Essential Utilities for iOS developers — Indispensable Development Tools

Jochen Holzer
3 min readMar 28, 2023

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Shake hands with best iOS development tools (literally) …

Welcome to the world of iOS development!

Whether you’re a beginner or a veteran, having the right development tools for the job is essential. To help you on your journey, I’ve compiled a list of the best software tools for iOS developers. So put on your glasses and let’s get started!

Xcodes.App

Solved problem: Installing and switching Xcode versions (official and beta)

“The easiest way to install and switch between multiple versions of Xcode.”

Xcodes

As soon as you have logged into Xcodes with your Apple developer account, you can load the desired Xcode version with one click. Also very handy to get a quick overview of the currently available Xcode beta versions.

https://github.com/RobotsAndPencils/XcodesApp

Dev Cleaner

Solved problem: Xcode is taking up too much space on your hard drive

Is your Mac’s hard drive full again?

DevCleaner helps you to delete selected Xcode cache files with one click and free up many gigabytes on your hard drive.

https://apps.apple.com/de/app/devcleaner-for-xcode/id1388020431?mt=12

ProxyMan

Solved problem: Monitor your apps network traffic

Proxyman is a powerful macOS application that allows developers to debug, inspect, and manage network traffic. It is the perfect companion for mobile application developers who want to debug their applications and optimize their network performance.

The application makes it easy to install SSL-Root-Certificates in Simulator or the iPhone, allowing users to debug SSL traffic.

Proxyman comes with a subscription model, but the free version often offers just enough features for most projects. It is easy to use and makes debugging and optimizing mobile applications a breeze.

Sourcetree

Solved problem: Manage your code in a Git repository

Sourcetree is an easy-to-use and intuitive MacOS app for managing Git-repositories, making it possible to visually merge, quickly view repository history, manage branches, and collaborate on projects.

Sourcetree also supports integration with popular hosting services and code collaboration tools, such as GitHub and Bitbucket.

Of course there are more sophisticated Git tools but together with the git command line client it gets the job done.

https://www.sourcetreeapp.com/

ohMyZSH

Solved problem: Efficient work on the command line

Every iOS developer works on the shell. Use zsh. Use “Oh My Zsh”

Oh My Zsh is an open source, community-driven framework for managing your zsh configuration. It comes bundled with thousands of helpful functions, helpers, plugins, themes, and a few things that make you shout. It offers a powerful command line interface for managing your system, with features like auto-completion, syntax highlighting, and custom plugins and themes. Oh My Zsh also comes with a variety of themes and plugins to customize the terminal, including a powerful command line history, auto-suggestions, and lots of other goodies. With Oh My Zsh, you can easily customize your terminal, making it easier to use and more efficient.

Conclusion

That’s it — maybe the article helped you to expand your toolbox.

What are your favourite utilities when developing iOS apps? What are your experiences.
I am curious to read your opinion in the comments.

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Jochen Holzer

"Seasoned (iOS) Engineer. Expert in the Apple Universe, Mobile DevOps and App Maintenance.