https://github.com/stackotter/swift-cross-ui
A cross-platform declarative UI framework, inspired by SwiftUI.
https://github.com/stackotter/swift-cross-ui
appkit declarative-ui gtk ios linux macos open-source swift uikit windows winui3
Last synced: 3 days ago
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A cross-platform declarative UI framework, inspired by SwiftUI.
- Host: GitHub
- URL: https://github.com/stackotter/swift-cross-ui
- Owner: stackotter
- License: mit
- Created: 2022-01-09T22:15:02.000Z (over 3 years ago)
- Default Branch: main
- Last Pushed: 2025-05-13T16:49:00.000Z (4 days ago)
- Last Synced: 2025-05-13T16:49:14.096Z (4 days ago)
- Topics: appkit, declarative-ui, gtk, ios, linux, macos, open-source, swift, uikit, windows, winui3
- Language: Swift
- Homepage: https://stackotter.github.io/swift-cross-ui/documentation/swiftcrossui/
- Size: 6.6 MB
- Stars: 849
- Watchers: 15
- Forks: 46
- Open Issues: 26
-
Metadata Files:
- Readme: README.md
- Contributing: CONTRIBUTING.md
- Funding: .github/FUNDING.yml
- License: LICENSE
Awesome Lists containing this project
README
A SwiftUI-like framework for creating cross-platform apps in Swift (5.10+).
To dive right in with SwiftCrossUI, check out [the SwiftCrossUI quick start guide](https://stackotter.github.io/swift-cross-ui/documentation/swiftcrossui/quick-start).
> [!NOTE]
> SwiftCrossUI does not attempt to replicate SwiftUI's API perfectly since that would be a constantly-moving target and SwiftUI has many entrenched Apple-centric concepts. That said, SwiftCrossUI's built-in views and scenes share much of their API surface with their SwiftUI cousins, and over time SwiftCrossUI will likely adopt many of SwiftUI's commonly-used APIs.
## Overview
- [Community](#community)
- [Supporting SwiftCrossUI](#supporting-swiftcrossui)
- [Documentation](#documentation)
- [Basic example](#basic-example)
- [Backends](#backends)
## Community
Discussion about SwiftCrossUI happens in the [SwiftCrossUI Discord server](https://discord.gg/fw2trT48ny). [Join](https://discord.gg/fw2trT48ny) to discuss the library, get involved, or just be kept up-to-date on progress!
## Supporting SwiftCrossUI
If you find SwiftCrossUI useful, please consider supporting me by [becoming a sponsor](https://github.com/sponsors/stackotter). I spend most of my spare time working on open-source projects, and each sponsorship helps me focus more time on making high quality libraries and tools for the community.
## Documentation
Here's the [documentation site](https://stackotter.github.io/swift-cross-ui/documentation/swiftcrossui). SwiftCrossUI is still a work-in-progress; proper documentation and tutorials are on the horizon. Documentation contributions are very welcome!
## Basic example
Here's a simple example app demonstrating how easy it is to get started with SwiftCrossUI. For a more detailed walkthrough, check out our [quick start guide](https://stackotter.github.io/swift-cross-ui/documentation/swiftcrossui/quick-start)
```swift
import PackageDescription
let package = Package(
name: "YourApp",
dependencies: [
.package(url: "https://github.com/stackotter/swift-cross-ui", branch: "main")
],
targets: [
.executableTarget(
name: "YourApp",
dependencies: [
.product(name: "SwiftCrossUI", package: "swift-cross-ui"),
.product(name: "DefaultBackend", package: "swift-cross-ui"),
]
)
]
)
```
Figure 1: *Package.swift*
```swift
import SwiftCrossUI
import DefaultBackend
@main
struct CounterApp: App {
@State var count = 0
var body: some Scene {
WindowGroup("CounterApp") {
HStack {
Button("-") { count -= 1 }
Text("Count: \(count)")
Button("+") { count += 1 }
}.padding()
}
}
}
```
Clone the SwiftCrossUI repository to test out this example, and many more;
```sh
git clone https://github.com/stackotter/swift-cross-ui
cd swift-cross-ui/Examples
swift run CounterExample
```
The documentation contains [a detailed list of all examples](https://stackotter.github.io/swift-cross-ui/documentation/swiftcrossui/examples)
## Backends
SwiftCrossUI has a variety of backends tailored to different operating systems. The beauty of SwiftCrossUI is that you can write your app once and have it look native everywhere. For this reason I recommend using [DefaultBackend](https://stackotter.github.io/swift-cross-ui/documentation/swiftcrossui/defaultbackend) unless you've got particular constraints.
> [!TIP]
> Click through each backend name for detailed system requirements and installation instructions.
- [DefaultBackend](https://stackotter.github.io/swift-cross-ui/documentation/swiftcrossui/defaultbackend): Adapts to your target operating system. On macOS it uses [AppKitBackend](https://stackotter.github.io/swift-cross-ui/documentation/swiftcrossui/appkitbackend), on Windows it uses [WinUIBackend](https://stackotter.github.io/swift-cross-ui/documentation/swiftcrossui/winuibackend), on Linux it uses [GtkBackend](https://stackotter.github.io/swift-cross-ui/documentation/swiftcrossui/gtkbackend), and on iOS and tvOS it uses [UIKitBackend](https://stackotter.github.io/swift-cross-ui/documentation/swiftcrossui/uikitbackend).
- [AppKitBackend](https://stackotter.github.io/swift-cross-ui/documentation/swiftcrossui/appkitbackend): The native macOS backend. Supports all SwiftCrossUI features.
- [UIKitBackend](https://stackotter.github.io/swift-cross-ui/documentation/swiftcrossui/uikitbackend): The native iOS & tvOS backend. Supports most SwiftCrossUI features.
- [WinUIBackend](https://stackotter.github.io/swift-cross-ui/documentation/swiftcrossui/winuibackend): The native Windows backend. Supports most SwiftCrossUI features.
- [GtkBackend](https://stackotter.github.io/swift-cross-ui/documentation/swiftcrossui/gtkbackend): Works on Linux, macOS, and Windows. Requires gtk 4 to be installed. Supports most SwiftCrossUI features.
- [Gtk3Backend](https://stackotter.github.io/swift-cross-ui/documentation/swiftcrossui/gtk3backend): Exists to target older Linux distributions. Requires gtk 3 to be installed. Supports most SwiftCrossUI features. Quite buggy on macOS due to underlying Gtk 3 bugs.
> [!TIP]
> If you're using DefaultBackend, you can override the underlying backend during compilation by setting the `SCUI_DEFAULT_BACKEND` environment variable to the name of the desired backend. This is useful when you e.g. want to test the Gtk version of your app while using a Mac. Note that this only works for built-in backends and still requires the chosen backend to be compatible with your machine.