Become an iOS Developer  

Nanodegree Program Syllabus 
Build an App for the iPhone and iPad 
 

Before You Start 

The journey to becoming an iOS developer begins in your imagination—that moment when you first dream 
up a great idea for an app. This Nanodegree program will prepare you to publish your first iOS app, whether 
you’re already programming or just beginning. As you master the Swift programming language and create a 
portfolio of apps to showcase your skills, you’ll benefit from detailed code reviews, valuable career advice, 
and coaching from professional iOS developers.  
 
Prerequisites​:  
● You are self-driven and motivated to learn. Participation in this program requires consistently 
meeting deadlines and devoting at least 10 hours per week to your work. 
● Collaboration with peers and interactive feedback are critical to the success of the program. You 
must be a committed and contributing participant of the community. 
● Access to a Mac computer running macOS 10.12.6 or later 
 
Educational Objectives​: Students will master writing iOS apps in Swift as they build six portfolio-worthy 
apps to demonstrate their expertise as an iOS Developer. 
 
Length of Program​:* 7 months, at 10 hours of coursework per week. 
 
Frequency of Classes​: 2 Terms. The first term is 3 months long, and the second term is 4 months long. 
 
Textbooks required​: None. 
 
Instructional Tools Available​: Video lectures, in-classroom mentor for the first two projects, technical 
knowledge base for content- and project-related questions, code reviews for project submissions.  
 
*This is a self-paced program, and the length is an estimation of total hours the average student may take to 
complete all required coursework, including lecture and project time. Actual hours may vary. 

Support Options 
We are here to support you every step of the way.  
 

 
 

The Study Group feature found in the Udacity classroom helps student, like you, connect with their peers, 
mentors, and project reviewers. Students can also seek help, network, and collaborate with their classmates 
throughout their program!  
 
The Knowledge platform helps students engage with their peers & mentors, ask and answer questions, and 
overcome learning roadblocks quickly. 
 
While going through the program if students experience any issues or have questions regarding our product 
offerings we encourage them to send us an e-mail at [email protected] 

TERM 1 

Learn Swift Programming (Optional)  

You will complete a series of coding exercises to test your understanding of Swift. There will be exercises for 
variables, strings, if (else-if and else) statements, and functions. 

Supporting Lesson Content: Learn Swift Programming 

Lesson Title  Learning Outcomes 

Variables and Types  ➔ Declare variables and constant values with basic Swift types like 
Bool, Int, Double, and Float  
➔ Access and modify values from variables and constants 
➔ Debug compiler issues related to the incorrect use of variables 
and constants 
➔ Use escape characters and string interpolation to format variable 
and constant values within strings. 

Operators and  ➔ Compute new values using existing variables and constants. 
expressions  ➔ Use comparison operators to determine equality between two 
  values. 
➔ Use boolean operators to build expressions that use truth values. 

Control Flow  ➔ Write boolean expressions that convey decision making logic 
➔ Combine boolean expressions with logical operators 
➔ Utilize boolean expressions alongside if, else-if, and else 
statements to control the flow of your code's execution. 
➔ Use switch statements to run code based on multiple values of a 
single variable. 
➔ Use for, while, and repeat while loops to control the flow of your 
code's execution. 

Functions  ➔ Encapsulating existing code into reusable functions 

➔ Properly define and call functions 
➔ Specify function parameters and return types 
➔ Differentiate between values that are in-scope and out-of-scope. 

 
 

➔ Correctly use local and external parameters 

➔ Identify parameter types and return types. 

Structures and  ➔ Group multiple values together into structs. 

Enum  ➔ Create instances of structs. 
➔ Add functions (known as methods) to structs. 
➔ Access properties and call methods of structs. 
➔ Define computed properties that calculate their value based on 
other values. 
➔ Define enums and assign raw values to different cases. 
➔ Use enums in conjunction with switch statements. 

Optionals   ➔ Understand when a value can be nil and when to use an optional 
type. 
➔ Declare variables and constants as explicit or implicitly 
unwrapped optionals. 
➔ Unwrap optionals both safely and unsafely. 
➔ Use optional chaining and the nil coalescing operator to safely 
access optional values. 

Strings  ➔ Define and manipulate Strings using their built-in properties and 
methods 
➔ Perform common String operations like concatenation and 
finding substrings 
➔ Perform common String manipulation such as adding, removing, 
and replacing substrings. 

Collections  ➔ Store unordered data of the same type using arrays. 

➔ Access and modify array contents. 
➔ Store pairs of keys and values using dictionaries. 
➔ Access and modify dictionary contents. 
➔ Store unordered data of the same type using sets. 

