How to convert string to unicode(UTF-8) string in Swift?

Question

How to convert string to unicode(UTF-8) string in Swift?

In Objective I could write smth like that:

NSString *str = [[NSString alloc] initWithUTF8String:[strToDecode cStringUsingEncoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding]];

how to do smth similar in Swift?

Answer 1

Swift 4:

let str = String(describing: strToDecode.cString(using: String.Encoding.utf8))

Answer 2

Swift 4 and 5 I have created a String extension

extension String {
    func utf8DecodedString()-> String {
        let data = self.data(using: .utf8)
        let message = String(data: data!, encoding: .nonLossyASCII) ?? ""
        return message
    }
    
    func utf8EncodedString()-> String {
        let messageData = self.data(using: .nonLossyASCII)
        let text = String(data: messageData!, encoding: .utf8) ?? ""
        return text
    }
}