Apple Wants to Make Android Apps Better, With Swift
There are stark differences between how iOS apps are made vs how Android apps are made. Namely, iOS apps are built on Swift, while Android mostly uses Kotlin. Now, though, Swift is coming to Android. And it could have huge implications for apps going forward.
Apple's open-source programming language, Swift, is officially extending its reach to the Android operating system. The initiative is being spearheaded by a newly formed "Android Working Group" within the Swift project, which should be able to get Swift set up for Android app development. While developers have technically been able to write Android apps using Swift through third-party tools, this move marks the first time the Swift project itself is officially sanctioning and supporting Android.
The "Android Working Group" has laid out a clear charter with several key objectives to help Swift ultimately establish itself as a first-class citizen in the Android development world. A primary goal is to improve and maintain Android support within the official Swift distribution, which would eliminate the need for developers to rely on unofficial or modified versions of the language. The group will also focus on enhancing core Swift packages like Foundation and Dispatch to better integrate with the established idioms of the Android platform. This will be crucial for ensuring that Swift apps not only run on Android but also feel native to the operating system.