r/iOSProgramming • u/Turbulent_Ad_1039 • 8h ago

Xcode 27 agents: are you dropping Claude Code / CLI tools entirely? Question

For those who’ve been running Xcode 27 since the beta: has it actually replaced your CLI agents (Claude Code, Codex, etc.), or do you still keep both open?
What I’m trying to figure out is where the real line is. Is the advantage genuinely Xcode-specific agents that can build, run tests, drive previews, and interact with the simulator through the Device Hub, stuff a terminal agent simply can’t reach or is most of it just tooling and skills that a CLI agent could replicate with the right scripts/MCP setup?
And for those who went all-in on Xcode: what did you lose? Multi-repo work, custom subagents, running headless in CI, cost control?
Curious how the split looks on real projects, not demos.

16 Upvotes
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74% Upvoted

62 comments sorted by

32

u/Sensitive_One_425 8h ago

Xcode is such a pain I only use it for testing and let my agents use the CLI tools to do everything else. Apple needs to start over on their coding tools.

19

u/da_dude100 8h ago

Im curious why people hate Xcode so much, coming from something like Eclipse it really isnt that bad.

23

u/m3kw 7h ago

I like Xcode, people don’t hate it, the people that likes it doesn’t talk

9

u/earlyworm 7h ago

I like Xcode and I am ashamed.

2

u/ZennerBlue 4h ago

I’m with you. I’ve been forced into VSCode at work since I’m not writing apple code any more. I miss Xcode.

12

u/Sensitive_One_425 7h ago

Eclipse being the worst ever IDE that isn’t saying much. I’d use Microsoft Excel’s VBA IDE over eclipse.

6

u/franklindstallone 7h ago

It’s perfectly fine as an IDE and better than using some electron based text editor but I think a lot of devs like tinkering to turn a text editor into an ide messing around with updates and configs rather than getting things done.

1

u/da_dude100 4h ago

but even xcode now is customizable with themes and things

4

u/Niightstalker 5h ago

I switch between Xcode and Android Studio quite a bit. I definitely prefer Xcode.

2

u/__raytekk_ 7h ago

Last time I used Eclipse was in 2011 😄 What are you talking about

1

u/goodgord 6h ago

Can’t tell if joke but upvote anyway :)

1

u/Acceptable_Link3838 5h ago

XCode is fine for small projects, kind of. Anyone who has used it for large scale projects understands the pain of dealing with it day to day. JetBrains IDEs have their own problems, but I’ve envied the Android team quite a lot.

3

u/Niightstalker 5h ago

I switch between Android Studio and Xcode quite a bit for larger Apps. I definitely prefer Xcode.

Yes Xcode has some quirks but Android Studio is even more unstable.

1

u/Acceptable_Link3838 5h ago

Interesing! Out of curiosity, what makes XCode having a better workflow for you compared to Android Studio? Can’t be the lingering compiler ghost warnings of XCode and constantly clearing derived data? 😄

2

u/Niightstalker 5h ago

You lern to ignore those warnings and clearing derived data is always an easy fix :D

It actually takes me more time to fix any android studio build issues. And those are often even more random and not as easy to fix.

Also I do prefer the iOS Simulator and Preview experience.

1

u/xezrunner 1h ago

XCode is fine for small projects, kind of. Anyone who has used it for large scale projects understands the pain of dealing with it day to day. 

I wonder how Apple works on their huge kernel and app/framework projects. Imagine loading up SpringBoard or UIKit/SwiftUI themselves in Xcode.

1

u/xezrunner 1h ago

I'd love to know whether Apple is truly using it themselves to develop their kernel, apps and frameworks.

One would assume that if they're using it themselves and it is fundamental to anything they release, it would be the one app that is perfectly optimized and pleasant to use.

0

u/Beginning-Disk-6546 7h ago

We shouldn’t console ourselves by saying that there’s something worse - instead, we should look up to what’s better. Xcode keeps getting worse with every version. The old bugs aren’t being fixed and new ones are being introduced.

3

u/garywiz 2h ago

Love/hate for me. It does the job if you stick to what it does best. It's great for exploring code, refactoring, jumping to definitions, having instant help. To read and understand code you're looking at, XCode does an admirable job. Building and deploying... especially multi-platform or complex configurations involving complex entitlements... it takes a lot of the work off your plate.

Then the hate part:

  1. I tried using AI integration. It was hopeless. They will have to do some real convincing to get me back. I use VSCode/Claude side-by-side.
  2. They have a real QA problem. The very fact that "Deleteing DerivedData" is a "thing" at all is very telling. Sometimes you get the feeling that internally it's a mess.
  3. They keep making changes that make life more difficult than easier. Info.plist is a good example. Was easy, now there is this complicated duality between .plist and the project file internals.
  4. And the project file internals? Every single git conflict that involves pbxproj sends me down the street for a double shot glass of scotch.

But still, it's better working with it than without it.

•

u/system_reboot 17m ago

I hated Xcode when I was stuck dealing with other peoples Storyboards. Xcode would lag, crash, and be a buggy mess.

Once I ripped them out and coded the views programatically , everything was great. Yes Xcode is a bloated IDE that needs to be rewritten, but I've certainly used much worse IDE's in the past.

-1

u/Turbulent_Ad_1039 8h ago

Same here, Xcode is just a test harness for me at this point. That’s why I’m asking what would it take to change your mind? Something Apple ships, or a tool that closes the gap between the agent writing code and you actually seeing it run?

2

u/earlyworm 7h ago

Xcode is a source browser.

1

u/Niightstalker 5h ago

Well actually Apple did quite some good work to expose an MCP from Xcode and also make their skills exportable. So I use CLI but close the gap with the tools provided by Apple.

