Apple Platforms IDEs & Tools
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This page lists the IDEs and tools most commonly used to build native apps for Apple platforms, with a link to each product’s official page. Xcode is required to build, sign and submit apps, so other editors are used alongside it rather than instead of it.
IDEs
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Xcode — Apple’s IDE for iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, tvOS and visionOS, with the interface editor, SwiftUI previews, the debugger and the SDKs.
Simulation, profiling and distribution
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Simulator — runs simulated Apple devices on a Mac for testing apps without physical hardware.
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Instruments — Apple’s profiling tool for time, memory, energy and network analysis.
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Xcode Cloud — Apple’s continuous integration and delivery service, built into Xcode and App Store Connect.
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TestFlight — distributes beta builds to internal and external testers.
Editors with extensions
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VS Code Swift extension — Swift language support for Visual Studio Code, useful for Swift packages and server-side code; building and signing apps still goes through Xcode.