Swift 6.4 unifies building across Linux, macOS, Windows

The Register

17 Sept 2026 14:27 AEST 1 min read Rewritten in plain language

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Changed after publishing · 1 edit

18 Sept 2026 05:31 AEST the report was edited: 297 words added, 1 removed.

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Overview

Swift Build is now the default engine for the Swift Package Manager.
Tuesday’s Swift 6.4 release continued that work.
With this integration, a developer can run through the entire build process in their own environment, be it Apple’s Xcode IDE or a command line, and all the steps will be exactly the same for a Linux, macOS, or Windows app.
In a way, Swift is following the lead of Rust’s Cargo and Go’s command line, both of which run as unified toolchains, as does Bun for JavaScript.
Most notably, SwiftPM works well with the Swift Package Index, a search service for Swift artifacts created in 2020 and acquired by Apple in June.

5 sentences from our version of the report, chosen to cover it. Nothing here is written; every line is in the article below. How

Summarized version

Sweetening the deal, the integrated package comes with a tool to generate an SBOM for each app, listing all the dependencies in either the SPDX or CycloneDX format (SE-0509). The Swift Package Manager, created by Apple in 2015, is a command line automation and dependency management tool.

Headline check

All two things this headline claims are in the report.

Figures, names and quoted words in the headline, looked for in the report itself — not in the summary above. One figure in this headline has a decimal point in it. We match figures digit for digit against the report, and that comparison is not reliable for decimals, so that one was not checked either way rather than reported as missing. How this is checked

The article, shortened and in plain language

Swift Build is now the default engine for the Swift Package Manager.

Although Swift serves as Apple's primary language for macOS and iOS application development, the open-source community continues to expand its reach—driving its adoption as a multi-platform language or even a cross-platform one in fields beyond user interface design.

Tuesday’s Swift 6.4 release continued that work.

A developer can write a program in Swift and Swift Build will automatically download and install the needed dependencies, testing them for compatibility.

The merger also unifies the Swift developer experience regardless of platform.

With this integration, a developer can run through the entire build process in their own environment, be it Apple’s Xcode IDE or a command line, and all the steps will be exactly the same for a Linux, macOS, or Windows app.

Sweetening the deal, the integrated package comes with a tool to generate an SBOM for each app, listing all the dependencies in either the SPDX or CycloneDX format.

In a way, Swift is following the lead of Rust’s Cargo and Go’s command line, both of which run as unified toolchains, as does Bun for JavaScript.

The Swift Package Manager, created by Apple in 2015, is a command line automation and dependency management tool.

Most notably, SwiftPM works well with the Swift Package Index, a search service for Swift artifacts created in 2020 and acquired by Apple in June.

Shortened to 1 minute of reading, this version reads 11.9 on the Niral Score.

You are reading our version, not theirs. This is The Register's report shortened to its most important sentences, in plainer words, with verdicts and loaded words taken out. Plain description stays, and so do adjectives that carry a fact, such as "former" or "federal". The reporting, the facts and the quotations are theirs — quotations are never edited — and the indicators beside it measure this version. Hover or tap Adjectives to see every one left in the text.

Indicators

Niral Score 12.5was 14 mundaneloaded

Highlighted in the text. Words that carry a fact and quoted words are not counted.

code5command4developer4line4default3macos3module3process3release3repository3run3software3tool3using3well3app2comes2compatibility2created2debugger2debugging2dependencies2dependency2development2engine2entire2integrated2language2platform2testing2unifies2way2work2

Sentiment +0.0 hostilefavourable Mood 45.2 sorrowjoyful

6 read zero: political diction, generational, gender, jingoistic, religious, sourcing

Political diction 0 left-codedright-coded Generational 0 harder on the oldharder on the young Gender 0 no gendered framingframing throughout Jingoistic 0 reports to a readerwrites from a camp Religious 0 not invokedovert Sourcing 0 unattributednamed sources

Measurements of how this article is written, not of whether it is correct. How each one is measured.

Measured on our version above. Struck through: the same measure of The Register’s report as filed. The outlet comparison and the extension show the same pair.

See every word we changed

How this outlet filed it, and how we rewrote it

No other newsroom we read has filed on this event, so there is nothing to compare it with yet.

Outlet	Niral Score	Adjectives	Happiness
The Registeras they published this story	14	14	45.2
Mundane Readneutralized from The Register	12.5	12	45.2

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