kickstarter/ios-oss

★ 8,650SwiftAudience · developerComplexity · 3/5LicenseSetup · moderate

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((kickstarter-ios))
    Purpose
      Production iOS app
      Educational resource
      Open source reference
    Architecture
      ReactiveSwift
      Functional reactive
      Pure view models
    Testing
      600 snapshot tests
      Visual regression
      Multi-language checks
    Dependencies
      Stripe payments
      Apollo GraphQL
      Firebase analytics

mindmap root((kickstarter-ios)) Purpose Production iOS app Educational resource Open source reference Architecture ReactiveSwift Functional reactive Pure view models Testing 600 snapshot tests Visual regression Multi-language checks Dependencies Stripe payments Apollo GraphQL Firebase analytics

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Things people build with this

USE CASE 1

Study how Kickstarter structures a large production iOS app to improve your own app architecture

USE CASE 2

Learn how to implement visual regression testing using nearly 600 snapshot screenshots across languages and device sizes

USE CASE 3

See a real-world example of functional reactive programming with ReactiveSwift in a shipped production app

USE CASE 4

Run the Kickstarter app locally in mock data mode without a real account to explore and learn from the codebase

Tech stack

SwiftXcodeReactiveSwiftReactiveCocoaApolloGraphQLFirebaseStripe

Getting it running

Difficulty · moderate Time to first run · 1h+

Requires Xcode, a mock data mode is available so no real Kickstarter account or API credentials are needed to run the app locally.

Use and modify freely including in commercial projects, as long as you include the Apache 2.0 license and notice files.

In plain English

This is the full source code for the official Kickstarter iPhone and iPad app, published publicly by Kickstarter. Kickstarter is a crowdfunding platform where creators launch projects and backers pledge money to bring them to life. The iOS app is what people use on their phones to browse campaigns, back projects, and manage their pledges. Kickstarter also open-sourced their Android app in the same spirit. The README frames the repository as an educational resource rather than a project inviting feature contributions. Kickstarter's iOS team wanted to share how they build a real production app, including the good decisions and the mistakes. The primary audience is iOS developers who want to see how a mature, widely-used app is structured and tested. One of the most notable things highlighted in the README is the testing approach. The project contains nearly 600 snapshot screenshots that capture how specific screens look across different languages, device sizes, and edge-case states. If a code change accidentally alters how the Japanese-language project page looks on an iPad, the automated test suite catches it by comparing against the stored screenshot. This kind of visual regression testing is not common in open-source iOS projects. Architecturally, the app uses a functional reactive programming style through two libraries: ReactiveSwift and ReactiveCocoa. The view model layer, which sits between data and the visual interface, is written as pure functions that map input signals (user taps, network responses) to output signals (what the screen should show). This makes the logic straightforward to test without needing to simulate a real device. Dependencies include Stripe for payment processing, Apollo for fetching data via GraphQL, Firebase for analytics and push notifications, and Kingfisher for loading images. The project builds with Xcode and Swift, and a mock data mode can be enabled so the app runs without needing a real Kickstarter account or API connection. The license is Apache 2.0.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1

Show me how the Kickstarter iOS app uses ReactiveSwift view models to map user tap input signals to screen state output signals without side effects.

Prompt 2

How does the Kickstarter iOS app set up snapshot testing to catch visual regressions, and how do I add a new snapshot test for a screen I'm building?

Prompt 3

Using the Kickstarter iOS project as a reference, how do I structure a ReactiveSwift view model that combines a network request result with a local cache value?

Prompt 4

How do I enable mock data mode in the Kickstarter iOS open source app so I can run it in the simulator without a real Kickstarter account or API key?

Prompt 5

Walk me through how Apollo and GraphQL are used in the Kickstarter iOS app to fetch project data from the API.

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