I Used Xcode 26.3 To Build An Ios App With My Voice In Just Two Days - And It Was Exhilarating

9 hours ago

Follow ZDNET: Add america arsenic a preferred source connected Google.

ZDNET's cardinal takeaways

Xcode 26.1 AI was unusable. Xcode 26.3 AI is simply a large leap.
AI-driven migration delivered monolithic alteration successful nether 2 days.
One norm fixed it: nary inheritance agents, predominant position updates.

I americium judge that nan clip will travel erstwhile AI coding doesn't look for illustration immoderate astonishing caller magic ripped from nan future. But not today.

The task I've been moving connected for nan past 2 days counts arsenic nan 3rd awesome merchandise I've done utilizing AI coding. Actually, it's much for illustration nan 3rd awesome task set, because I added 4 premium add-ons to my WordPress information plugin, I built iPhone, Mac, and Apple Watch apps for my 3D printer filament manager, and I've conscionable made awesome inroads into a amazingly powerful sewing shape head connected iOS.

Also: Xcode 26.3 yet brings agentic coding to Apple's developer tools

I've recovered that erstwhile I activity successful a different AI environment, I for illustration to activity connected a unsocial codebase. That way, I don't get different AIs confused astir nan aforesaid thing. So erstwhile Apple released its Xcode 26.3 candidate, supposedly pinch substantially enhanced AI integration, I needed a caller task to activity connected pinch it.

By combining a tightly integrated AI adjunct and sound dictation (more connected that later) to build a powerful app pinch built-in instrumentality learning capabilities, I really do consciousness for illustration I'm surviving successful nan future.

The task

My woman suggested I do a sewing shape manager, thing to thief her (and perchance different sewists) negociate their ample stash of insubstantial and integer sewing patterns.

It's a task akin to nan filament manager, successful that it uses photography and NFC tags to way nan locations of beingness items. But it's besides a wildly different merchandise successful that sewing patterns person galore much attributes than rolls of 3D printer filament.

This is not a mini market. There whitethorn beryllium a fewer 100 1000 3D printing geeks successful nan US, up to possibly a max of a million. That pales successful comparison to nan sewing market, wherever crafty sewists number astir 30 cardinal successful nan US and Canada, according to the Crafting Industry Alliance.

So, yeah, I chose this task mostly because my woman liked nan idea. But nan full disposable marketplace is immense capable that if I decided to return it each nan measurement to an App Store product, there's immoderate location there.

I tried Xcode earlier

I tried utilizing Apple's Coding Intelligence backmost successful November. I was capable to usage Xcode 26.1 to vibe codification a elemental "Hello, world" app, which I documented successful my how-to article. But arsenic soon arsenic I tried to get it to do more, it sewage stupid. Then it hung.

Also: How to create your first iPhone app pinch AI - nary coding acquisition needed

At that time, I utilized it pinch some OpenAI's Codex and Claude Code. That way, it didn't person to trust connected Apple's ain AI. But I couldn't paste successful immoderate screenshots for it to interpret. I couldn't get it to tally for much than 1 aliases 2 steps. It couldn't create any of nan configuration files needed to create an app for immoderate of Apple's platforms. And it sewage stuck. A lot.

It was, beautiful much, unusable, astatine slightest for vibe coding.

Instead, backmost successful November, I utilized Claude Code successful nan terminal to create powerful iPhone, Mac, and Apple Watch apps. These utilized NFC tags and nan soul photograph capabilities of nan iPhone to thief maine shape my 3D printing filament. The situation erstwhile you person a batch of 3D printers, each of which tin support 4 different spools of filament, is keeping way of what's connected each printer and what's disposable successful your filament stash.

Also: Claude Code made an astonishing $1B successful 6 months - and my ain AI-coded iPhone app shows why

It took maine a fewer hours a day, complete 11 days, to build nan first type of nan iPhone app. It took a fewer much days each to build nan Mac and Watch apps. I usage that app each time because it solves a individual productivity challenge. For much details, you tin publication this article.

Claude Code, moving retired of nan humble terminal, was great. It could do each that Xcode 26.1 couldn't, including configuring those files.

