Parse Apple SDK: Connect Apple Apps to Parse Server

Connecting Apple Apps to Parse Server

Parse Apple SDK is the Objective-C client library published by the parse-community org that lets iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS apps talk to a Parse Server backend. You install it as a Swift Package by adding the GitHub repository URL in Xcode's Add Packages dialog and choosing which submodules to include, then build against the SDK's public API and guide docs from there.

Core Features of the SDK

• ✓GitHub topics on the repo include parseui alongside sdk and parse-ios, a tag suggesting a related UI-component layer that the README text itself doesn't otherwise describe.
• ✓Covers five Apple targets from one codebase: iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS.
• ✓Ships a public Xcode-compatibility table mapping SDK version ranges to specific Xcode, iOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS releases, from Xcode 13 up through Xcode 26.
• ✓Documents its own Parse Server compatibility: Parse Apple SDK 1.0.0 requires Parse Server 1.0.0 or later.
• ✓Built on the Bolts framework for chaining asynchronous tasks.
• ✓Tested with OCMock, its dependency for unit testing.
• ✓Backed by separate guide and API-reference docs hosted on parseplatform.org instead of only inline README text.
• ✓Tagged cocoapods and hacktoberfest on GitHub, signaling a CocoaPods install path may exist too and that the project accepts Hacktoberfest contributions.

Getting Started with Swift Package Manager

The README documents exactly one installation route: Swift Package Manager. In Xcode, open File > Add Packages, paste in the repository's GitHub URL (https://github.com/parse-community/Parse-SDK-iOS-OSX), confirm to add the package, then pick which submodules you actually want pulled into your target. From there the README sends you to the separate guide and API docs on parseplatform.org instead of walking through first-run code inline. CocoaPods shows up as a GitHub topic on the repo, but the README's own instructions only cover the Swift Package Manager path, so treat any CocoaPods route as not clearly documented here.

Integrating the SDK into Your Project

Beyond adding the package, the README doesn't walk through actual code: no signup call, no query example, no push-notification snippet sits in the README itself. It tells you to read the separate guide at docs.parseplatform.org/ios/guide/ and the API reference at parseplatform.org/Parse-SDK-iOS-OSX/api/ and start building from there. If you're used to SDKs that show a five-line quick start in the README, budget time to read that external guide first, since this repo's README is a pointer to it rather than a substitute for it.

Common Questions

Alternatives

The problem it solves

A team running its own Parse Server instance still needs a client on each Apple platform that talks the same authentication, session, and query semantics without every app reimplementing HTTP calls to the Parse REST API by hand. Parse Apple SDK is the one library the parse-community org publishes to cover that gap across iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS in a single Swift Package, with its own Xcode-version compatibility table so teams know which SDK release lines up with which Xcode and OS combination.

Best use cases

• •Building a cross-Apple-platform client for a Parse Server project, where the same query and session code needs to run on iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS targets.
• •Adding native clients on top of a Parse Server backend you already run, instead of hand-building REST wrappers per platform.
• •Contributing to a hacktoberfest-tagged codebase if you want a real Objective-C and Swift Package project to send patches to.
• •Using the SDK's Bolts-based task chaining for async calls into Parse Server inside an existing Objective-C codebase that already follows that pattern.
• •Checking Xcode-version compatibility before upgrading Xcode, using the README's own table mapping SDK ranges to Xcode 13 through Xcode 26.

Who should try it — and who should skip

Try Parse Apple SDK if you already run a Parse Server backend and want the parse-community org's own Swift Package client instead of hand-rolling REST calls from Swift or Objective-C. Skip it if you don't have a Parse Server instance to talk to, since the SDK is inert without one, or if you want a fully managed backend where you never touch server ops, because Parse Server itself is still something you have to run.

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