Developers of ‘Skip’, a cross-platform framework that makes iOS apps work on Android, have launched its first stable version. Skip 1.0 is now available to all iOS app developers, and it’s free for Indie (independent) developers.
Cross-platform framework Skip for porting iOS apps to Android launched
App developers routinely face a dilemma about their apps working on Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android mobile operating systems. Moreover, app developers frequently launch their iOS app before releasing an Android version because it takes a lot of effort and resources to create two versions of the same app, simultaneously.
App developers usually create two separate apps, one for iOS and the other for Android to ensure they work as intended. There are cross-platform frameworks such as React Native. However, apps compiled using these often offer sub-optimal performance.
The creators of Skip claim they can ensure iOS apps work as native apps on Android. In other words, the cross-platform framework’s developers claim Skip can take existing iOS apps to create a native Android app with minimal effort.
Skip accepts existing Swift and SwiftUI code and compiles it into Kotlin and Compose. In other words, the newly compiled app should behave as if it was built for Android OS from the ground up.
One of the highlights of the Skip framework is that keeps the original iOS code unmodified. Moreover, developers can continue to use Xcode to maintain both platforms in one unified codebase.
Skip promises to lower the entry barrier to creating native Android apps
When using Skip, developers can choose which code they would like to share on both platforms. Developers can also choose which code should be kept separate between platforms.
The tool also allows using any Swift/Objective-C library for iOS, and any Kotlin/Java library for Android. Simply put, Skip should save a lot of resources for developers who want identical apps on Apple iPhone and Android smartphones. This should lower the entry barrier for many app developers looking to build iOS and Android apps.
We’re thrilled to announce Skip 1.0!
Skip brings Swift app development to Android. Share Swift business logic, or write entire cross-platform SwiftUI apps, with native performance and native UI on each platform
Now free for Indies!https://t.co/UA3pNWHbulpic.twitter.com/KMzvGPvVfe
— Abe White (@aabewhite) August 15, 2024
Skip is primarily intended for iOS app developers to quickly port their creations to the Android ecosystem. The creators of the cross-platform framework launched its first stable version this week.
Skip developers had been fine-tuning the framework for over a year. However, it is now widely available to developers. Moreover, Skip v1.0 is completely free for independent developers.