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Teaching App Development with Swift

Teach Students How to Create iOS Apps

Engage students with a project-based curriculum, and guide students in creating iOS apps. Adopt projects and lesson plans to fit your course and different learning styles. Create real apps that teach students Swift, the iOS SDK, and the Apple developer toolset.

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General Materials

Creative students love hands-on learning. Projects lead the lessons, so you can guide and facilitate learning, supporting student work with technical understanding.

Projects and Lesson Plans

Guide students through each level of projects, which provide a progressive framework for learning. Let the app features lead to technical discovery and stimulate student creativity. Select projects and lessons to fit your course requirements and student experience.

Level 1: Xcode Fundamentals and Swift

  • Level 1 Project and Lesson Overview

    See an overview of the projects and lessons in this level. Get started with Apple developer tools and build a foundation of Swift knowledge.

  • WordCollage: Xcode, Interface Builder, Auto Layout and Swift (Four Lessons)

    Familiarize yourself with Xcode, Interface Builder, Auto Layout and the iOS Simulator by personalizing a collage of words.

  • SpaceAdventure: Fundamentals of Swift (Fifteen Lessons)

    Learn the fundamentals of Swift while exploring the solar system.

Level 2: Single View Applications and MVC

  • Level 2 Project and Lesson Overview

    See an overview of the projects and lessons in this level. Use single-view applications to introduce the fundamentals of iOS programming and Model-View-Controller.

  • Clock: MVC, Outlets, NSNotificationCenter, NSTimer and App Life Cycle Events (Six Lessons)

    Create a simple clock with outlets, NSNotificationCenter, NSTimer, and app lifecycle events.

  • Stopwatch: MVC, Buttons, Outlets, Actions and NSTimer (Seven Lessons)

    Create a stopwatch with buttons, outlets, actions and NSTimer. Learn more about models, views and controllers.

  • UnitConverter: MVC, NSUserDefaults, Picker Views, Delegates and Protocols (Eleven Lessons)

    Create a temperature converter with a scrollable picker, delegates, and protocols. Learn about simple persistence with NSUserDefaults.

Level 3: Frameworks and APIs

  • Level 3 Project and Lesson Overview

    See an overview of the projects and lessons in this level. Discover how iOS frameworks handle the "heavy lifting" of important app features.

  • EasyBrowser: WebKit (Five Lessons)

    Embed a WebKit browser in your own app.

  • Found: Map Kit and Core Location (Five Lessons)

    Learn the basics of Map Kit and Core Location to create an app that tells you where you are, and mark where you have been.

  • NoiseMaker: AV Foundation Framework, Asynchronous Methods, map, and Closures (Ten Lessons)

    Play sounds with the AV Foundation framework, and see how map and closures lead to succinct, expressive code.

  • Gesturizer: Gesture Recognizers (tap, pinch, rotate, swipe, shake) and Closures (Nine Lessons)

    Explore using UIGestureRecognizers to detect taps, pinches, rotations, and swipes. Create animations with different kinds of closure syntax.

  • FingerPainter: Touches and Core Graphics (Six Lessons)

    Create your own drawing app, and learn how to create dynamic images with Core Graphics.

Level 4: Navigation, Tab Bar and Table View Controllers

  • Level 4 Project and Lesson Overview

    See an overview of the projects and lessons in this level. Use navigation, tab bar and table view controllers to manage additional view controllers within an app.

  • Flashcards: Navigation Controllers and Segues (Eight Lessons)

    Create your own flashcard app and use a navigation controller to manage a controller hierarchy.

  • RSSReader: Tab Bar Controllers, Asynchronous Network Requests, and JSON Data (Eight Lessons)

    Use a tab bar controller and RSS data to track top movies, music and more.

  • Journal: Table View Controllers, Navigation Controllers, and Segues (Eleven Lessons)

    Use a table view controller to create a journal app for recording important notes.

The course materials only, and not any other content of this web page, are to be used pursuant to a Creative Commons license, as specified in the license information within the course materials.

Trademark Information

The Swift logo, Apple, the Apple logo and other Apple trademarks, service marks, graphics, and logos used in connection with the Swift Education project are trademarks or registered trademarks of Apple Inc. in the US and/or other countries. Other trademarks, service marks, graphics, and logos used in connection with the Swift Education project may be the trademarks of their respective owners. You are granted no right or license in any of the aforesaid trademarks, and further agree that you shall not remove, obscure, or alter any proprietary notices (including trademark and copyright notices) that may be affixed to or contained within the Service.

For further information about proper referential uses of the Swift logo, please review the “Guidelines for Using Apple Trademarks and Copyrights”.