Swift SDK arrives for Android development

The Swift Android workgroup has announced nightly preview releases of the Swift SDK for Android, a tool kit for developing Android mobile applications with Apple’s Swift language.

Instructions for getting started with the SDK, which was announced October 24, can be found at swift.org.

The Swift SDK for Android opens avenues for cross-development and acceleration of innovation across the mobile ecosystem, Android workgroup member Joannis Orlandos wrote in announcing the release. The SDK features libraries, headers, and other resources to generate and run Swift code for the Android target. Since first being open-sourced in 2015, Swift has grown from a language focused on creating apps for Darwin-based systems such as iOS and macOS into a cross-platform development language supporting Linux, Windows, and various embedded systems. With the release of the Swift SDK for Android, it is now possible to use Swift for Android application development as well, Orlandos wrote.

With the Swift SDK for Android, developers can start porting Swift packages to Android. More than 25% of packages in the Swift Package Index already build for Android. The Swift Community Showcase now indicates Android compatibility. The Swift Android workgroup has published a Getting Started guide to help developers set up their first native Swift code on an Android device, and provided Swift for Android Examples that demonstrate end‑to‑end application workflows on Android. Developers are encouraged to share experiences and ideas on Swift forums.

The Swift Android workgroup is drafting a vision document for directing future work regarding Swift on Android. This vision will outline priority areas and guide community efforts to maximize impact across the ecosystem, Orlandos noted. Swift.org also maintains an official CI for the Swift SDK for Android.