Use Supabase with iOS and SwiftUI
Learn how to create a Supabase project, add some sample data to your database, and query the data from an iOS app.
1. Create a Supabase project#
Before you can use Supabase, you need a Supabase project. You can create a project visually in the Dashboard or programmatically using the Management API.
Create a new Supabase project from the Dashboard of any organization you belong to.
You can also use database.new to create a new Supabase project.
2. Set up your database#
When your Supabase project is up and running, create an instruments table with some sample data.
Then set a secure baseline by setting only the privileges each Postgres role needs, add Row Level Security (RLS) for enhanced security for database data by default, and create an RLS policy to make the data in your table publicly readable.
You can click this button to prefill all the SQL needed in the SQL editor of your project in the Dashboard.
Prefill SQLIf you disabled the Data API during project setup, enable it in the Integrations > Data API section of the Dashboard and expose the specific tables or functions you want to access. To automatically grant access for new tables and functions in public, enable Automatically expose new tables.
3. Create an iOS SwiftUI app with Xcode#
Select the Xcode > New Project > iOS > App menu item.
4. Install the Supabase client library#
Add the supabase-swift package to your app using the Swift Package Manager.
In Xcode, navigate to File > Add Package Dependencies... and enter the repository URL https://github.com/supabase/supabase-swift in the search bar. For detailed instructions, see Apple's tutorial on adding package dependencies.
Make sure to add Supabase product package as a dependency to your application target.
Get API details#
To interact with data in database tables, you use the client libraries that wrap the auto-generated Data API endpoints, authenticating using the Project URL and key from the project Connect dialog.
Project URL
Publishable key
Read the API keys docs for a full explanation of all key types, their uses, and where to find them.
5. Initialize the Supabase client#
Create a new Supabase.swift file add a new Supabase instance using your project URL and publishable key, which you can get from the helper above, or from the project Connect panel:
Supabase.swift
1import Supabase23let supabase = SupabaseClient(4 supabaseURL: URL(string: "YOUR_SUPABASE_URL")!,5 supabaseKey: "YOUR_SUPABASE_PUBLISHABLE_KEY"6)6. Create a data model for instruments#
Create a decodable struct to deserialize the data from the database.
Add the following code to a new file named Instrument.swift.
Instrument.swift
1struct Instrument: Decodable, Identifiable {2 let id: Int3 let name: String4}7. Query data from the app#
Use a task to fetch the data from the database and display it using a List.
Replace the default ContentView with the following code.
ContentView.swift
1import SwiftUI23struct ContentView: View {45 @State var instruments: [Instrument] = []67 var body: some View {8 List(instruments) { instrument in9 Text(instrument.name)10 }11 .overlay {12 if instruments.isEmpty {13 ProgressView()14 }15 }16 .task {17 do {18 instruments = try await supabase.from("instruments").select().execute().value19 } catch {20 dump(error)21 }22 }23 }24}8. Start the app#
Run the app on a simulator or a physical device by hitting Cmd + R on Xcode.
Setting up deep links#
If you want to implement authentication features like magic links or OAuth, you need to set up deep links to redirect users back to your app. For instructions on configuring custom URL schemes for your iOS app, see the deep linking guide.
Next steps#
- Learn how to build a complete user management app with authentication in the Swift tutorial
- Explore the supabase-swift library on GitHub