🚀How I Built and Deployed My First iOS App with SwiftUI, Firebase, and QR Code Integration

Mayur .. — Sun, 15 Jun 2025 16:57:50 +0000

Hi everyone! 👋
I'm Mayur, a final-year Engineering student passionate about iOS development. In this post, I’ll walk you through how I built my first fully functional iOS app — TRINGQR-PRO — and deployed it to the App Store. I’ll also share the tools, challenges, and lessons I learned along the way.

📱 What the App Does
TRINGQR-PRO is a QR code scanner and generator app. It allows users to:

[]Scan QR codes in real time using the device camera
[]Generate custom QR codes from text
[]Save and view scan/generation history
[]Sign in with Apple ID or phone number
[]Store data securely using Firebase

🛠️ Tools & Technologies Used
[]Swift & SwiftUI – For building the UI and app logic
[]Firebase (Auth + Firestore) – For authentication and cloud storage
[]AVFoundation – For live camera-based QR code scanning
[]Postman + Swagger – For API testing and documentation
[]Apple Sign-In + Phone Number Auth – For secure and smooth user onboarding
[]Xcode + App Store Connect – For development,
testing, and deployment.

🔐 Authentication: Apple Sign-In + Phone Number
One of the first features I implemented was user authentication. I gave users two options:

Sign in with Apple: Perfect for privacy-conscious users
Phone number login: Using Firebase Auth with SMS OTP
I used Firebase’s built-in auth services to handle both, and it worked flawlessly across devices.

📷 QR Code Scanning with AVFoundation
To scan QR codes in real time, I used AVFoundation. Setting up the camera session, metadata detection, and handling various QR formats took some effort, but I learned a lot about working with live camera input and real-time UI updates.

code:

let metadataOutput = AVCaptureMetadataOutput()
metadataOutput.setMetadataObjectsDelegate(self, queue: DispatchQueue.main)
metadataOutput.metadataObjectTypes = [.qr]

🧪 API Integration: Swagger + Postman
Some parts of the app required interacting with APIs — for example, logging scan events or fetching data. I tested all backend endpoints using:

[]Postman – For manually testing and verifying
[]Swagger – For understanding and documenting the API structure.
This helped me catch issues early and ensure smooth client-server communication.

🧾 QR Code Generation + History Tracking
Users can also generate custom QR codes by typing text into the app. I used built-in CoreImage filters to create the QR code and added options to save/share it.

Every scan or generation action is stored in Firebase Firestore, which allowed me to implement a history screen where users can view past scans and generations.

🧪 Testing and Debugging
Xcode’s simulator, console logs, and breakpoints were my best friends during testing. I also tested on real devices to ensure the camera, Firebase auth, and App Store sign-in flows worked correctly.

🚀 Deployment to the App Store
After testing and polishing the app:

I created an App Store Connect listing
Uploaded my build via Xcode
Set up app screenshots, privacy policy, and metadata
Waited for Apple’s review (it was approved in 24 hours!)
And just like that… my first app was live on the App Store 🎉

📚 What I Learned
[]SwiftUI makes UI building fast and elegant, but debugging layout issues takes practice.
[]Firebase is incredibly powerful, but watch out for rules and billing if you scale.
[]Deployment takes time — be ready with icons, screenshots, and legal info.
[]Always test on real devices, especially for camera and auth features.

💡 Tips for Beginners
If you’re starting with iOS development:

[]Start small — but make it real. Even a simple QR scanner teaches you camera, UI, and storage.
[]Use open-source GitHub projects to learn patterns
[]Document your journey — blog posts like this one help you reflect and improve

🙌 Thanks for Reading!
I hope this post helps fellow students and iOS developers get inspired to build their own apps. If you have questions, feel free to connect with me:

Github: https://github.com/mayur7267

GitHub:

[]Start small — but make it real. Even a simple QR scanner teaches you camera, UI, and storage.
[]Use open-source GitHub projects to learn patterns
Document your journey — blog posts like this one help you reflect and improve

DEV Community: Mayur ..

🚀How I Built and Deployed My First iOS App with SwiftUI, Firebase, and QR Code Integration