Swift 6.2 Approachable Concurrency Guide

Expert guidance on Swift's concurrency system for iOS 26+ apps.

Core Mental Model: The Office Building

Think of your app as an office building where isolation domains are private offices with locks:

• MainActor = Front desk (handles all UI interactions, only one exists)
• actor types = Department offices (each protects its own data)
• nonisolated code = Hallways (shared space, no private documents)
• Sendable types = Photocopies (safe to share between offices)
• Non-Sendable types = Original documents (must stay in one office)

You can't barge into someone's office. You knock (await) and wait.

The Core Shift: "Stay on the Caller"

Swift 6.0: Non-isolated async functions ran on the global background executor. Swift 6.2: Non-isolated async functions inherit the caller's isolation by default.

// Swift 6.0 - needed manual MainActor.run
func loadData() async {
    let result = await fetchData()
    await MainActor.run { self.items = result }  // Required!
}

// Swift 6.2 - stays on caller
func loadData() async {
    let result = await fetchData()
    self.items = result  // Safe! Inherits MainActor from caller
}

Async/Await

An async function can pause. Use await to suspend until work finishes. For parallel work, use async let:

async let avatar = fetchImage("avatar.jpg")
async let banner = fetchImage("banner.jpg")
return Profile(avatar: try await avatar, banner: try await banner)

Tasks: Managed vs Unmanaged

⚠️ Unmanaged Tasks Are an Anti-Pattern

Tasks created with Task { } or Task.detached { } are unmanaged — you can't cancel them, know when they finish, or access results.

// ❌ BAD - unmanaged
Task { await fetchUsers() }

// ✅ GOOD - SwiftUI managed, auto-cancels
.task { avatar = await downloadAvatar() }

// ✅ GOOD - restarts when ID changes
.task(id: userID) { avatar = await downloadAvatar(for: userID) }

// ✅ GOOD - structured parallel work
async let users = fetchUsers()
async let posts = fetchPosts()
let (u, p) = await (users, posts)

// ✅ GOOD - dynamic parallel work
try await withThrowingTaskGroup(of: Void.self) { group in
    group.addTask { avatar = try await downloadAvatar() }
    group.addTask { bio = try await fetchBio() }
}

When Task { } is acceptable: Button taps where .task(id:) is impractical.

Isolation Domains

Swift asks "who can access this data?" not "which thread?".

MainActor

For UI. Everything UI-related should be here:

@MainActor
class ViewModel: ObservableObject {
    @Published var items: [Item] = []
}

Actors

Protect their own mutable state with exclusive access:

actor BankAccount {
    var balance: Double = 0
    func deposit(_ amount: Double) { balance += amount }
}
await account.deposit(100)  // Must await from outside

When to create an actor (Matt Massicotte's rule):

1. You have non-Sendable state
2. Operations must be atomic
3. Those operations can't run on an existing actor

If you can't justify all three → use @MainActor instead.

Nonisolated

Opts out of actor isolation. Cannot access actor's protected state:

actor BankAccount {
    nonisolated func bankName() -> String { "Acme Bank" }
}

Isolation Inheritance

With Approachable Concurrency, isolation flows from MainActor through your code:

• Functions: Inherit caller's isolation unless explicitly marked
• Closures: Inherit from context where defined
• Task { }: Inherits actor isolation from creation site
• Task.detached { }: No inheritance (avoid it)

Build Settings

| Setting | Swift 5 Mode | Swift 6 Mode | |---------|--------------|--------------| | Language Version | Swift 5 | Swift 6 | | Strict Concurrency | Complete | (default) | | Approachable Concurrency | Yes | Yes | | Default Actor Isolation | MainActor | MainActor |

Swift 5: Concurrency issues are warnings (gradual migration). Swift 6: Concurrency issues are errors (full safety).

For detailed migration steps, see references/migration-checklist.md.

New Keywords (iOS 26 / Swift 6.2)

@concurrent           // Force background execution
func heavyWork() async -> Result { }

sending               // Transfer non-Sendable safely  
func create() async -> sending NonSendableType { }

nonisolated(nonsending)  // Inherit caller isolation (now default)

Task(name: "debug-id")   // Named tasks for debugging

Sendable

Marks types safe to pass across isolation boundaries.

Automatically Sendable: Structs/enums with Sendable properties, Actors, @MainActor types.

// ✅ Sendable - value type
struct User: Sendable { let id: Int; let name: String }

// ❌ Non-Sendable - mutable class
class Counter { var count = 0 }

// ⚠️ Use sparingly - compiler won't verify
final class ThreadSafeCache: @unchecked Sendable { }

Common Patterns

@MainActor
final class PhotoViewModel: ObservableObject {
    @Published var photos: [Photo] = []
    
    func loadPhotos() async {
        let data = await networkService.fetchPhotos()
        let processed = await processPhotos(data)
        photos = processed
    }
}

@concurrent
private func processPhotos(_ data: [Data]) async -> [Photo] {
    data.compactMap { Photo(data: $0) }
}

Common Mistakes

For detailed error messages and fixes, see references/troubleshooting.md.

| Mistake | Fix | |---------|-----| | Thinking async = background | Use @concurrent for CPU-heavy work | | Creating too many actors | Use @MainActor unless you need isolated state | | Unnecessary MainActor.run | Annotate function with @MainActor instead | | Blocking cooperative pool | Never use DispatchSemaphore.wait() in async code | | Unmanaged Task { } | Use .task, async let, or TaskGroup | | Overusing @unchecked Sendable | Use sending or make properly Sendable |

Quick Reference

| Keyword | Purpose | |---------|---------| | async / await | Pause and resume | | .task { } | SwiftUI managed, auto-cancels | | async let | Parallel work | | TaskGroup | Dynamic parallel work | | @MainActor | Main thread isolation | | actor | Custom isolation domain | | nonisolated | Opt out of isolation | | Sendable | Safe to cross boundaries | | @concurrent | Force background (Swift 6.2) | | sending | Transfer non-Sendable (Swift 6.2) |

When the Compiler Complains

Trace the isolation:

1. Where did the isolation come from?
2. Where is the code trying to run?
3. What data is crossing a boundary?

Skill References

• references/migration-checklist.md - Step-by-step migration guide
• references/migration-examples.md - Before/after code examples
• references/troubleshooting.md - Common errors and fixes

External References

• Fucking Approachable Swift Concurrency - Mental models
• Matt Massicotte's Blog - Deep expertise
• Swift Concurrency Docs

Swift Evolution Proposals

• SE-0461 - Async function isolation
• SE-0430 - sending parameters
• SE-0466 - Default MainActor inference
• SE-0470 - Isolated conformances