What Technical Skills do freelance iOS Developers Need?

An iOS developer is someone who develops apps for apple iPhones. Apple has currently 1 billion active iPhone users around the world and there are more than 21 million apps available in the app store. This makes iOS development one of the lucrative jobs available in the market today. In this article, we will discuss the top 3 technical skills that are required for freelance iOS developers.

Knowledge of Swift 3.0 programming language

Swift is an object-oriented programming language developed by apple. It is a very essential and popular language required for developing apps for iPhones. It is a simple, easy-to-use, open-source programming language and can be used to develop apps for iOS, watch OS, and macOS as well. Therefore an in-depth knowledge of swift 3.0 is one of the most important skills required for both full-time and freelance iOS developers. 

Understanding of Integrated Development Environment -Xcode

Xcode helps to build and distribute apps for different platforms inside apple like iOS, macOS, and watchOS under one single integrated environment. This Integrated Development Environment is referred to as Xcode. It also helps the developers to write more efficient codes which are 25% faster when compared to other programming consoles.

Xcode, swift programming language and swift UI all function hand in hand. This makes it easier for developers to juggle between different aspects of an app and make changes. This becomes especially essential if you for freelance iOS developers as they are expected to handle different aspects like code and UI on their own. This leads us to the next skillset which is Interface design.

Interface Design

Today there are designers who work exclusively on the interface part of an app/website to enhance the look and feel of an app. They are called UI/UX designers. But while freelancing clients expect the developers to work on the Interface aspect of the app yourself. Therefore it is essential for freelance iOS developers to have an understanding of user interface design.

Unit Testing

Unit testing is the process by which the developer does isolated tests on any new feature they add. For example, if you are developing a clock app and you add a timer feature to it you should test this feature instantly and make it bug-free to ensure the smooth functioning of the app. Traditionally there are testers who do this job exclusively but as a freelancer, you will be expected to do this job by yourself often. Therefore unit testing is a skill that will become very handy if you’re a freelance iOS developer.

Developing Memory efficient apps

iOS is a multitasking platform meaning it can run multiple apps at once and can keep them in memory by allocating a RAM space. Unlike android apple devices have lower RAM capacities therefore apple is very keen on optimizing the apps in their app store to ensure lag-free performance and effective memory management.

Freelance iOS developers should have a very good understanding of memory systems and should be able to develop apps that are very efficient to get their app approved by apple for publishing. These are some of the important technical skills needed for freelance iOS developers