Add Swift bindings and sample apps by tsvvladimir · Pull Request #834 · brainflow-dev/brainflow

tsvvladimir · 2026-05-18T08:09:26Z

Summary

Add a Swift Package Manager package with Swift bindings for BoardShim, DataFilter, MLModel, BrainFlow params, errors, enums, and runtime native-library loading.
Add Swift tests and examples modeled after existing BrainFlow binding examples, including synthetic board data, markers, file IO, downsampling, transforms, filtering, denoising, band powers, ICA, and MLModel prediction.
Add Swift CLI, macOS SwiftUI demo, iOS/macOS sample app assets under swift_package/examples/apps, App Store readiness notes, docs, and macOS CI coverage for Swift build/test/CLI/examples.

Verification

python3 tools/build.py --clear-build-dir --num-jobs 4 --no-synchroni --no-bluetooth --no-ble --no-tests --cmake-osx-architectures arm64
env BRAINFLOW_LIB_DIR=../installed/lib swift build
env BRAINFLOW_LIB_DIR=../installed/lib swift test
all Swift example products with env BRAINFLOW_LIB_DIR=../installed/lib swift run <example>
env BRAINFLOW_LIB_DIR=../installed/lib swift run brainflow-swift-cli
xcodebuild -quiet -project swift_package/examples/apps/ios/BrainFlowiOSDemo/BrainFlowiOSDemo.xcodeproj -scheme BrainFlowiOSDemo -configuration Debug -destination id=22FB561A-9754-45E2-92CF-D16F1F84FAC4 -derivedDataPath /private/tmp/brainflow-ios-derived-review build
iOS simulator autorun on iPhone 17 Pro reported Rows: 32, Samples: 533 and rendered EEG plot
make html SPHINXBUILD=/private/tmp/brainflow-docs-venv-20260518/bin/sphinx-build
git diff --check
macOS SwiftUI demo launched with synthetic board and reported Rows: 32, Samples: 521

Notes

Swift package loading uses dlopen and does not vendor native binaries; native BrainFlow libraries must be built separately and placed in BRAINFLOW_LIB_DIR, system library paths, installed/lib, or an app bundle resource/framework directory.
iOS/App Store runtime support requires target-specific BrainFlow native libraries or XCFrameworks embedded and signed in the app bundle.
App Store submission still needs production bundle IDs, signing/provisioning, screenshots, icons, and App Store Connect records.

Andrey1994

wrote some comments, but looks good overall, main concern is about packaging

Andrey1994 · 2026-05-19T23:12:05Z

+      if: (matrix.os == 'macos-14')
+      run: |
+        cd $GITHUB_WORKSPACE/swift_package
+        BRAINFLOW_LIB_DIR=$GITHUB_WORKSPACE/installed/lib swift run brainflow-swift-cli


add all examples to CI as in brainflow dosc https://brainflow.readthedocs.io/en/stable/Examples.html#python

Addressed in c030c76. I added all documented Swift examples as SwiftPM executable products and added a macOS CI step that runs them all with BRAINFLOW_LIB_DIR=$GITHUB_WORKSPACE/installed/lib swift run <example>.

Andrey1994 · 2026-05-19T23:13:01Z

@@ -1,4 +1,9 @@
 sphinx==4.0.2
+sphinxcontrib-applehelp==1.0.2


why is it needed? doesnt look relevant to the binding

Andrey1994 · 2026-05-19T23:15:48Z

+
+        stopStream()
+        readData()
+        let rows = rowCount


for demo app for ias lets add a plot for eeg channels, also keep it under swift_package folder, dont add it to the root folder.
So folder structure will be like:

swift_package
- brainflow
- examples

Andrey1994 · 2026-05-19T23:17:00Z

+
+    private func startStream() {
+        do {
+            let board = try BoardShim(board_id: BoardIds.SYNTHETIC_BOARD)


make it possible to use non synthetic board, devices we care about are Muse boards(no BLED dongle but native BLE boards should work)

Andrey1994 · 2026-05-19T23:17:45Z

@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+# BrainFlow iOS Demo
+


dont create folders like samples in the root folder. Instructions to build and use the binding should be in Docs

