Borrowing from Kotlin/Android to Architect Scalable iOS Apps in SwiftUI

"For us iOS developers, it's often hard to create scalable architecture out of simple one-page example apps from Apple. Sure it works for a simple app, but I have always struggled with what to do next when you want to build something scalable. After looking around, I discovered the Android world. I was surprised by what Google provides for developers compared to Apple."

"Android developers have clear guides and patterns, and most importantly, real-world examples that show how to structure production apps and not just toy projects. In comparison, iOS developers are often left piecing together solutions from blog posts and Apple's sample apps. These solutions are useful in isolation, but rarely represent how a real-world app's architecture evolves."

"Good architecture is platform agnostic. The principles that make Android apps maintainable work just as well on iOS. Action-based ViewModels create a clear contract: routing all mutations through a single method gives you centralized logging, easier testing, and a documented API of what your ViewModel actually does."

iOS developers often struggle to scale beyond simple example apps, lacking the comprehensive guides and real-world patterns that Android developers receive from Google. Android benefits from clear architectural documentation and production-level examples, while iOS developers typically assemble solutions from scattered blog posts and Apple samples that don't reflect how real apps evolve. However, sound architectural principles transcend platforms. Action-based ViewModels centralize mutations through single methods, enabling logging and testing. Explicit state using enums like Loadable<T> eliminates impossible states. Screen/Content separation clarifies responsibilities between ViewModel ownership and UI rendering. Reactive repositories with publishers enable automatic UI synchronization when data updates propagate to observing ViewModels.

Read at InfoQ