It is not casting, it is creating a string from a value with a format.
let a: Double = 1.5
let b: String = String(format: "%f", a)
print("b: \(b)") // b: 1.500000
With a different format:
let c: String = String(format: "%.1f", a)
print("c: \(c)") // c: 1.5
You can also omit the format
property if no formatting is needed.