Implementation

• Designing a single card view
• Building a stack of cards
• Moving views with DragGesture and offset()
• Coloring views as we swipe
• Counting down with a Timer
• Ending the app with allowsHitTesting()
• Making iPhones vibrate with UINotificationFeedbackGenerator
• Fixing the bugs
• Adding and deleting cards

Challenges

• Flashzilla: Wrap up

Project 18: Layout and Geometry

Explore the inner workings of SwiftUI's layout system.

Positioning

• Layout and geometry: Introduction
• How layout works in SwiftUI
• Alignment and alignment guides
• How to create a custom alignment guide
• Absolute positioning for SwiftUI views

GeometryReader

• Resizing images to fit the screen using GeometryReader
• Understanding frames and coordinates inside GeometryReader

Challenges

• ScrollView effects using GeometryReader

Project 19: SnowSeeker

Build an app for ski resorts that works great on iPad.

Overview

• SnowSeeker: Introduction
• Working with two side by side views in SwiftUI
• Using alert() and sheet() with optionals
• Using groups as transparent layout containers
• Making a SwiftUI view searchable

Implementation

• Building a primary list of items
• Making NavigationView work in landscape
• Creating a secondary view for NavigationView
• Searching for data in a List
• Changing a view’s layout in response to size classes
• Binding an alert to an optional string
• Letting the user mark favorites

Challenges

• SnowSeeker: Wrap up

Project 20: Drawing

Use shapes, paths, colors, and more to create custom art for your app

Paths and Shapes

• Drawing: Introduction
• Creating custom paths with SwiftUI
• Paths vs shapes in SwiftUI
• Adding strokeBorder() support with InsettableShape

Customization and Performance

• Transforming shapes using CGAffineTransform and even-odd fills
• Creative borders and fills using ImagePaint
• Enabling high-performance Metal rendering with drawingGroup()

Special Effects and Animation

• Special effects in SwiftUI: blurs, blending, and more
• Animating simple shapes with animatableData
• Animating complex shapes with AnimatablePair
• Creating a spirograph with SwiftUI

Challenges

• Drawing: Wrap up

Project 21: Core Data

Take an in-depth tour of how SwiftUI and Core Data work together

Basics

• Core Data: Introduction
• Why does \.self work for ForEach?
• Creating NSManagedObject subclasses
• Conditional saving of NSManagedObjectContext
• Ensuring Core Data objects are unique using constraints

Advanced Techniques

• Filtering @FetchRequest using NSPredicate
• Dynamically filtering @FetchRequest with SwiftUI
• One-to-many relationships with Core Data, SwiftUI, and @FetchRequest

Challenges

• Core Data: Wrap up

Deprecations

Parts of projects that are no longer needed, but might still be useful for folks who need to support older iOS versions.

Cupcake Corner

• Adding Codable conformance for @Published properties
• Encoding an ObservableObject class

Back to All Books