Apple says you can build apps on an iPad now, but devs say the reality is trickier
Apple’s latest iPad Pro is its most powerful tablet yet. And going into WWDC 2021, many viewers (myself included) had long wishlists of features we were hoping we might finally get to see — multiuser support, a more advanced Files app, native support for Final Cut and Photoshop, better compatibility with external displays.
We didn’t get many of those dream features, but we did get something of a surprise: Apple announced Swift Playgrounds 4, the newest version of its Swift Playgrounds sandbox, a program Apple SVP Craig Federighi claimed will bring “a whole new dimension of productivity to iPad.” It was a quick announcement that was easy to miss in the flurry of new tools that crossed the stage. But developers say it will drastically lower the barrier to entry for new iOS developers — and may gesture at more exciting iPad features to come.
Swift Playgrounds isn’t a new app. It’s been available on the iPad for years, and it recently came to macOS as well. In the past, though, it’s largely been an educational program targeted at children. It introduces new coders to Swift through a friendly and colorful series of puzzles. It hasn’t, in the past, been seen as a tool to develop real apps.
