How to create a single view iOS app in Xcode – Beginners guide

In this introductory, step by step tutorial, I’m going to walk you through the basic steps of creating a Single View App in Xcode for either SwiftUI or Storyboard development. This tutorial assumes that you have a Mac computer running the most recent version of macOS and that you have an iTunes account set up.

Download and install Xcode

Xcode is free to download and is available from the Mac App Store. Click on the Apple menu, located in the top-left corner of the screen and then select App Store…

Open Mac App Store

Click on Search bar in the top left corner of the App Store, type “Xcode” and hit enter. Locate Xcode in search results and click on the “Get” button which will start the download and install process.

Search for Xcode in Mac App Store

Launch Xcode

Open Applications folder on your Mac and locate Xcode. Double click to open it.

Create new Xcode project

When Xcode launches, you should see a welcome window. Select “Create a new Xcode Project”.

Create a new Xcode project

Alternatively, if you don’t see the welcome window, select File -> New -> Project… from Xcode’s menu bar. 

Create a new Xcode project from menu bar

This opens a new window where you can select a template for your new iOS project. Pick “Single View App” and click Next.

Pick Single View App template

Next, fill in necessary details about your project such as its name, organization name and identifier (don’t worry too much about precise naming here, for now it can be anything).

Options for your new project

Make sure to select Swift as a language.

For User Interface, you have an option to pick SwiftUI or Storyboard. SwiftUI is new way of building user interfaces in a declarative manner, which work across all Apple platforms. If you’d prefer to do things the old way using UIKit, then select Storyboard. Click Next.

Finally, Xcode is going to ask you where to save your new project. Pick a location on your Mac and click Create.

Pick a location for your new project

Test and run new Xcode project

Take some time to familiarize yourself with Xcode’s interface. In order to see your brand new Single View app in action, click on Resume in the preview canvas. This will start a live preview of your app.

Single View App Xcode project

If for some reason you don’t see the canvas on the right hand side, select Editor -> Canvas from Xcode’s menu bar.

Xcode’s Editor -> Canvas menu bar option

Congratulations, you have just created your first Single View iOS app which display text to the user!

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