Andrey1994 · 2026-05-19T23:20:05Z

+import BrainFlow
+
+let data = Array(0..<256).map { sin(Double($0) / 10.0) }
+let psd = try DataFilter.get_psd(data: data, start_pos: 0, end_pos: data.count, sampling_rate: 250, window: WindowOperations.HANNING.rawValue)


dont use synathetic data like this, get it from synthetic board instead. Check how code samples referenced from docs are structured and make it the same way for consistency. Update docs to include swift binding code samples

Andrey1994 · 2026-05-19T23:20:47Z

@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+import BrainFlow
+
+var data = Array(0..<256).map { sin(Double($0) / 10.0) }


same here and for all other examples

Andrey1994 · 2026-05-19T23:20:55Z

@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+import BrainFlow
+
+let data = Array(0..<256).map(Double.init)


Andrey1994 · 2026-05-19T23:25:43Z

+    init(names: [String]) throws {
+        var errors = [String]()
+        for path in Self.candidatePaths(for: names) {
+            if let handle = dlopen(path, Self.openFlags) {


its good, I like dlopen approach like in other bindings, but how does packaging work? native libs should be installed and compiled separately? Did you find a way to add them to the package like we do in jar and whl? How will it work for ios and publishing to appstore?

Andrey1994 · 2026-05-20T08:13:04Z

Addressed the review feedback in c030c76:

Removed the unrelated docs/requirements.txt dependency additions.
Moved iOS/macOS sample app files from root samples/ into swift_package/examples/apps/... and updated docs accordingly.
Added all documented Swift examples as SwiftPM executable products and added a macOS CI step to run them all.
Reworked Swift signal-processing examples to read real data from BoardShim synthetic board instead of local generated arrays.
Added shared Swift example support for synthetic-board reads.
Updated docs to include Swift example run instructions and native-library packaging behavior.
Expanded the iOS demo with Muse/native BLE board selection fields and a live EEG channel plot from BrainFlow data.
Clarified iOS/App Store packaging: Swift package does not vendor native binaries; apps must embed/sign target-specific libBoardController, libDataHandler, and libMLModule libraries or XCFrameworks.

Local verification:

env BRAINFLOW_LIB_DIR=../installed/lib swift build
env BRAINFLOW_LIB_DIR=../installed/lib swift test
all Swift example products via swift run
env BRAINFLOW_LIB_DIR=../installed/lib swift run brainflow-swift-cli
iOS Xcode simulator build and autorun on iPhone 17 Pro simulator, showing 32 rows / 533 samples and EEG plot
docs build with make html SPHINXBUILD=/private/tmp/brainflow-docs-venv-20260518/bin/sphinx-build
git diff --check

tsvvladimir · 2026-05-20T18:48:28Z

Clarification: the previous review-response comment was accidentally posted through a GitHub connector authenticated as Andrey1994. This follow-up is posted from tsvvladimir. The branch and commits are from tsvvladimir; the review fixes are in c030c762 on feature-swift-bindings. Summary: Swift examples were added to CI, app samples were moved under swift_package/examples/apps, synthetic generated arrays were replaced with synthetic-board reads, the iOS demo now has Muse/native BLE options plus an EEG plot, unrelated docs dependency changes were removed, and packaging/App Store notes were clarified.

tsvvladimir added 2 commits May 18, 2026 09:56

Add Swift bindings and sample apps

569e4a6

Add Xcode iOS demo project

4737a13

Andrey1994 reviewed May 19, 2026

View reviewed changes

Address Swift binding review feedback

c030c76

Harden Swift binding validation

bd09a7d

		@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
		import BrainFlow

		var data = Array(0..<256).map { sin(Double($0) / 10.0) }

		@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
		import BrainFlow

		let data = Array(0..<256).map(Double.init)

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tsvvladimir commented May 18, 2026 • edited by Andrey1994 Loading Uh oh! There was an error while loading. Please reload this page.

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Andrey1994 commented May 20, 2026

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tsvvladimir commented May 20, 2026

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tsvvladimir commented May 18, 2026 •

edited by Andrey1994

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