# Why we need iOS developers on board with Kotlin/Multiplatform

DevFeed: [Why we need iOS developers on board with Kotlin/Multiplatform](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/why-we-need-ios-developers-on-board-with-kotlin-multiplatform-22868.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://medium.com/kodein-koders/why-we-need-ios-developers-on-board-kotlin-multiplatform-ac474e0b508d?source=rss----f311f45ef54---4>)

Author: Salomon BRYS

Published: 2021-05-20T16:28:29Z

Content type: opinion

Language: en

Sources: [Kodein Koders - Medium](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/kodein-koders-medium.md>)

Topics: [Kotlin Multiplatform](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/kotlin-multiplatform.md>), [multiplatform](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/multiplatform.md>), [iOS](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/ios.md>), [Android](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/android.md>), [Swift](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/swift.md>), [Android Studio](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/android-studio.md>), [Xcode](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/xcode.md>), [React Native](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/react-native.md>)

Tags: [android](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/android.md>), [android-studio](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/android-studio.md>), [ios](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/ios.md>), [kotlin](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/kotlin.md>), [kotlin-multiplatform](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/kotlin-multiplatform.md>), [multiplatform](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/multiplatform.md>), [react-native](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/react-native.md>), [xcode](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/xcode.md>)

## AI overview

This opinion argues that Kotlin Multiplatform needs iOS developers because it shares business logic while preserving native Android and iOS application development. It emphasizes that platform-specific expertise remains important for features such as notifications, background work, permissions, battery optimization, configuration changes, and sensor data. The article also discusses concerns about investing in multiplatform technologies and contrasts Google's and Apple's incentives.

## Source excerpt

Last week, we published the testimony of Robbie Hanson, whom we've been working with for several months on the Phoenix-KMM multiplatform application. We thank him again for his valuable feedback. In this post, I want to share my thoughts after reading his, and express my feelings about the state of Kotlin/Multiplatform for iOS developers. First of all, I want to reiterate that we believe that Kotlin/Multiplatform can only thrive with the support of iOS developers. Seeing Kotlin/Multiplatform as "just another React-Native", is a big mistake. In Kotlin/Multiplatform, Android apps are developed with official Android Kotlin APIs and compiled with Android Studio ; while iOS apps are developed with official iOS Swift APIs and compiled with XCode. Kotlin/Multiplatform focuses on what is truly common to these apps : their business. It does not try to provide a unified application model. This is important, because it means that you do need expertise in both Android and iOS native applications to create the best experience on each platform. It goes beyond navigation & UI: notifications, background work, permissions, battery optimization, configuration changes, sensor data retrieval, and more APIs, are exposed in very different ways on iOS and Android. If you want a quality iOS application, get an iOS expert. Kotlin/Multiplatform is not going to change that, and that's a very good thing. The first question we often get when presenting Kotlin/Multiplatform, and specifically from iOS developers is "How safe is it to invest in it?". After all, there's one tool to develop iOS apps that will never disappear : XCode. Our very short tech field history is littered with examples of amazing tech being dropped in a heartbeat. RoboVM was developing an amazing AoT compiler for the JVM to target iOS (a precursor of GraalVM), only to be bought by Microsoft and killed without so much as a warning or a migration strategy. If you worked with RoboVM, you bet on the wrong horse. Your loss. Robbie