When you've built a successful Android app, the next logical step is often to bring it to iOS. With over 1.5 billion iPhone users worldwide, ignoring iOS means leaving a massive — and often more profitable — audience on the table.

The Traditional Approach: Full Rewrite

Historically, converting an Android app to iOS meant a complete rewrite. Your Kotlin or Java code would be manually translated to Swift or Objective-C. XML layouts become SwiftUI views. Room databases become CoreData. Every screen, every animation, every edge case — rebuilt from scratch.

A full rewrite typically takes:

3–6 months for a moderate-complexity app

$50,000–$150,000 in development costs

2–3 developers working full-time

And that's before you factor in the six weeks of testing and App Store review.

The Modern Approach: Automated Transpilation

UniversalForge takes a fundamentally different approach. Instead of rewriting, we transpile — converting your compiled Android APK directly into native iOS source code.

Our pipeline works in four stages:

1. **Decompilation** — Your APK's DEX bytecode is decompiled into Java/Kotlin source

2. **Semantic IR** — The source is analyzed and converted into a platform-agnostic Intermediate Representation

3. **Code Generation** — AI models generate Swift/SwiftUI code from the IR, following Apple HIG

4. **Packaging** — An Xcode project is assembled with proper asset catalogs, Info.plist, and entitlements

What Transpiles Well

Most Android apps convert with 90–95% accuracy:

------UI layouts (XML → SwiftUI)95%Business logic (Kotlin → Swift)98%Networking (Retrofit → URLSession)100%Local storage (Room → CoreData)90%Navigation (Jetpack → NavigationStack)92%

What Needs Manual Attention

Some Android-specific features require manual adjustments after conversion:

Google Play Services — Maps, Sign-In, and FCM need their Apple equivalents configured

NDK native code — C/C++ code in JNI must be manually ported

Hardware-specific APIs — NFC, fingerprint, and Bluetooth implementations vary

Cost Comparison

------------Manual rewrite3–6 months$50K–$150K100% nativeUniversalForge3–5 minutesFree tier available90–95%Hybrid (transpile + manual polish)1–3 weeksMinimal98–100%

Getting Started

Ready to convert your Android app to iOS? Upload your APK to UniversalForge and download an Xcode project in minutes. No credit card required.

How to Convert an Android App to iOS: Complete Guide