JetBrains drops Swift editing from its Kotlin Multiplatform plugin

JetBrains drops Swift editing from its Kotlin Multiplatform plugin

5 October 2026: JetBrains is removing Swift language features from the Kotlin Multiplatform (KMP) plugin, starting with IntelliJ IDEA 2026.3 and Android Studio Rabbit 2 (2026.2.2). Editing, syntax highlighting and navigation inside Swift files, and between Swift and Kotlin, will go. The company says it does not plan to replace them.

Not yet independently verified. Single source: the JetBrains Kotlin blog. The usage figures behind the decision are not published. We will update this when it can be confirmed, and remove this note.

Several things are unaffected, according to the announcement by Anton Makeev of the Kotlin team: running iOS applications and debugging Kotlin code on iOS stay fully supported, and so do Kotlin/Native features such as Swift Export and importing Swift packages into Kotlin projects. Teams that want the Swift features can keep using earlier versions of IntelliJ IDEA, Android Studio and the plugin, though those versions will receive no further updates.

JetBrains explains the decision with usage and cost. The Swift tooling was originally built for AppCode, the company's iOS IDE that it has since discontinued, then adapted for Fleet and finally for mixed Kotlin and Swift codebases in the KMP plugin. Telemetry and user research showed, in the company's words, that active usage was limited and steadily declining, and that most iOS developers on KMP projects prefer Xcode for Swift. Keeping the code compatible with continuous changes in Swift, Xcode and the IntelliJ Platform needs substantial ongoing effort, which JetBrains judged not worth the engineering investment.

JetBrains says it will keep evaluating workflows and concentrate on Kotlin tooling in IntelliJ IDEA and Android Studio, and on the KMP experience for iOS developers.

For teams that edit Swift and Kotlin side by side in one IDE window, the practical consequence is a split workflow: Swift in Xcode, Kotlin in the JetBrains IDE. Anyone planning an IDE upgrade to 2026.3 should check whether their mixed-language projects depend on cross-language navigation before moving.

Company profile on TrustList: JetBrains

Sources

• JetBrains Kotlin Blog: Discontinuing Swift Language IDE Support in the Kotlin Multiplatform Plugin, 5 October 2026