Module 1: Create an iOS app

Time to complete	> 10 minutes
Key concepts	SwiftUI – SwiftUI is a simple way to build user interfaces across all Apple platforms with the power of the Swift programming language.
Services used	AWS Amplify

Overview

In this tutorial, you will set up your AWS account and development environment. This will allow you to interact with your AWS account and programmatically provision any resources you need.

What you will accomplish

In this module, you will:

• Create an iOS application

• Update the main view

• Build and test your application

Implementation

Step 1: Create and Deploy an iOS App

1. Start Xcode

   Start Xcode and create a new project by going to File > New > Project... or by pressing Shift + Cmd + N.

   

2. Choose your app template

   Choose App under iOS, Application, and then choose Next.

   

3. Name and configure the project

   Type a name for your project, for example, Getting Started. Make sure the Interface is SwiftUI and Language is Swift, then choose Next.

   

4. Finalize the project

   Select a directory and choose Create to create the project.

Step 2: Create the main view

1. Create Note file

   Create a new Swift File by clicking the plus (+) at the bottom of the navigation pane, or by pressing Cmd + N.

   Name the file Note.swift, and add the following content:

   import Foundation
   
   struct Note {
       let id: String
       let name: String
       let description: String?
       let image: String?
       
       init(
           id: String = UUID().uuidString,
           name: String,
           description: String? = nil,
           image: String? = nil
       ) {
           self.id = id
           self.name = name
           self.description = description
           self.image = image
       }
   }

   This struct holds information about notes, such as a name, description and image.

   Note

   Only the name is a mandatory parameter in its initializer.

2. Create view for Note objects

   Next, create another file named NoteView.swift with the following content:

   import SwiftUI
   
   struct NoteView: View {
       @State var note: Note
   
       var body: some View {
           HStack(alignment: .center, spacing: 5.0) {
               VStack(alignment: .leading, spacing: 5.0) {
                   Text(note.name)
                       .bold()
                   if let description = note.description {
                       Text(description)
                   }
               }
   
               if let image = note.image {
                   Spacer()
   
                   Divider()
   
                   Image(systemName: image)
                       .resizable()
                       .aspectRatio(contentMode: .fill)
                       .frame(width: 30, height: 30)
   
               }
           }
       }
   }

   This defines a view that displays the information of a Note object, including creating an Image from its image property.

3. Create view for Notes array

   Create a new SwiftUI View file named NotesView.swift with the following content:

   import SwiftUI
   
   struct NotesView: View {
       @State var notes: [Note] = []
   
       var body: some View {
           NavigationStack{
               List {
                   if notes.isEmpty {
                       Text("No notes")
                   }
                   ForEach(notes, id: \.id) { note in
                       NoteView(note: note)
                   }
               }
               .navigationTitle("Notes")
           }
       }
   }
   
   #Preview {
       NotesView()
   }

   This view will use the NoteView view to display all the notes in the notes array. If the array is empty, it will show a "No notes" message, as you can see in the Canvas.

   Note

   If you do not see the canvas, you can enable it by going to Editor > Canvas. If you see a Preview paused message, you can resume it by pressing the ↻ button next to it.

   

4. Set and view Notes arguments

   You can set the notes argument in the #Preview block to test how the view looks when the array is populated. For example:

   #Preview {
       NotesView(notes: [
           Note(
               name: "First note",
               description: "This is an example of a long note description that has \nexplicit line breaks.",
               image: "mic"
           ),
           Note(
               name: "Second note",
               description: "This is a short description.",
               image: "phone"
           ),
           Note(
               name: "Third note"
           )
       ])
   }

   

5. Configure the App instance

   Open the file that defines your App instance (for example, GettingStartedApp.swift) and replace the ContentView() initialization with NotesView().

   Delete the ContentView.swift file, we will not be using it for this tutorial.

   import SwiftUI
   
   @main
   struct GettingStartedApp: App {
       var body: some Scene {
           WindowGroup {
               NotesView()
           }
       }
   }

Step 3: Build and test

Build and launch the app in the simulator by pressing the ► button in the toolbar. Alternatively, you can also do it by going to Product > Run, or by pressing Cmd + R.

The iOS simulator will open and the app will run. As we are not setting a notes array, the default empty array is used and the "No notes" message is displayed.

Conclusion

You have successfully created an iOS app. You are ready to start building with Amplify!