I think this decision needs to be taken on a case by case basis, instead of a universal answer. You need to evaluate the lifecycle of the project. If this project is going to be around for only 1 year (like a game or marketing campaign that quickly ramps up and then dies down), you're better off getting it done in Objective C. The client will be happier given their familiarity with Objective C, and you'll have an easier time explaining it to their in-house team.<p>However, if this is longer term bet like an app that's going to be in use after 3-5 years, you should have a honest discussion with the client about considering Swift. While Objective C is more well understood and supported right now, that might not be the case in 3-5 years. Most Apple developers would rather be writing Swift code in that timeframe, and any ObjC code will be perceived as "legacy", difficult to debug, and abandoned code that no one likes to touch.<p>I've worked on many iOS projects like this, which contain pre-ARC code, which no one likes to go near. Bugs in that code tend to be ignored and entire features are left to rust because the source code is so dated that it's better to leave it alone than risk breaking anything by modifying it. If this project could end up in that state, it's better to be future-proof and start with Swift. However, if it's a short term app, choose the path of least resistance, which seems to be Objective C at the moment.