What's New

Swift Playgrounds 4.4 includes Swift 5.9 and the iOS 17 SDK.

App Description

Swift Playgrounds makes it fun to learn to code and build real apps. You solve interactive puzzles in the guided “Get Started with Code” and learn the basics of building apps in “Get Started with Apps.” You experiment with a wide range of challenges and samples that let you explore unique coding experiences.

Swift Playgrounds doesn’t require any coding experience — it’s perfect for anyone just starting out, from eight to one-hundred-and-eight. The whole time you are learning Swift and SwiftUI, the powerful programming technologies created by Apple and used by professionals around the globe to build many of today’s most popular apps. And because it’s built to take advantage of iPad and the real iOS SDK, Swift Playgrounds provides a one of a kind learning experience.

Lessons Built-in
• Apple-created lessons guide you through the core concepts of programming by using code to solve puzzles
• See your code run in a beautiful, interactive 3D world that you can rotate with a finger and pinch to zoom
• Animations introduce each new coding concept at a high-level before you dive into the puzzles
• Glossary and built-in help pages give detailed information about available commands, frameworks, and terminology

Explore and Create
• Interactive coding shows the results of your code instantly, alongside your work
• Step through code in playground books to highlight each line as it runs
• Books provide a head start to create your own playgrounds that use graphics, sound, and touch
• App Gallery walks you through the building blocks of apps, like tabbed navigation and receiving input from device sensors

Build Apps on iPad
• Create real apps on iPad using SwiftUI
• See your code changes reflected live while you type
• Type quickly and accurately with inline code suggestions
• Extend your app with an ecosystem of Swift packages
• Navigate your code with project-wide search

Smart Coding Assistance
• Touch and hold to grab any command and move it around to change the order of your code
• Drag a brace with your finger to wrap a block of code inside a loop or conditional statement
• Drag and drop snippets of commonly-used code directly into your playground
• Fix common code errors with helpful inline suggestions
• Stay organized with automatic code formatting

Real Swift, SwiftUI, and iOS Code
• Learn the same powerful Swift programming language used by the pros to create apps in the App Store
• Build dynamic, elegant apps using SwiftUI, a modern way to create user interfaces
• Access iOS frameworks such as SpriteKit for 2D games, SceneKit for 3D graphics, UIKit, and more
• Your code has direct control of iPad hardware, including the gyroscope, accelerometer, camera, and touch events

Share or Publish
• Send your projects to friends and family using Messages, Mail, AirDrop, or other Share Sheet extensions
• Bring your app projects to Xcode on Mac and back again
• Submit your completed apps to the App Store with App Store Connect

iPad Screenshots

(click to enlarge)

Swift Playgrounds screenshot 1 Swift Playgrounds screenshot 2 Swift Playgrounds screenshot 3 Swift Playgrounds screenshot 4 Swift Playgrounds screenshot 5

App Changes

  • September 14, 2016 Initial release
  • November 17, 2016 New version 1.1
  • November 22, 2016 New version 1.1.1
  • December 14, 2016 New version 1.1.2
  • May 12, 2017 New version 1.2
  • September 08, 2017 New version 1.5
  • November 29, 2017 New version 1.6.1
  • January 25, 2018 New version 2.0
  • November 14, 2018 New version 2.2
  • June 15, 2019 New version 3.0
  • October 02, 2019 New version 3.1
  • December 10, 2019 New version 3.2
  • July 15, 2020 New version 3.3.1
  • December 10, 2020 New version 3.4
  • August 06, 2021 New version 3.4.1
  • September 16, 2023 New version 4.3.1
  • November 03, 2023 New version 4.4