Introduction to Xcode

Before you start, check to ensure you have enough hard drive space and are on a current version of macOS. From the Apple menu, select System Settings. Then select General from the list and select About. Xcode 15 requires Ventura or higher for your macOS version. You also need 20 or 30 GB available on your hard disk. This is a minimum.

Once you’ve checked, close the System Settings and open the App Store App. You can search for Xcode in the search bar or click Develop in the sidebar. In the Essential Apps for Developers section, you should see Xcode. If not, click the See All button on the right and find Xcode in the list. You can click the icon to read more about the app or click the download or Get button to go straight into the download process. The icon will look different depending on if you have ever downloaded Xcode before. If you have a Get button, and it turns green, click it again.

If prompted with a username and password window, enter your Apple ID information, not your local computer account.

While Xcode downloads, find the Apple Developer app. This is a helpful download. The app gives you access to all videos from Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference, WWDC. It’s already installed on this computer, so let’s take a quick look.

The list on the left has the topics. The videos on the right are in order from newest to oldest. These videos aren’t about how to write software as much as they are about integrating Apple technologies into your apps. Each video has a transcript, and most have some demo code.

If you’re looking for something specific, use the search bar at the top of the sidebar. You’ll get videos with your term in their title or transcript.

Now go over to developer.apple.com/design, which is Apple’s design hub. One of the most important items on this page is the Human Interface Guidelines.

As you start building more and more complicated apps, the Human Interface Guidelines, or HIG, help you know when to use different UI elements and how to present certain kinds of data. Your app’s users will expect it to behave like iOS apps, and following the HIG in your design helps ensure it does.

Now click Resources on the top right of this page. Here, you can see various graphics libraries for different design apps. You can also find templates for designing your app icons and for making realistic mock-ups of your app screens as you’re designing. You’ll also find the SF Symbols browser app. SF Symbols is another way Apple gives you to help your apps look like they belong on an iOS device.

Scrolling down further, you’ll find a library of bezels to help you make your presentations or the website advertising your app look professional.

Hopefully, the download is finished, and you can launch Xcode.

You may need to agree to the end user license agreement, the EULA, and probably need to enter a username and password. This is the username and password for an administrator on your computer, not your Apple ID.

On the additional downloads screen, tick the box for iOS and click Download & Install. Don’t worry; Xcode will still launch and run while these downloads finish.

This splash screen is the opening screen of Xcode. In the next section, you’ll get a tour of the interface and start to build some actual apps.