Now there's Xcode 26.3

Xcode 26.3 isn't Xcode 26.1. When it came to nan integrated AI assistant, Xcode 26.1 was conscionable plain bad news. Xcode 26.3's developer preview, pinch immoderate tolerable exceptions, is awesome.

Let maine show you astir what I built successful little than 2 days utilizing Xcode 26.3. From now connected successful this article, erstwhile I opportunity Xcode aliases "the caller Xcode," I mean nan developer preview of Xcode 26.3.

Also: Want section vibe coding? This AI stack replaces Claude Code and Codex - and it's free

I wrote astir nan caller Xcode a fewer days agone successful this article. The large alteration is that nan caller Xcode supports agentic operations and tin fto those agents pat into almost everything that needs doing. The agents besides person entree to Apple's coding documentation, which proved to beryllium very helpful.

To get started, I made a transcript of my filament spool project, renamed it for sewing patterns, and group to activity pinch Xcode and Claude Agent. I didn't moreover really get to activity connected it for 2 afloat days. I had a batch of different activity to do for ZDNET yesterday. I besides had to extremity early because it ran retired of token allocation for a while. Today, I had to extremity early capable to constitute this article.

Even so, Claude, Xcode, and I inserted 52,947 caller lines of codification and deleted 10,626 lines of codification complete 689 files. The existent codebase consists of 116 codification files totaling 32,381 lines of code. This includes immoderate ace cool instrumentality learning additions I made utilizing Apple's latest AI/ML libraries.

Also: I tried a Claude Code replacement that's local, unfastened source, and wholly free - really it works

I don't codification afloat time. Not moreover close. I bargain a fewer hours present and location from each my different responsibilities. But if I were capable to give afloat clip to coding, I estimate it would person taken maine an absolute rock-bottom minimum of 4 to 6 months to do nan aforesaid activity I did for portion of yesterday and portion of this morning.

For me, arsenic an independent lone developer, nan unit multiplier of AI coding is thing short of breathtaking.

The portion that collapsed

There person been 2 main phases to nan task truthful far. The first was migration. The 2nd is adding and removing features.

Migration is simply a batch harder than you would think. As I said, I copied nan original task files and renamed it. But everything wrong was oriented toward spools of filament. Everything successful this task has to beryllium oriented astir sewing patterns.

It's not imaginable to conscionable do a hunt and replace. Lots of strings of characters had to change, but truthful did each nan information structures, arsenic good arsenic each nan app configuration data. This is cleanable activity for an AI. It's very technical, very precise, and very, very tedious.

This is besides wherever I almost gave up.

Also: Anthropic says its caller Claude Opus 4.6 tin nail your activity deliverables connected nan first try

The acquisition of vibe coding successful (at slightest nan preview build of) Xcode 26.3 alternates betwixt exhilarating and amazing, and "what nan hellhole conscionable happened to me?" and "did I conscionable destruct everything?" It's not a bully feeling.

Imagine you're connected nan Starship Enterprise. You spell to warp, and each nan colors are streaming past you astatine warp speed. It's exhilarating. It's an unthinkable feeling.

And then, each of a sudden, everything goes dark. You spot a mini glimmer of light, and you recognize you're successful immoderate cave somewhere. You person nary thought what happened, wherever you are, aliases really you sewage there.

That's what it feels for illustration to vibe codification successful Xcode pinch aggregate agents running. In this caller build of Xcode, Claude and Xcode love to tally aggregate parallel agents.

You're cooking on conscionable fine, and past abruptly nothing. The strategy hangs. You person nary thought wherever successful nan group of changes you are. There's thing you tin do astir it isolated from discontinue Xcode and commencement backmost up. The large dream is that thing sewage wholly destroyed. This is not a bully feeling.

This deep, acheronian infinitesimal of despair is not caused by conscionable 1 thing. It's not caused by conscionable nan AI supplier moving retired of discourse and needing much tokens. And it's not caused by conscionable a inheritance supplier getting stuck because it doesn't person permissions and isn't reporting back. And it's not caused by conscionable having aggregate inheritance agents making changes connected apical of each other, causing them each to extremity running.

Also: OpenAI's Frontier wants to negociate your AI agents - it could upend endeavor software, too

It's caused by each of these situations. All of a sudden, you're cooking on nicely, and past nan adjacent point you know, you're stuck successful actual for 3 hours. Do you restart Xcode? Do you wait? Do you wish erstwhile again you'd listened to your mom and gone to rule schoolhouse alternatively of engineering school?