Object Oriented  ➔ Understand the difference between value and reference types, 
Programming  and how this applies to structs and classes. 
➔ Make one class inherit the properties and methods of another 
class. 
➔ Understand polymorphism - how one type can be substituted for 
another type, and how this relates to inheritance. 
➔ Write classes that conform to the same protocol. 
➔ Add additional functionality to classes using extensions. 
 

Project 1: Pitch Perfect  

You will create an iPhone app that records audio and plays it back using various audio filters and modes 
including adjusted rate and pitch, echo, and reverb. 

 
 

Supporting Lesson Content: Intro to iOS App Development with Swift 

Lesson Title  Learning Outcomes 

Introduction and  ➔ Navigate the major components of the Xcode development 

Xcode  environment including the Navigator, Debug Area, and Utilities 
➔ Create an Xcode project for a new iOS application 
➔ Express the goals and architecture of the Model View Controller 
(MVC) design pattern 

AutoLayout and  ➔ Use Storyboards, Xcode’s visual editing tool, to position, size, and 
Buttons  configure user interface objects 
➔ Link user interface objects in a Storyboard to their corresponding 
controller using IBOutlets 
➔ Specify callback functions called IBActions that are invoked as a 
result of user interaction 
➔ Create AutoLayout constraints to ensure UI elements are sized 
and positioned correctly regardless of device size and dimensions 

ViewController and  ➔ Configure application state at the appropriate customizations 

Multiple Views  points in a view’s lifecycle 
➔ Create and navigate multiple-view applications using a 
UINavigationController 
➔ Manipulate user interface objects by utilizing IBOutlets and 
IBActions 

Delegation and  ➔ Write protocols to express functionality that can be adopted by 
Recording  Swift classes 
➔ Use protocols to delegate the responsibilities of a particular task 
or set of tasks to another object 
➔ Create and interface with an AVAudioRecorder to capture and save 
audio with an iOS device’s microphone 
➔ Use segues to transition between views in an application 

Playback and  ➔ Create and configure StackViews which contain and automatically 
Effects  configure layout constraints for its subviews 
➔ Playback audio using objects defined in the AVFoundation 
framework 
➔ Apply audio playback effects using audio nodes exposed by a 
custom interface 

Suggested Electives   ➔ Version Control with Git 

➔ GitHub & Collaboration 
 

 
 

Project 2: MemeMe 1.0: The Meme Editor  

You will create a first version of the MemeMe app that enables a user to take a picture, and add text at the 
top and bottom to form a meme. The user will be able to share the photo on Facebook and Twitter and also 
by SMS or email. 

Supporting Lesson Content: UIKit Fundamentals 

Lesson Title  Learning Outcomes 

Outlets and Actions  ➔ Understand how to connect outlets and actions using only code 
and graphically using storyboard 
➔ Use core UIKit classes like UIButton, UILabel and UISwitch. 
➔ Practice debugging problems with IBOutlets and IBActions 

View Presentations  ➔ See how Apple distinguishes between modal presentation and 
and Segues  navigation. 
➔ Learn how to present views modally. 
➔ Use powerful UIKit classes like UIImagePickerController, 
UIAlertController and UIActivityViewController. 

The Delegate  ➔ Learn how delegates make important connections between the 
Pattern  model, view, and controller. 
➔ Implement UIKit components that make use of the delegate 
pattern, UITextField and UITextFieldDelegate. 
➔ Demonstrate your understanding by building a series of challenge 
apps. 
 

Project 3: MemeMe 2.0: The Final Product  

You will create an app that enables a user to take a picture, and add text at the top and bottom to form a 
meme. The user will be able to share the photo on Facebook and Twitter and also by SMS or email. Memes 
will appear in a tab view with two tabs: a table view and a collection view. 

Supporting Lesson Content: UIKit Fundamentals 

Lesson Title  Learning Outcomes 

Table Views  ➔ Learn the essential UITableViewDelegate and 

UITableViewDatasource methods. 
➔ Explore the code for several apps with tables, and then 
implement your own UITableView. 
➔ Practice manipulating table cells. 

Navigation  ➔ Learn how iOS uses navigation stacks to manage multiple views 
in an app. 

 
 

➔ Create the navigation that enables a user to tap a row of a table 

and view the details of an item. 
➔ Learn navigation classes like UINavigationControll and 
UIBarButtonItem. 

Suggested Electives  ➔ AutoLayout 

 

   

 
 

TERM 2 

Project 4: On the Map  

You will create an app with a map that shows information posted by other students. The map will contain 
pins that show the location where other students have reported studying. By tapping on the pin users can 
see a URL for something the student finds interesting. The user will be able to add their own data by posting 
a string that can be reverse geocoded to a location, and a URL. 

