How to Make an AI Chatbot App for iPhone (2026)
Make an AI chatbot app for iPhone with no API key: pick a job for the bot, write its instructions, build it in Borel, and pass Apple's AI rules.
By Sigsten Gustavii· · 9 min read
General chatbots are free and very good. Nobody needs another app that is just a text box and a model. The chatbot apps worth making do one job for one kind of person: a climbing coach that knows your grade, a tutor for one exam, a helper that answers questions about your own shop's products, or a character in a story.
This guide shows how to make an AI chatbot app for iPhone with Borel, an AI app builder that writes native Swift and gives every app AI with no key. It covers the parts of a good chatbot app, the steps, Apple's rules for AI, and what it costs to run.
What a chatbot app needs
| Part | What it does | How Borel builds it |
|---|---|---|
| Chat screen | Bubbles, a text field, a typing indicator | A native SwiftUI chat screen |
| The model | Writes the answers | Borel AI, on Borel's default model or one you choose from its catalogue |
| Instructions | Tell the bot who it is and what it may do | A system prompt inside the app, sent with every request |
| Memory | Keeps the conversation going | The recent messages are sent along with each new one |
| History | Lets people come back to old chats | Saved on the phone, or in Borel Cloud with an account |
| Consent | Asks before messages go to the AI | Borel's AI kit asks once and adds an AI switch in settings |
| Voice | Speak instead of type, hear the answer | Apple's speech recognition and text to speech |
The key point is the second row. With most tools you sign up with an AI company, get an API key and then have to keep it out of your app, because a key inside an app can be pulled out and used on your bill. Borel apps call Borel AI through Borel's server instead, so there is no key anywhere in the app. You can read why that matters in the glossary entry on the API key.
How to make an AI chatbot app in 6 steps
Step 1: Give the bot one job
Write down who the app is for and the one thing the bot helps with. "A coach for people training for their opening half marathon" is a job. "An AI assistant" is not. The job decides everything after it: the instructions, the screens around the chat, and why someone would pay for it.
Step 2: Write the bot's instructions
The instructions, also called a system prompt, are what turn a general model into your bot. Keep them short and concrete:
- Who it is. "You are a friendly running coach."
- What it knows about the person. Their goal, level and schedule, filled in from the app's own screens.
- What it does. "Answer questions about training, recovery and pacing. Suggest one change at a time."
- What it won't do. "Don't give medical advice. If someone mentions pain, tell them to see a doctor."
- How it talks. "Short answers, no lists longer than five items, plain words."
Step 3: Describe the app to Borel
Open Borel and describe the whole app, not only the chat. The screens around the bot are what make it more than a text box.
Make an iPhone app that coaches people training for a half marathon. On setup, ask their race date, current weekly distance and how many days a week they can run. The main tab is a chat with an AI running coach. Its instructions: be friendly and brief, use the runner's details, suggest one change at a time, never give medical advice and tell them to see a doctor if they mention pain. A second tab shows this week's plan, which the coach can update when asked. Keep past chats on the phone. Add a microphone button to speak a message and a button to hear an answer read aloud.Borel's planner reads it and asks about anything unclear, and the builder writes the app in Swift with SwiftUI. The chat calls Borel AI with your instructions and the recent messages, so the coach remembers what was said a minute ago.
Step 4: Test the bot on a live iPhone
The app opens on a live iPhone in your browser within a minute or two. Before it sends its opening message to the AI, it asks for consent, the way Apple requires. Then try to break your bot:
- Ask it something outside its job and check that it steers back.
- Mention pain and check that it points to a doctor.
- Have a long conversation and see that it remembers the start.
- Turn AI off in settings and check the app explains, rather than crashing.
Change the instructions with a plain message, like "make the coach more encouraging and use the runner's name". Each change is built and opened again, and every version is kept.
Step 5: Choose a model and add the extras
Borel AI has a default model, and its catalogue includes models from Alibaba, OpenAI, Meta, Google and Anthropic. Ask Borel to use a different one if the answers aren't good enough; larger models usually answer better and cost more per message. When the app uses a model, Borel names the company behind it in the consent question.
Then add what makes the app pleasant on a phone: voice input and read-aloud, pictures the bot can make from words, a Face ID lock for private conversations, and accounts with Borel Cloud if people should see their chats on a second device.
Step 6: Test on your iPhone and publish
The microphone works only on a real iPhone. With Pro, Borel Companion installs the app on yours from a Windows PC or a Mac. When it's ready, Stamp checks the app for the rules Apple most often turns apps down for, and Publish builds, signs and uploads it under your own Apple Developer account.
