PSPDFKit is excited to continue its ongoing commitment to SwiftUI with a new API for our iOS developers to simplify the customization of the main toolbar in their applications.

Bridging UIKit and SwiftUI

SwiftUI, which Apple introduced in 2019, is a declarative UI framework that promises elegance and efficiency and has become the framework of choice for many modern iOS developers. Meanwhile, UIKit — the tried-and-true framework — has been powering iOS apps since the dawn of time (or at least since iOS 2.0).

Challenges arise, however, for developers integrating older UIKit-based components into newer SwiftUI projects, including:

• Complexity — Bridging the gap between UIKit and SwiftUI can be time-consuming and technically challenging. Developers need a seamless way to combine these frameworks without sacrificing efficiency.
• Maintenance Overhead — Keeping up with technology trends while maintaining legacy code increases complexity and costs. Balancing innovation with stability is a delicate dance.
• Consistent User Experience — Mixing UIKit and SwiftUI, though supported and often recommended, can lead to inconsistencies in the user interface if not implemented correctly. Ensuring a cohesive and modern experience for end users across all app components is crucial.

Customizing the Main Toolbar in SwiftUI with PSPDFKit

Our latest iOS update addresses these challenges head on. Whether you’re bridging the gap between UIKit and SwiftUI or building a new app with SwiftUI and require a robust, customizable SDK, our new SwiftUI API integrations will allow you to streamline your workflow, customize a better user experience, and ensure compatibility with future iOS updates.

Simplify the development process. We’ve exposed APIs for customizing the main toolbar directly in SwiftUI. These APIs allow you to simplify your codebase, eliminate the need for complex SwiftUI wrappers over UIKit components, and ultimately speed up development time.

Enhance your customization options. With our new functionality, iOS SDK customers can leverage the composable nature of SwiftUI to easily remove, reorder, and add custom buttons, or change images. This flexibility allows developers to create more tailored experiences.

Improve user experience. The ability to easily customize toolbars and other UI components — such as overflow menus — ensures the end user experience remains consistent with the rest of the SwiftUI-based application, leading to higher customer satisfaction and ultimately better app reviews. Optimized SwiftUI components can also improve app performance and responsiveness.

Future-proof your app. By adopting SwiftUI, developers ensure compatibility with future iOS updates, reduce dependencies on legacy UIKit components, and leverage the latest advancements in UI development. It’s a strategic move that pays off in the long run.

Unlock the Power of SwiftUI

Say goodbye to convoluted UIKit wrappers. With direct SwiftUI API support, complexity in development and maintenance is minimized.

Whether you require a robust, customizable iOS SDK to build a modern app interface, or you’ve run into challenges when integrating UIKit components into SwiftUI projects, our new APIs will provide a necessary bridge.

Building on years of expertise and early adoption of SwiftUI, this latest innovation is a continuation of our commitment to staying at the forefront of iOS development technology. We’ll continue to adopt SwiftUI within our iOS SDK and remove the need for wrapping UIKit, making it easy for you to build mobile apps and create better user experiences.

Our proven track record, backward compatibility, and extensive documentation make PSPDFKit the ideal choice for creating the next generation of mobile applications.

Want to learn more? Check out our guides.

Have questions or feedback? Reach out to our team‌ — ‌we’re here to help!

As always, to see a complete list of changes to iOS and other platforms, refer to the iOS changelog.