Supporting Lesson Content: Network Requests and GCD 

Lesson Title  Learning Outcomes 

Making a Network  ➔ Express the flow of data from a client to a server when a client 
Request  makes an HTTP request 
➔ Create a network request in Swift and receive and consume a 
data response 
➔ Switch execution from a background thread to a (main) 
foreground thread to avoid blocking an app’s UI 
➔ Abide by Apple’s App Transport Security protocol to ensure 
user safety when access data over a network 
➔ Download and display an image using a simple network request 

Using Web Services  ➔ Make requests to a web service (API) using documented 
and APIs  endpoints and parameters 
➔ Make a GET request to access data stored on a remote server 
➔ Use a web service to download JSON data 
➔ Convert raw byte data into JSON-like data that can be 
consumed by an app 

Problem Set: JSON  ➔ Extract values from JSON objects and arrays 
Parsing  ➔ Access data from a locally defined JSON file 

Chaining  ➔ Perform multiple network requests in sequence using callbacks 

Asynchronous  and closures 
Requests 

Authenticating  ➔ Perform an authorization flow that mimics OAuth 

Requests  ➔ Authenticate a network request using tokens 
➔ Secure network requests by ensuring the use of HTTPS 
➔ Make a HTTP POST request to modify data stored by a remote 
server 

Improving Networking  ➔ Refactor an existing application to separate network 

with MVC  functionality into its correct role within the MVC design pattern 
➔ Create a usable interface that controllers can use to make 
network requests 

 
 

Closures Reloaded  ➔ Create closures by assigning functions to a constant or variable 

➔ Specify closure (function) types for use as values and 
parameters 
➔ Define functions which accept closure parameters 
➔ Use type aliasing to simplify the use of complex types 
➔ Define and use functions within functions 

GCD and Queues  ➔ Define and utilize queues for grouping related processes 
➔ Run code asynchronously using Grand Central Dispatch 
➔ Avoid common pitfalls by ensuring the use of the main thread 
for situations involving UIKit and CoreData 

Backgrounding  ➔ Download large files from the network synchronously. 

Lengthy Tasks  ➔ Download large files from the network asynchronously. 
➔ Use completion handlers to update the user interface after a 
network request. 

Suggested Electives   ➔ iOS Debugging 

Project 5: Virtual Tourist   

You will create an app that downloads and stores images from Flickr. The app will allow users to drop pins 
on a map, as if they were stops on a tour. Users will then be able to download pictures for the location and 
persist both the pictures, and the association of the pictures with the pin. 

Supporting Lesson Content: Data Persistence 

Lesson Title  Learning Outcomes 

Simple Persistence  ➔ Learn about simple persistence and how to save small pieces of
data.
➔ How to set user preferences, using NSUserDefaults.
➔ Practice setting simple preferences to an existing app.

iOS File System and  ➔ Learn about the iOS File System, the “sandbox”.
Sandboxing  ➔ See how to access these files using NSFileManager.
➔ Use the file manager to save and read a file.

Introducing Core Data  ➔ Meet Core Data, Apple’s framework for managing the data layer.
➔ Explore what a data layer is.
➔ Convert a non-Core Data note-taking app to have a Core Data
model.

 
 

The Core Data Stack  ➔ Set up the classes we need to get Core Data up and running.
  ➔ Use the stack to manage model object creation and deletion.
➔ Persist changes so that data stays put when you restart the app or
device.

Simpler Code with  ➔ Enable user interfaces to reactively update whenever the model
Core Data  changes.
➔ Set up an NSFetchedResultsController to observe data changes
and notify the UI.
➔ Modify a table view to work with a fetched results controller as its
data source.
➔ Turn on caching to reduce how often apps ask the store for data.

Rounding Out Core  ➔ Update the data model and safely migrate user data between
Data  versions.
➔ Work with multiple managed object contexts for different types of
tasks.
➔ Keep the user interface responsive by sending lengthy tasks to a
background queue.

Selective Electives   ➔ Objective-C for Swift Developers

◆ Project 0-C: Interoperability Problem Set (Optional)
➔ Firebase in a Weekend
➔ Firebase Analytics

Project 6: You Decide!  

This is your chance to let your iOS Developer skills shine! For this final project, you'll design your own iOS 
app, taking the design from drawing board to App Store. 

Supporting Lesson Content: Final Project 

Lesson Title  Learning Outcomes 

Research  ➔ Brainstorm app ideas and decide on an app and feature

list that is realistic and exciting
➔ Sketch UI storyboards and outline expected app use cases
and flows
➔ Research and experiment with APIs, web services, and
libraries that could be useful for an app idea

 
 

Build  ➔ Adhere to a proven development process to create quality

iPhone and iPad apps.
➔ Build an app and collect user feedback
➔ Fix crashes and bugs to improve the quality of an app

Reflect  ➔ Reflect on development, what has been learned, and what

should change for future development
➔ Monitor App Store feedback

Selective Electives   ➔ Technical Interview Prep

➔ Mobile Design Patterns