App Store rules for AI chatbot apps
| Guideline | What Apple asks | How Borel handles it |
|---|---|---|
| 5.1.2(i) Third-party AI | Say where personal data goes, including to a third-party AI, and get explicit permission | Borel's AI kit asks before the opening request and names the AI company |
| 4.2 Minimum functionality | More than a repackaged website; useful, unique, app-like | Give the bot a job and build real screens around it |
| 1.4.1 Medical apps | Apps that could give inaccurate medical information get greater scrutiny | Keep health bots to general advice and point to doctors |
| 5.1.1(i) Privacy policy | A privacy policy in the app and on the listing | Borel hosts one for the app and links it in settings |
| 3.1.1 In-app purchase | Paid features unlocked in the app use in-app purchase | Use Add payment and Borel builds the subscription on StoreKit |
When you fill in App Store Connect's privacy answers, say that messages are sent to an AI service to make replies. Borel's privacy policy for the app already says so.
What a chatbot app costs to make and run
A chatbot is the one kind of app that costs money every time someone uses it, so plan for both columns.
| Item | Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Borel Free | $0 | 5 credits a day to build and test in your browser |
| Borel Pro | From $20 a month | Install on your iPhone and publish to the App Store |
| Apple Developer Program | $99 a year | Paid to Apple |
| AI answers | Per message, from your app's balance | Depends on the model and the length of the conversation |
| Pictures | Per picture, from your app's balance | The same words make the same picture at no new cost |
Borel meters every AI call against your app's balance, which you top up in dollars, and Cloud cost shows what the app has used. When the balance is empty, the AI stops rather than running up a bill, so keep an eye on it once the app has a following. See pricing for Borel's plans and credits for how building is paid.
How chatbot apps make money
Because every answer costs something, most chatbot apps limit free use: a few messages a day for free, unlimited with a subscription. Use the Add payment button in Borel to set the plan's name, cycle and price, and Borel builds the paywall with Restore Purchases and creates the subscription at Apple when you publish. See in-app purchases. Apple keeps 15% under its Small Business Program for developers earning up to $1 million a year, and 30% above it.
How to choose the right AI chatbot app builder
- Borel, for a native iPhone chatbot with no API key, consent built in, voice, and a paywall on Apple's in-app purchase.
- [CatDoes](/compare/catdoes), if you need the same bot on Android; it builds React Native apps.
- [Lovable](/compare/lovable), if a chatbot on a website is enough.
- Writing it yourself, if you want full control over the model and a server of your own, and have a Mac for Xcode.
Chatbot app builders compared
| Builder | What it makes | AI key needed? | App Store from |
|---|---|---|---|
| Borel | Native SwiftUI for iPhone and iPad | No: Borel AI is built in | $20 a month |
| CatDoes | React Native for iPhone and Android | See its own documentation | $42 a month |
| FlutterFlow | Flutter for iPhone and Android | You connect an AI service | $39 a month |
| Xcode by hand | Native Swift | Yes, kept on your own server | Free tools and a Mac |
Prices are each company's lowest plan that publishes to the App Store, from their pricing pages in October 2026.
The Bottom Line
The model is the easy part now. What makes a chatbot app worth installing is the job it does, the instructions behind it and the screens around it. Borel gives you the rest: a native chat app, AI with no key, the consent Apple asks for, voice, and a subscription to pay for the answers. Describe your bot on Borel and talk to it on a live iPhone in a few minutes.
Questions people ask
Do I need an OpenAI API key to make a chatbot app?
Not with Borel. Apps call Borel AI through Borel's server, so there is no key to get or hide, and the cost of each answer comes out of your app's balance.
Can I make an AI chatbot app for free?
You can build and test it for free on Borel's Free plan, with 5 credits a day. The AI answers your app gives are paid from its balance, and publishing takes Pro from $20 a month plus Apple's $99 a year.
Does Apple allow AI chatbot apps?
Yes, with rules. Guideline 5.1.2(i) asks you to say when personal data goes to a third-party AI and to get permission, and 4.2 turns down apps that do too little. Borel's AI kit asks for that permission for you.
Which AI model should my chatbot use?
Start with Borel's default model and change only if the answers aren't good enough. The catalogue has models from Alibaba, OpenAI, Meta, Google and Anthropic. Larger models answer better and cost more. See what an LLM is.
Can my chatbot remember past conversations?
Yes. It remembers the current conversation by sending recent messages with each question, and past chats can be saved on the phone or in Borel Cloud for people with an account.
How do chatbot apps make money?
Usually with a subscription that lifts a free daily limit. On the App Store that has to go through Apple's in-app purchase, which Borel builds when you add a paid plan.
I started Borel because I wanted to make iPhone apps without a Mac or a team behind me. If this helped you build something, I would love to see it.
– Sigsten
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