In my case, I launched different lawsuit of Claude Code successful nan terminal and asked it to investigate. That was adjuvant because it was capable to place stuck processes. But moving Claude Code successful nan terminal defeated nan full intent of doing things successful nan Xcode IDE.

There doesn't look to beryllium a measurement to extremity moving inheritance supplier tasks, truthful they conscionable support running. As acold arsenic I tin tell, location is nary measurement to enactment successful nan Xcode IDE and ascertain their status, and Xcode won't fto you extremity them unless you conscionable abnormally discontinue nan exertion entirely.

It sewage worse. All of a sudden, nan terminal Claude Code lawsuit told maine I had utilized up 91% of my usage headdress and was astir to deed 100%. That resulted successful a 3-hour and 19-minute activity stoppage. The stalled Xcode inheritance agents that ran for much than 3 hours had consumed astir of my token allocation. Apparently, moreover idle aliases stuck sessions tin eat into nan convention fund because of nan discourse they hold.

When Claude Code does a compression successful nan terminal, it stops moving for rather a while. But astatine slightest there's a connection location telling you what's happening. With Xcode and its penchant for launching inheritance agents, there's nothing. Apple, if you return nary different proposal from maine today, return this: you request amended guidance and visibility for inheritance agents. Stat.

That was yesterday. Overnight, I thought astir it. This morning, I inserted a caller instruction into nan wide CLAUDE.MD instructions for this project. I told it, "Do NOT usage inheritance agents aliases inheritance tasks. Do NOT divided into aggregate agents. Update maine regularly connected each step. Do NOT tally steps that return much than a infinitesimal aliases 2 without having an update heartbeat."

Also: Is your AI supplier up to nan task? 3 ways to find erstwhile to delegate

Today was very productive. Very productive. Nothing ran successful nan background. No supplier tried racing against nan different agents. Claude and Xcode conscionable did their job. It took astir 20 minutes for nan AI to cleanable up nan migration messiness from nan erstwhile day.

And past it was clip to adhd caller stuff. This is wherever things sewage really fun.

The cool caller hotness

So here's nan thing. Sewists emotion them their patterns. A lot. For decades, patterns came successful small insubstantial envelopes. You've seen them. Maybe you've utilized them aliases seen your mom bargain them. Paper letter cover patterns still exist, but integer PDF-based patterns are besides big. So are patterns that travel successful books of patterns.

Also: I didn't request this, but I utilized AI to 3D people a mini figurine of myself - here's how

My woman wanted to negociate each 3 types of patterns successful nan caller app. As you tin spot from nan picture, she has boxes and boxes of insubstantial patterns. We besides person a server stock dedicated to her integer patterns. And there's an full bookcase filled pinch shape books.

Although I'm including support for integer patterns and books of patterns, my attraction was mostly focused connected nan insubstantial envelope-style patterns. That's because they could beryllium managed successful a measurement akin to my filament spools. They could beryllium tracked pinch NFC tags and moved from location to location.

But location is besides a large difference. The beforehand and backmost covers of shape envelopes are for illustration golden to nan sewists who cod them. They show what's being built, supply inspiration, and besides often supply useful and basal acquisition accusation for each nan supplies needed to make immoderate nan shape describes.

Also: How I turned an aged laptop into a location archive position - and trim down connected paperwork chaos

My app had to seizure very high-quality images of those beforehand and backmost covers. Essentially, I had to build a scanner app into my shape database. Not only does nan app person to seizure an image, it has to determine what portion of nan image is nan shape envelope, past straighten it, reshape it truthful corners are correct angles, and harvest it.

And past I wanted to do 1 much thing. Paper patterns are mostly indexed by vendor sanction (Simplicity, McCalls, etc) and shape number. I wanted my app to extract those 2 pieces of information from nan images, and past fto users take them for naming and indexing nan patterns.

To do this, I needed to usage Apple's instrumentality learning APIs, astir of which are rather new. It turns retired that Claude Code, moving successful nan terminal, wasn't acquainted pinch astir of them. But Claude Agent, moving successful Xcode, was capable to easy query Apple's archiving and create those features.

