Let’s be honest — iOS development can be a productivity killer.
Between Xcode randomly beachballing, fighting provisioning profiles, and wrestling SwiftUI previews into existence, it often feels like you’re doing more babysitting than building.
But after years of trial and (a lot of) error, I’ve found a few tools that actually save me time — tools that make me ship faster, crash less, and focus on writing features instead of fixing my dev environment.
This isn’t some “Top 5 Swift Libraries” fluff. These are workflow-level superpowers I use every week.
And if you're building a project from scratch or scaling your mobile product, consider partnering with a professional iOS app development company like Shakuro — their full-cycle team setup can save months of trial-and-error on complex builds.
Now let’s dive into my top 5 picks:
1. Tuist – Stop Manually Managing Xcode Projects
If you’ve ever edited .xcodeproj files manually or screamed at weird build settings conflicts, you need Tuist.
It lets you define your entire Xcode project structure in Swift — literally as code. Want to create a modular iOS architecture? Just write it in your Project.swift and Tuist will generate your Xcode project for you. No more dragging files around.
I use Tuist in all mid-to-large projects now. Build settings? Versioning? Swift packages? Automated. Bonus: You can regenerate the project with one command when you update modules. Pure joy.
2. SwiftLint – Your Personal Code Style Cop
🔗 https://github.com/realm/SwiftLint
We all have that teammate who forgets to format their code (sometimes it's you, admit it). SwiftLint helps you stay clean and consistent.
It enforces Swift style rules in your project, supports custom rules, and plugs straight into Xcode or CI. Whether it’s line length, spacing, or naming conventions — SwiftLint helps you avoid style nitpicks in code reviews and keeps the codebase readable.
Pro tip: Combine it with danger-swiftlint to automatically comment style violations in pull requests.
3. Codeium – AI Autocomplete That Gets Swift
You’ve probably seen GitHub Copilot… but did you know Codeium is 100% free and works beautifully with Swift?
Codeium is a VS Code / JetBrains / Xcode-compatible AI autocompletion tool. It’s fast, context-aware, and surprisingly good at Swift idioms — especially SwiftUI and Combine. I’ve used it to scaffold views, complete async API calls, and even help write test cases.
Install their Xcode plugin or use it inside VS Code with the Swift extension. Bonus: It supports tab-triggered multi-line suggestions, which feels like coding at 2x speed.
4. Fastlane – Fully Automated App Delivery
If you're not using Fastlane for iOS automation yet… you’re leaving so much time on the table.
Fastlane automates everything from code signing (match), to building and archiving (gym), to uploading to TestFlight or the App Store (pilot).
With a few config files and shell commands, you can automate your entire release pipeline. I even use it to generate app screenshots in all device sizes via snapshot.
CI integration? Works with GitHub Actions, Bitrise, or custom runners like a dream.
5. Xcodes CLI – Install Any Xcode Version Painlessly
🔗 https://github.com/XcodesOrg/xcodes
Managing multiple Xcode versions is the worst. Apple doesn’t make it easy.
xcodes is a CLI tool that solves this pain once and for all. With a single command, you can install or switch between Xcode versions without the App Store bloat or manual downloads.
xcodes install 15.3.0
xcodes select 15.0
It’s faster, scriptable, and keeps your machine clean. Plus, it saves you hours during onboarding or testing different SDKs.
Final Thoughts
Productivity in iOS development isn’t just about writing faster code — it’s about removing friction from your workflow. These 5 tools — Tuist, SwiftLint, Codeium, Fastlane, and xcodes — help me ship more with less pain.
You don’t need to be a guru to use them. Start small. Automate one thing. Add another tool when you feel the pinch.
And if you’re working on a mobile product that needs to scale quickly (or just don’t want to deal with all this setup yourself), Shakuro’s iOS development team can help — they’ve built everything from native Swift apps to full-blown cross-platform products.
👨💻 Your tools should work for you.
💬 Let me know what other dev tools you swear by in the comments.
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