Google releases Swift client libraries for its cloud services
Google has released Google Cloud API Client Libraries for Swift, marking a significant milestone for a programming language long perceived as Apple's client-side tool. This indicates that Swift, after years of struggled attempts to establish itself on the server side, is finally gaining traction as a viable backend language. Google's move reflects Swift 6's maturation, particularly its compile-time data race safety and concurrent programming features, which make it well-suited for building cloud infrastructure and microservices.
Swift's path to server adoption has been lengthy and marked by setbacks. Apple open-sourced the language in 2015, and whilst it peaked at 9th place in TIOBE's popularity rankings in January 2020, it currently ranks 18th (or 20th according to Stack Overflow's 2025 survey). Early backend initiatives by IBM and Amazon yielded limited results, but the Swift Server Workgroup's continued development and Swift 6's data race safety improvements have revived interest. Google's new libraries support Swift 6.2+ and leverage features such as SwiftNIO's asynchronous event loops and gRPC transport, positioning the language as both approachable for developers and suitable for low-level resource control.
- Google launches Cloud API libraries for Swift after over a decade of backend struggles.
- Swift 6's data race safety makes it competitive with Rust and C++.
- Despite ranking 18th, Swift gains credibility through major cloud platform backing.
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Swift is a programming language created by Apple primarily for building applications on iPhones and other Apple devices. For several years, developers and major technology companies have attempted to use Swift for server-side software—programmes that run on powerful computers in remote data centres—but these efforts have largely failed to gain significant traction.
Google's decision to provide tools that allow developers to use Swift with its cloud computing services represents a significant shift for the language. The move indicates that major technology companies now view Swift as practical for building server infrastructure, moving the language beyond its origins as a tool for Apple's devices.
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Google's support represents a genuine milestone because Swift 6 has finally addressed the concurrency and safety issues that undermined earlier server attempts. Major cloud provider backing provides the ecosystem foundation necessary for mainstream adoption, and this institutional endorsement combined with genuine language improvements creates momentum that previous initiatives lacked. This could position Swift as a viable production choice for backends where concurrency and safety matter most.
The case against
Whilst Google's libraries are welcome, this overstates the breakthrough. Swift's popularity has declined—from 9th to 18th place—despite years of vendor support from IBM and Amazon, and one library release doesn't overcome the competitive depth of Python, Go, and Rust. This represents encouraging progress, but incremental rather than transformative development.
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Originally published by The Register as “Google hearts Apple’s Swift so much it’s pumping out server-side support”.