Vibe coding for iOS
Vibe code a native iOS app in SwiftUI
Vibe coding an iOS app means describing it in plain words and letting AI write the code. With Borel, that code is native Swift and SwiftUI, compiled with Xcode on Borel's own Mac and running live in the iOS Simulator in your browser. You keep talking, it keeps building, and Borel Companion puts the app on your iPhone.
Updated
importSwiftDataimportSwiftUIstructRootView: View {@Environment(\.modelContext) privatevar context@AppStorage("hasSeededStarterIdeas") privatevar hasSeeded = falsevar body: someView {TabView {NavigationStack {IdeaListView() } .tabItem { Label("Ideas", systemImage: "lightbulb.fill") }NavigationStack {OverviewView() } .tabItem { Label("Overview", systemImage: "chart.bar.fill") }NavigationStack {SettingsView() } .tabItem { Label("Settings", systemImage: "gearshape.fill") } } .tint(Color(borelHex: 0xF2643A)) .task {guard !hasSeeded else { return }StarterIdeas.insert(into: context) hasSeeded = true } }}#Preview {RootView() .modelContainer(for: Idea.self, inMemory: true)}
How it works
Talk, watch, tap
- 1
Say what you want
Describe the app, or the change, in the chat. Penny plans the screens with you.
- 2
Watch Rivet build it
Each Swift file appears as it's written, and Xcode compiles the app on Borel's Mac while you watch.
- 3
Tap the real thing
The app opens in the iOS Simulator in your browser, then on your iPhone with Borel Companion.
Vibe coding
What is vibe coding, for an iPhone app?
Vibe coding is building software by saying what you want and steering the result, rather than writing every line yourself. Many vibe coding tools make websites, which on an iPhone means a web page inside an app's frame, or a cross-platform layer between your app and the phone.
Borel vibe codes in Apple's own language. The AI writes Swift with SwiftUI, the code an iOS developer writes by hand, and Xcode compiles it. What you get is a native app: SwiftUI's own tabs, lists, sheets and navigation, with Liquid Glass where iOS draws it.
Swift, not a website
Why does native SwiftUI matter?
Because the app is the real thing, from the code up. Side by side:
| A web app in a frame | Borel | |
|---|---|---|
| The code | HTML, CSS and JavaScript | Swift and SwiftUI |
| How it's built | A website, wrapped | Compiled by Xcode |
| Screens | Web pages styled like an app | SwiftUI's own tabs, lists and sheets |
| Phone features | What the browser allows | Camera, Face ID, haptics and more, through Apple's frameworks |
| Preview while you build | A browser tab | The iOS Simulator, live in your browser |
On the phone
What can a vibe-coded iOS app do?
Ask for a phone feature in your own words, or pick it from Device in the chat's + menu, and the app uses Apple's own frameworks for it.
Face ID and the camera
Unlock with a glance, take photos, scan documents and read the text on them.
Location and Apple Maps
Show where you are, pin places and browse them on a map.
Reminders, haptics and motion
Reminders the phone schedules itself, taps you can feel, and steps from the motion sensors.
Voice, charts and AI
Speech to text, reading aloud, Swift Charts, and Borel AI with no key to set up.
Checked on a Mac
What if the AI gets something wrong?
Borel checks its own work. Every version is compiled with Xcode and opened in the iOS Simulator before you see it. When Xcode reports an error or the app stops as it opens, the AI reads what went wrong, fixes it, and Borel builds again. A repair caused by Borel's own built-in code is never charged.
You steer the rest in the chat: make the list bigger, add a dark mode, move settings into a tab. Every change is a new version you can roll back in a click, and the Code tool shows every Swift file, ready to read or to download as a project that opens in Xcode.
Any computer
Do I need a Mac to vibe code an iOS app?
No. Xcode only runs on a Mac, so Borel runs it on its own Mac and streams the simulator to you. You can vibe code an iPhone app from Windows or a Mac in your browser, and install it with Borel Companion. iPhone apps on Windows shows the whole path, and the guide SwiftUI vs React Native explains the two ways apps are written.
Choose Borel if…
- You want native Swift and SwiftUI, not a web app in a frame.
- You'd like to see every build running in a real iOS Simulator.
- You want Face ID, the camera and Apple Maps to just work.
- You're vibe coding from Windows, or without Xcode.
- You want the code at the end, as a project that opens in Xcode.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Describe it to Borel and its AI writes the app in Swift and SwiftUI, builds it with Xcode and runs it in the iOS Simulator in your browser.
With Borel, yes. The code is Swift and SwiftUI, compiled by Xcode, the same as an app a developer writes by hand.
iOS 17 and later, on iPhone and iPad.
No. You describe and steer in plain words. The Swift is there to read in the Code tool, or to download, if you want to learn from it.
Yes, with a Pro plan and Apple's Developer Program. Borel builds, signs and uploads it from its own Mac, and Stamp checks it for what Apple asks first.
It's free to start, with 5 free credits a day, up to 30 a month. Pro is from $20 a month. The iOS Simulator is free for everyone.
Yes. Borel AI is built in, for chat, writing, reading photos and making pictures, with no API key to set up.
Yes. Download the project, open it in Xcode on a Mac via XcodeGen, and change anything.
Vibe code your iPhone app
Say what you want. Borel writes the SwiftUI and runs it while you watch.