Do I Need a Degree to Be an iOS Developer?

While many iOS Developers have an educational background in computer science, software engineering, or mathematics, that is far from a hard-and-fast rule. Many iOS Developers have never studied with a career in development specifically in mind—and in fact, most of them didn’t even start their careers in development. According to BrainStation’s 2020 Digital Skills Survey, over half of all iOS Developers began working in a field other than iOS development before transitioning into it.

What this tells us is that a bachelor’s degree or higher in a directly related field like computer science, while certainly helpful, is actually secondary to the skills specific to iOS development. And these skills are often acquired mid-career. In some cases, this is a natural result of the fact that, since technology is always changing, people working in programming or related fields are constantly upgrading and expanding their skills anyway. In other cases, it’s the result of a conscious effort to switch tracks from a related field—or even an unrelated industry—later in life.

In the absence of a degree, the best way to gain a foothold as an iOS Developer is to demonstrate that you have all the requisite skills to do the job—and the best way to do that is to simply begin doing it. Attending courses designed specifically to build out an iOS Developer’s skill set will get you started on projects that show off what you’ve learned to potential hirers. From there, you can continue building more complex projects or even a full app, either as a Junior iOS Developer or on your own time.