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The author's opening complaint is that the AI coding assistant features in Xcode aren't state of the art. Note: Xcode does have predictive code completion mode
by rgovostes 2y ago
The author's opening complaint is that the AI coding assistant features in Xcode aren't state of the art.
Note: Xcode does have predictive code completion models and Swift Assist. GitHub Copilot for Xcode is an open source extension, proving that it is possible to extend Xcode with newer capabilities.
The author cites examples of superior AI app builders that can generate non-native mobile apps, and claims that this will lead to growth in non-native iOS apps because native development is not keeping up.
The author argues that the lack of AI native app builders is because Xcode is closed source and iOS development is too heavily tied to Xcode. Counterargument: Doesn't the existence of all these non-native iOS apps the author cites suggest that this isn't really true?
The argument takes shift toward imagining a web-based third-party tool for app development and then describing the obstacles to this, like having to run the iOS simulator in virtual machines on Apple hardware. Where is the argument for why these hypothetical AI app builder tools have to be cloud-based, SaaS, web apps? This is at odds with the author's earlier stated preference for native apps. The idea of cross-compiling SwiftUI to WASM to run in the browser is the exact kind of thing that makes non-native apps buggy and unpleasant to use.
- geoffpado 2y ago> Xcode does have predictive code completion models and Swift Assist. Clarification: While Swift Assist was announced at WWDC in June 2024, it has yet to ship. Predictive code completion is available in Xcode 16, though.
- robertjpayne 2y agoAnd the predictive code completion is pretty bare bones awful compared to what you get in VSCode/Cursor or other editors.
- Aloisius 2y agoI haven't found predictive code completion to be good anywhere for Swift, especially anything to do with Apple frameworks. I've attributed it to the general lack of open source projects to train off.
- bredren 2y agoLacking predictive code completion as a beta in Xcode 15 felt like a miss. I realize it would have jumped the gun on Apple Intelligence, but the company has released features prior to the marketing: evidence Spatial Audio. OpenAI demo’d native swift development with Xcode on day 11 of their 12 days of releases in December, see 6:00 in here: https://www.youtube.com/live/g_qxoznfa7E?si=BXd88NmbjHSUyPAM https://www.youtube.com/live/g_qxoznfa7E?si=BXd88NmbjHSUyPAM At the time it seemed compelling, but am curious if anyone who regularly crafts in Xcode can comment on that release / its sustained value as an AI workflow to pair with Xcode?
- dedrisian 2y agoWe’re working on this at https://alexcodes.app https://alexcodes.app! We support chat (with cmd+L), agent, tab autocomplete, cmd+k, and voice mode. And the ability to add Xcode errors/warnings in bulk to the chat.