Swift releases Swift SDK preview for Android, allowing developers to build Android apps in Swift and making it easier to share code across iOS and Android
The first preview release of the Swift SDK for Android was published this week, allowing developers to build Android apps in Swift …
MacRumorsHartley Charlton
Context & Ripple Effects
This preview delivers on Swift’s previously reported work to add Android support, moving the language from an announced direction toward a developer-facing toolchain. It extends Swift’s cross-platform role beyond its original Apple-platform focus.
The release also fits a longer push to reduce device-specific development work, following Google’s Cross device SDK for experiences across Android form factors. The notable change is that shared-code workflows can now center on Swift as well as Android-native tooling.
First-order effects
Developers can begin testing Android app builds in Swift, with a path to reuse more application code between iOS and Android.
Swift gains an Android SDK preview, while Android teams that already use Swift on Apple platforms get an additional language option rather than being limited to Kotlin for new shared code.
Second-order effects
Teams evaluating cross-platform architectures will need to compare Swift’s Android tooling, libraries, build workflow, and maturity against Kotlin-based and other existing approaches before standardizing on it.
A larger shared Swift codebase could reduce duplicate implementation work for some dual-platform apps, while raising the value of Android support in Swift-oriented tools and libraries.
Third-order effects
If the SDK matures, mobile development could become less tightly organized around one platform’s preferred language, shifting competition toward tooling quality and ecosystem support.
The release is one step in a broader convergence of mobile development stacks; its durable impact will depend on whether production support and third-party ecosystems follow the preview.
The trend: Mobile platforms are increasingly competing to make code, tools, and experiences portable across device and operating-system boundaries.
Swift on Android is becoming real! We've started working on bringing OpenSwiftUI to Android — contributions are welcome! Check for issues labeled “platform: Android” eg. https://github.com/...
If this works well, it would mean that developers will have an easier time porting their iOS apps to the new crop of AI HW... It has been possible to do this for awhile, but either way an *official* Swift for Android release makes it more likely.
Glad to see some more innovation and investment in Swift and cross-platform coding systems. However... 1. No cross-platform UI capability 2. Lots of missing features 3. No web interop story It mostly gets interesting if it can solve those things. Not sure when it will.
You can now use the official Swift SDK for Android to build Android apps using Swift :-) In addition to that, we're continuing to build out Java interoperability to make working with Java parts of Android seamless and a great experience :-)
Sometimes crazy things happen, like being able to use Kotlin for iOS development, and then even crazier things, like being able to use Swift for Android development. The first preview of Swift for Android is now available! https://www.swift.org/...
We use Swift virtually everywhere at @argmax, including as the core of our Node and Python packages. Given the recent progress on Swift for Android, we will test how feasible it is to build the core of our Android SDK in Swift and report back.
📣Announcing the first preview releases of Swift for Android, enabling you to build Android business logic with the same Swift that you use for Apple platforms. https://www.swift.org/... #Android [image]
It's a solution to share business logic, not a cross-platform UI framework. They have some future ideas for that it seems, worth to read this PR https://github.com/...
The Swift project announced the availability of a cross compilation Swift SDK for Android development (you can install it on #Linux apart from Windows and macOS), allowing developers to build Swift packages for various Android architectures. — https://www.swift.org/...