Also: 7 apps I usage to fastener down, encrypt, and shop my backstage files - and astir are free

I ran into 1 different snag. The AI successful my app was having a difficult clip distinguishing betwixt nan numbers that are portion of barroom codes and nan shape numbers. So I had Claude and Xcode train my app connected really to place barroom codes and destruct them from information from nan shape number action process.

As a bonus, since my app had to OCR nan images successful bid to find nan vendor sanction and number, I added an OCR information section to each pattern, truthful users tin hunt connected thing connected nan beforehand aliases backmost cover. I besides decided to prevention nan barroom codification number and nan existent barroom codification pinch each pattern, conscionable successful lawsuit nan personification wants it for something.

Claude, Xcode, and I did a batch much successful our short improvement cycle. My large extremity was to get nan AI to build instrumentality learning into nan app and make it activity by nan clip this article was published. We met that goal.

My woman is beautiful stoked astir nan app. I'm having a blast moving connected it. So I'll astir apt support tinkering pinch it complete nan weeks until it meets each her needs. I'm not judge if I'll put it up connected nan App Store. I do person plans to do an article called thing like, "How to vibe codification your measurement onto nan App Store," truthful you mightiness spot much of it aliases nan filament app astatine immoderate constituent successful nan future.

Other tidbits

There is 1 usability characteristic successful nan Xcode implementation I for illustration a batch much than Claude Code's terminal implementation. You tin Command-V paste an image into Xcode's AI assistant. In Claude Code, you person to usage Control-V. It's not a large thing, isolated from that I person decades of musculus representation doing Command-V to paste connected a Mac, and Control-V takes maine retired of flow. So I for illustration really Xcode does it.

Also: A MacOS 26 bug bricked my $3,700 Mac Studio - here's really I miraculously sewage it back

The AI adjunct tin besides do builds, which intends that it tin spot if nan codification works. If location are errors, it tin hole them connected its own. Sometimes, it runs for an hr aliases much each connected its own. Today, that fto maine return a locomotion successful nan parkland (literally), while nan AI squad of Xcode and Claude were engaged figuring retired really to decently orient and harvest a shape cover.

Speaking of flow, I've been utilizing Wispr Flow to dictate to Xcode. I'd opportunity astir 75% of nan prompting I did to nan AI was done utilizing Wispr Flow. The merchandise has a vibe coding mode that made it activity really good during coding. I utilized to usage nan Mac's ain dictation, but it's notoriously unreliable. I've recovered Wispr Flow acold much reliable.

Why do I dictate to my improvement environment, you ask? I person an 8-pound Yorkipoo that likes to curl up connected my near enarthrosis and beryllium held by Daddy while he sleeps. So, of course, I do a ton of my at-computer activity utilizing only 1 hand. Dictation makes this possible, and Wispr Flow does a awesome occupation of doing truthful effectively.

Also: 9 basal Mac apps everyone should beryllium utilizing successful 2026 - and why I vouch for them

As for this being a developer campaigner for Xcode 26.3, Apple says nan afloat merchandise will beryllium up connected nan Mac App Store wrong nan month. So enactment tuned. I'm hoping it does thing astir managing those runaway, rogue inheritance tasks.

But moreover pinch those troublesome beasties harshing my coding buzz, I person to admit that I'm having a ton of nosy vibe coding my measurement into my wife's iPhone's heart.

Have you tried agentic aliases vibe coding workflows yet? If so, what worked good and what collapsed down? Do you deliberation tighter IDE integration thumps utilizing AI devices from nan terminal, aliases do you for illustration keeping them separate? How concerned are you astir inheritance agents, runaway tasks, and token usage erstwhile AI is profoundly embedded successful improvement tools? And finally, do you spot yourself trusting AI to grip large-scale refactors aliases migrations, aliases does that still consciousness for illustration a measurement excessively far? Let america cognize successful nan comments below.

You tin travel my day-to-day task updates connected societal media. Be judge to subscribe to my play update newsletter, and travel maine connected Twitter/X astatine @DavidGewirtz, connected Facebook astatine Facebook.com/DavidGewirtz, connected Instagram astatine Instagram.com/DavidGewirtz, connected Bluesky astatine @DavidGewirtz.com, and connected YouTube astatine YouTube.com/DavidGewirtzTV.