What's the usual cost for a basic Swift iOS app? Would it be profitable for me to learn and sell simple apps as a freelancer? (I'm a junior in college)

Ya it would be. It would be even more profitable to show the apps you made to your future employer, who will employ you for writing swift. Which is typically a higher paying job since less programmers know swift.

IMO your looking at 80k-110k right out of school.

I know the question was geared towards freelancing. And ya you can make some money. But you'll deal with annoying clients and a ton of other muck. You'll be programming less and managing the client more.

Freelance is great for experience, but for a young person I would recommend getting involved in a prestigious company early on. And it'll be easy for you to find one if you have 2-3 apps and know swift. IMO.

@champion01 first of all, thank you for your thoughtful input. the reason is I never really bothered to learn a language to its fullest. Java is my most proficient but I stopped with what I learned at school because everyone makes it seem like its a bad language and it made me drift away from it before I could go pro. I decided to learn one from scratch and stick with it so swift is ideal. I also hear its more readable. Just waiting on that new MacBook Pro so I can get straight to it.

I've read that only a few percentage of the apps available actually earn real money. The others gets lost in cyber space.

It could be very profitable if you have a good idea that helps people, entertains people or alleviates pain. If that is the case and you reach your audience you can make money. Even if you do not make money it can still be a great learning experience. Thoughts?

@jdmkaan I'm a .net dev which is like a sister language to Java. People may have opinions about Java being "bad" or difficult to manager versions, etc. and they may be right. But TONS and TONS of companies use Java, it's not going anywhere. Probably more companies use it that .net. And typically Java Devs are paid very well.

@jdmkaan swift is great too! Long story short, become an expert in any language and you'll be smooth sailing. Just never stop learning

@Jumpshot44 you're 100% right!

@champion01 exactly what I was thinking!