Apple has open-sourced its Swift programming language, which is used to build apps for iPhone, iPad and Mac, Digital Spy reports.

The full package - released under an Apache 2 open source license, meaning anyone can use and modify the code - includes compilers and package managers, Swift software libraries, tutorials and documentation.

The code has been uploaded to GitHub. Apple will run the new open source project from Swift.org.

It's a significant move away from Apple's usual tightly-controlled approach over its products.

Senior vice president of software engineering Craig Federighi promised earlier this year that the next version of Swift would be open-sourced.

"By making Swift open source the entire developer community can contribute to the programming language and help bring it to even more platforms," Federighi said in a new press statement.

"Swift's power and ease of use will inspire a new generation to get into coding, and with today's announcement they'll be able to take their ideas anywhere, from mobile devices to the cloud."