SwiftUI vs UIKit/AppKit

The cluster focuses on debates comparing SwiftUI to established frameworks like UIKit and AppKit, discussing maturity, performance, developer experience, and readiness for production apps on Apple platforms.

πŸ“‰ Falling 0.4x Programming Languages
3,619
Comments
19
Years Active
5
Top Authors
#8170
Topic ID

Activity Over Time

2008
1
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4
2010
18
2011
43
2012
52
2013
76
2014
93
2015
90
2016
100
2017
97
2018
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2019
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2020
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2021
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2022
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2023
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Keywords

e.g QT JS AutoLayout IOS AppKit RN FP IDE UI swiftui swift fp ios ui frameworks apple compose uis preview

Sample Comments

vor_ β€’ Dec 30, 2025 β€’ View on HN

I think it has to do with frameworks like SwiftUI.

LudwigNagasena β€’ Jan 28, 2023 β€’ View on HN

I guess that means we should expect AppKit and SwiftUI to never improve.

simongr3dal β€’ Jun 3, 2019 β€’ View on HN

It looks like SwiftUI just gives a better interface to Appkit and UIKit than before.

ardit33 β€’ Nov 6, 2025 β€’ View on HN

SwiftUI is more realistic actually. UIKit, much tougher (more mature, more tied to the IOS ecosystem).

grishka β€’ Aug 17, 2022 β€’ View on HN

Except SwiftUI is itself built on top of AppKit/UIKit.

therockhead β€’ Feb 25, 2025 β€’ View on HN

It's been a while since I last looked at SwiftUI on mac, Is it really still that bad ?

internetter β€’ Dec 1, 2025 β€’ View on HN

Why did you decide against SwiftUI?

nicoburns β€’ Jun 26, 2019 β€’ View on HN

More like SwiftUI (except for QT)

jolux β€’ Mar 22, 2020 β€’ View on HN

Except SwiftUI is built on AppKit and UIKit as far as I know.

acarrera94 β€’ Apr 18, 2020 β€’ View on HN

I suggest you take a look at SwiftUI. IMO it’s much nicer to work with than react