Essential Technical Skills to Check When You Hire iOS Developers

Apple’s iOS platform powers more than 1.65 billion active devices worldwide in 2024. The ecosystem continues to attract businesses that want to deliver excellent mobile experiences to users. According to Statista, global revenue from iOS apps reached approximately $85 billion in 2023 and is expected to keep growing. This rising demand requires companies to carefully select skilled professionals when they hire iOS developers. Choosing developers with the right technical skills is vital for building high-quality apps that perform well, scale smoothly, and deliver exceptional user experience.

The Role of iOS Developers in Today’s App Economy

iOS developers specialize in creating applications for Apple’s mobile ecosystem, including iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Apple TV. Their tasks include writing code, debugging, testing, fixing bugs, and ensuring compatibility with the latest iOS versions and Apple hardware.

With frequent OS updates and new device features, iOS developers must stay current with Apple’s evolving technologies. They must also understand Apple’s design standards and App Store guidelines to build compliant, user-friendly apps.

When you hire iOS developers, you need professionals who combine deep technical knowledge with problem-solving skills and adaptability to change.

Programming Languages: Swift and Objective-C

The two primary programming languages for iOS development are Swift and Objective-C.

Swift: The Modern Standard

Introduced by Apple in 2014, Swift quickly became the preferred language for iOS app development. It offers a concise syntax, enhanced safety features, and improved performance. Swift supports both object-oriented and functional programming, helping developers write clear and maintainable code.

Swift is open source and has a large, active community contributing libraries and tools. Apple continuously improves Swift, adding language features to make development faster and safer.

When you hire iOS developers, they should demonstrate proficiency in Swift, including knowledge of its core concepts like optionals, closures, protocols, and error handling.

Objective-C: Legacy and Interoperability

Objective-C remains important because many older apps and enterprise projects use it. It extends C with object-oriented capabilities and dynamic runtime features.

A skilled iOS developer should know Objective-C for maintaining and updating legacy applications. They also need to understand interoperability, which allows Swift and Objective-C code to coexist seamlessly in the same project.

Knowing both Swift and Objective-C makes a developer versatile and capable of working on a wider range of projects.

Key Frameworks and SDKs

Apple provides numerous frameworks and Software Development Kits (SDKs) essential to iOS development. Understanding these frameworks is critical when you hire iOS developers.

UIKit: The Backbone of User Interfaces

UIKit has long served as the main framework for building user interfaces on iOS. It offers fine-grained control over views, touch handling, animations, and gesture recognition.

Although UIKit requires developers to write imperative UI code, it is stable and widely supported across iOS versions. Mastery of UIKit is necessary for projects targeting older iOS devices.

SwiftUI: Declarative UI Design

Introduced in 2019, SwiftUI presents a new way to create user interfaces using declarative syntax. It enables developers to define UI elements and behaviors with less code.

SwiftUI supports features like live previews and seamless integration with Swift’s powerful type system. However, SwiftUI requires iOS 13 or later, so its use is limited to newer apps or updates.

Developers familiar with both UIKit and SwiftUI can choose the best approach based on project requirements.

Core Data: Local Data Management

Core Data is the standard framework for managing an app’s local data storage and persistence. It provides an object graph and database management system.

When developers use Core Data correctly, apps can efficiently store, retrieve, and synchronize user data, even with large datasets.

Combine and Reactive Frameworks

Asynchronous programming is vital in modern apps. Frameworks like Combine (Apple’s native reactive framework) and RxSwift enable developers to handle streams of data and events smoothly.

These tools simplify managing network responses, user input, and system notifications, helping apps remain responsive and maintainable.

Development Tools Proficiency

iOS development requires expertise with several tools, especially Xcode and Git.

Xcode: The Primary IDE

Xcode is Apple’s integrated development environment (IDE) for writing, testing, and debugging iOS applications. Developers must be proficient with Xcode features such as Interface Builder, Instruments (for performance profiling), simulators, and code refactoring tools.

Xcode integration with Swift Package Manager and CocoaPods also helps manage third-party dependencies.

Developers who master Xcode can improve development speed and product quality.

Git: Version Control

Version control is crucial for collaboration and project management. Git is the industry standard, and developers should confidently use Git commands for branching, merging, and resolving conflicts.

Knowledge of hosting services like GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket adds to the developer’s ability to work in teams and participate in code reviews.

Testing and Quality Assurance

Building reliable applications requires thorough testing.

XCTest Framework

XCTest is Apple’s testing framework that supports unit tests, UI tests, and performance tests. Developers should write automated tests to validate code correctness and user interface behavior.

Automated tests help detect issues early, reduce manual testing efforts, and prevent regressions.

Continuous Integration and Delivery

Many teams adopt Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) to automate building, testing, and deploying apps. Familiarity with CI/CD tools like Jenkins, CircleCI, or GitHub Actions is a plus.

Developers with experience in CI/CD help maintain a consistent release schedule and higher product stability.

Also Read: iOS App Development Cost: Key Factors & Pricing

Apple Guidelines and App Store Policies

iOS developers must comply with Apple’s Human Interface Guidelines (HIG) to create intuitive and accessible apps. Understanding these guidelines helps developers build apps with consistent navigation, appropriate touch targets, and proper use of animations.

Moreover, knowledge of App Store submission processes is necessary. Apple enforces strict review policies concerning security, privacy, and content. Developers should ensure the app meets all requirements to avoid delays or rejection.

Security Best Practices

Security is critical in mobile app development. Developers should know how to:

• Secure sensitive data with the iOS Keychain.

• Use encryption for data storage and transmission.

• Manage user permissions carefully.

• Protect against common vulnerabilities such as injection attacks or insecure data handling.

Following Apple’s guidelines for data privacy and secure coding protects users and reduces the risk of breaches.

Soft Skills and Other Qualities

Technical skills alone do not guarantee success. Effective communication, problem-solving, adaptability, and eagerness to learn are essential traits.

Developers should be familiar with Agile development methodologies and tools like Jira or Trello. This knowledge helps teams collaborate effectively and deliver features incrementally.

Real-World Example: Successful App Built by Skilled iOS Developers

Consider a finance app that handles sensitive data and real-time market updates. Skilled iOS developers use Swift and Combine to process live data streams efficiently. They implement Core Data for secure local storage and employ XCTest to ensure critical functions work flawlessly.

Developers use Git for version control and set up CI/CD pipelines for continuous testing and deployment. They follow Apple’s HIG to build a clean, accessible UI, and apply strict encryption and permission management to protect user data.

This example shows how multiple technical skills integrate to deliver a secure, high-quality app.

Conclusion

When you hire iOS developers, evaluating technical skills ensures you get developers capable of delivering high-quality applications. Focus on their proficiency in Swift and Objective-C, understanding of essential frameworks like UIKit and SwiftUI, familiarity with development tools such as Xcode and Git, and commitment to testing and security.

The iOS platform evolves constantly, so developers who stay updated and follow best practices will contribute significantly to your app’s success. Taking time to assess these skills thoroughly helps your business build reliable, performant, and user-friendly mobile apps.