One thing that has helped me immensely in transitioning from web development with React to building on macOS with SwiftUI is working on a single project: Text Capture. Over time, I’ve refactored it, enhancing the app as I’ve learned more about SwiftUI’s unique features.

Why Depth of Experience on One Project Matters

Starting out, I explored a variety of small projects to understand different frameworks. But as I dove deeper, I found that sticking to one project and iterating on it brought an even richer learning experience. Seeing the transformation of Text Capture through each layer of rework—from adding basic SwiftUI views to implementing more complex features—helped me truly master SwiftUI.

Here’s my step-by-step progression for learning SwiftUI, based on my experience developing Text Capture:

Step 1: Starting Simple – Basics of SwiftUI

First, choose a small feature or component to build from scratch. I began by creating a simple area in Text Capture that detects text. This helped me understand the essentials of SwiftUI views and modifiers.

• Example: Set up a minimal Text view and experimented with modifiers to customize font, alignment, and colors.

Step 2: Rewriting Core Functionality – Customizing Views and Layouts

Once I was comfortable with the basics, I shifted focus to customizing the layout and look of the app. In SwiftUI, stacking views using VStack, HStack, and ZStack brings a lot of flexibility, and you’ll find plenty of opportunities to explore them.

• Example: Creating a view to select text allowed me to practice different layout structures, eventually combining VStack and HStack for a user-friendly interface.

Step 3: Adding Interactivity – State Management and Bindings

Next, I dove into managing user inputs and app state. Learning @State, @Binding, and @ObservedObject was crucial for letting the app respond to user actions.

• Example: In Text Capture, I implemented a feature where users could see live feedback as they select areas of text. I used @State properties to track selected text and update the view immediately as the selection changed.

Step 4: Refactoring with Advanced Components – Building Custom Views and Modifiers

One of SwiftUI’s strengths is its flexibility to reuse components. After implementing basic interactivity, I refactored some views into custom components for easier management and reusability.

• Example: For Text Capture, I created a reusable “selection area” component that users could tap to capture and display text in a clean, defined area. Refactoring into custom views and using .environmentObject made the code easier to maintain.

Step 5: Experimenting with Animations and Transitions – Adding Polish to the UI

To make the app more visually engaging, I experimented with SwiftUI’s animation tools. SwiftUI makes it easy to add smooth transitions and custom animations, giving the app a polished look.

• Example: I added subtle animations to the text selection transitions to make Text Capture more intuitive and visually appealing. Animating these interactions enhanced the user experience significantly.

Step 6: Exploring Integration with Other Swift Libraries and APIs

Finally, integrating Text Capture’s OCR functionality required combining SwiftUI with other macOS-specific libraries. Swift’s support for Cocoa frameworks allowed me to tap into existing macOS capabilities, making the app robust and versatile.

• Example: Using Vision framework for OCR, I integrated text recognition into Text Capture, enhancing its primary function. SwiftUI’s flexibility allowed seamless integration without compromising on UI.

Reflecting on the Journey

Using SwiftUI has been a rewarding journey. By working deeply on Text Capture, I’ve seen firsthand how versatile SwiftUI is for building macOS applications. This depth-focused approach gave me a well-rounded view of SwiftUI, allowing me to refine the app while expanding my skill set.

Hopefully, these steps offer insight into how you can approach learning SwiftUI. Focusing on a single project provides a roadmap for exploring both basic and advanced SwiftUI concepts, which can lead to a much deeper understanding.

Any questions? Feel free to ask in the comments! 🚀