iPadOS 15 Allows You to Build iPhone and iPad Apps on an iPad

Apple today announced that iPadOS 15 features the ability to build iPhone and iPad apps directly on the ‌iPad‌ in the Swift Playgrounds app.

swift playgrounds app swift ui
In iPadOS 15, Swift Playgrounds features the ability to create ‌iPhone‌ and ‌iPad‌ apps using Swift UI. Swift Playgrounds app project packages can also be opened and edited in Xcode on a Mac, giving users the option to develop apps across the ‌iPad‌ and Mac.

Code is immediately reflected in the live preview when building apps, and users can run their apps full screen to test them out. Created apps can be submitted to the App Store directly in Swift Playgrounds.

Popular Stories

iphone 17 models

No iPhone 18 Launch This Year, Reports Suggest

Thursday January 1, 2026 8:43 am PST by
Apple is not expected to release a standard iPhone 18 model this year, according to a growing number of reports that suggest the company is planning a significant change to its long-standing annual iPhone launch cycle. Despite the immense success of the iPhone 17 in 2025, the iPhone 18 is not expected to arrive until the spring of 2027, leaving the iPhone 17 in the lineup as the latest...
duolingo ad live activity

Duolingo Used iPhone's Dynamic Island to Display Ads, Violating Apple Design Guidelines

Friday January 2, 2026 1:36 pm PST by
Language learning app Duolingo has apparently been using the iPhone's Live Activity feature to display ads on the Lock Screen and the Dynamic Island, which violates Apple's design guidelines. According to multiple reports on Reddit, the Duolingo app has been displaying an ad for a "Super offer," which is Duolingo's paid subscription option. Apple's guidelines for Live Activity state that...
Low Cost A18 Pro MacBook Feature Pink

Apple's 2026 Low-Cost A18 Pro MacBook: What We Know So Far

Friday January 2, 2026 4:33 pm PST by
Apple is planning to release a low-cost MacBook in 2026, which will apparently compete with more affordable Chromebooks and Windows PCs. Apple's most affordable Mac right now is the $999 MacBook Air, and the upcoming low-cost MacBook is expected to be cheaper. Here's what we know about the low-cost MacBook so far. Size Rumors suggest the low-cost MacBook will have a display that's around 13 ...
govee floor lamp

CES 2026: Govee Announces New Matter-Connected Ceiling and Floor Lights

Sunday January 4, 2026 5:00 am PST by
Govee today introduced three new HomeKit-compatible lighting products, including the Govee Floor Lamp 3, the Govee Ceiling Light Ultra, and the Govee Sky Ceiling Light. The Govee Floor Lamp 3 is the successor to the Floor Lamp 2, and it offers Matter integration with the option to connect to HomeKit. The Floor Lamp 3 offers an upgraded LuminBlend+ lighting system that can reproduce 281...
airpods pro 3 glitter

AirPods New Year's Deals Include Up to $99 Off AirPods Max, AirPods Pro 3, and AirPods 4

Sunday January 4, 2026 8:04 am PST by
Now that the calendar has flipped over into January, steep discounts on popular Apple products have become more rare after the holidays. However, if you didn't get a new pair of AirPods recently and are looking for a model on sale, Amazon does have a few solid second-best prices this week. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a...
Belkin 25W Battery magnetic

CES 2026: Belkin Announces Magnetic Ring Power Bank, Modular Dock, and More

Sunday January 4, 2026 3:02 pm PST by
Belkin today announced a range of new charging and connectivity accessories at CES 2026, expanding its portfolio of products aimed at Apple device users. UltraCharge Pro Power Bank 10K with Magnetic Ring The lineup includes new Qi2 and Qi2.2 wireless chargers, magnetic power banks, a high-capacity laptop battery, and USB-C productivity accessories, with an emphasis on higher charging...
m4 macbook air blue 2

iPadOS and macOS 26.2 Double 5GHz Wi-Fi Bandwidth for Wi-Fi 6E Devices

Monday January 5, 2026 1:57 pm PST by
With the release of iPadOS 26.2 and macOS Tahoe 26.2, Apple has improved the Wi-Fi speeds for select Macs and iPads that support Wi-Fi 6E. Updated Wi-Fi connectivity specifications are listed in Apple's platform deployment guide. The M4 iPad Pro models, M3 iPad Air models, A17 Pro iPad mini, M2 to M5 MacBook Pro models, M2, M3, and M4 MacBook Air models, and other Wi-Fi 6E Macs and iPads now ...
AirPods Pro 3 Year of the Horse Feature

Apple Launches Year of the Horse AirPods Pro 3 for Lunar New Year

Monday January 5, 2026 11:28 am PST by
Apple has designed a limited edition version of the AirPods Pro 3 to celebrate Lunar New Year, and customers in select countries can purchase them starting today. The Year of the Horse Special Edition AirPods Pro 3 feature a unique horse emoji character that's otherwise unavailable. Customers in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Singapore are able to buy the AirPods, and they'll be...

Top Rated Comments

icymountain Avatar
60 months ago
"features the ability to build iPhone and iPad apps directly on an iPad"
-> Great start, hope going up...

"in Swift Playgrounds"
-> Big, big, big disappointment... :confused:
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ScreenSavers Avatar
60 months ago
This is likely to be a way easier learning curve than Xcode. Super exciting.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Slartibart Avatar
60 months ago

Boy oh boy, was I right ?
I am so sorry that your internet connection broke down… hope you can catch up when it’s running again. There is is definitively more. ?
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
szw-mapple fan Avatar
60 months ago

"features the ability to build iPhone and iPad apps directly on an iPad"
-> Great start, hope going up...

"in Swift Playgrounds"
-> Big, big, big disappointment... :confused:
I think Swift playground is going to be used to test how development can work on iPad before full fledged Xcode is introduced.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Slartibart Avatar
60 months ago

Almost certain that this will require an M1 iPad.
Why should it?
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Unregistered 4U Avatar
60 months ago

Too bad you're probably right. Probably will have way too many "race to the bottom" apps rather high quality, AAA apps.
If a poorly produced fart App gives a budding programmer the vision that this is something they could do, then bring on the fart apps! I mean, it wasn’t like FaceBook in it’s initial implementation was supremely difficult to develop :)
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)