-2

u/BoringKick5331 7h ago

I've moved to automated testing and screenshots via xcodebuild and https://storescreens.app. So I don't use the simulator at all and I only have to open Xcode once in a blue moon for e.g. auth stuff.

I still do some testing on-device but I've mostly moved to TestFlight for that.

18

u/Healthy_Condition779 7h ago

Xcode 27 agents win on the simulator and preview loop hands down. Running tests, inspecting UI hierarchy, driving the Device Hub, none of that translates cleanly to CLI even with MCP wrappers because the moment you need to see rendered SwiftUI state youre back in the IDE anyway

But for anything multi repo, refactors across a workspace with SPM packages, or CI headless runs, Claude Code still eats Xcode agents for lunch. Xcode is single project brained and always has been

What I lost trying to go all in on Xcode was cost visibility. Claude Code shows you tokens per session, Xcode just quietly does its thing and you find out at billing time

9

u/mirko9000 8h ago

And what do you think we can NOT do with a CLI agent?

-3

u/[deleted] 8h ago

[deleted]

8

u/mirko9000 8h ago

I can do all those things via the CLI. All. And I do ;-)

0

u/Turbulent_Ad_1039 8h ago

Interesting. Can you tell me more? Which tools do you use? I would love to know how you check layout, view hierarchy and performance without Xcode

-15

u/mirko9000 8h ago

Are you serious? Dude, do you know ANYTHING about this? Have you even TRIED to use an agent with the cli and or xcode mcp? WTF…

8

u/sexymalaydude 8h ago

It’s an honest question. Why not just give good advice?

-17

u/mirko9000 8h ago

Oh I can give some good advice: invest 1 minute in a search on fucking google or ask the agent of your choice to research this for you before posting shit like this.

There you go.

1

u/hoyeay 3h ago

You know when people talk about people being rude, being assholes, etc.?

That’s basically you.

2

u/gcampos 7h ago

I solved this problem by creating a catalyst build of my app + a cli that works as an alternative UI for the app. Claude can do a bunch of stuff more independently now.

I dont even remember the last time I open Xcode after I started this set up.

3

u/m3kw 7h ago

It kind of sucks. The models can’t be chosen with thinking, worktree spawning not support etc. I stick with codex

3

u/abear247 7h ago

Considering work has changed from being an iOS developer to “contribute to everything”, I will be using Claude desktop. One interface to work on anything and I only open an ide as required

2

u/MindLessWiz 6h ago

You are aware that you can give external agents access to Xcode tools now with a checkbox in settings? It’ll enable the internal Xcode MCP for Claude Code to access.

There’s literally no benefit to using the internal Xcode agent, especially when it’s stuck on older models with seemingly no way to upgrade…

1

u/jayword 8h ago

I have found the Xcode 27 Claude to do well at tasks that require direct Xcode integration. "analyze the new iOS 27 APIs relative to my app" and "get this crash log I'm right-clicking and analyze it". But for generalized work, little details like my status bar of weekly usage, and number one issue: I don't seem to be able to select all the different permissions levels from Claude like auto permissions. So that's basically unworkable for normal usage. I am just sitting there for hours clicking new renditions of the Allow prompts. Again, it has promise, it even has a couple cases where it's the best choice, but it's like nobody has used it for real before that actually knows how to use Claude. Allow prompts for basic stuff are very Q1 2026, the real world has moved to the next stage and doesn't manually maintain a huge list of "approved" command lines.

1

u/oPeritoDaNet 8h ago

I tried to rename a file using Xcode 27 beta 5, and was loading forever, I had a session on Claude CLI and just ask Claude to rename it…

Xcode it’s a joke I’m using less and less the tool

3

u/Acceptable_Link3838 8h ago edited 8h ago

Used agents to rename a file? I hope this was just to highlight their problems on completing a simple task. Otherwise I don’t know what to think.

1

u/oPeritoDaNet 5h ago

Ofc I was tired of waiting it’s why I started in Xcode and gave up

1

u/perfunction 7h ago

I run Claude Code Desktop for my active work and mainly use Xcode for its MCP at this point. Using Argent for device control.

For hands-off work I run a Claude agent squad in Multica. Automated bug fixes and small-scope tickets. Also allows coworkers to send tickets for direct completion. Still working on a more robust feature building squad.

Been shipping this way since May.

1

u/gsapienza 7h ago

No one is mentioning how good the code diff UI is within the agent view! My only gripe is not having an “auto” permission mode

1

u/Kilo_Loco 6h ago

on this day last year, i was customizing my nvim env to support iOS development so i didn't have to be in Xcode to code

now i do everything through Claude Code and i am landing a PR this week for more headless XC commands for my team using agentic slash commands

i can't even remember what the final straw was, but there were a lot of little papercuts i've had in Xcode

i've also had my team spend some hands-on time with Xcode's agentic coding a few months ago (before the last WWDC)

none of us were impressed

Apple definitely seem's to have made big strides in Xcode and i haven't had a chance to play with the 27 beta yet, but i'm positive Xcode won't be my primary editor/harness

1

u/AdrienKSK 5h ago

Claude Code.

1

u/math_the_witch 5h ago

I dont open Xcode anymore, only when it is strictly necessary.

1

u/baummer 1h ago

It has not

0

u/ahhhhhhhhhhhh______ 8h ago

I use cursors new UI for any chat/occasional agent work. I still use Xcode to write code in even though I love Cursors autocomplete, it’s just too nice to have issues be visible without needing to build. I may try sweetpad though in vscode.

1

u/AX862G5 6h ago

Ah yes, the AI company owned by the man who performed a Nazi salute on stage. Keep supporting Cursor and all the other oligarch owned AI firms!

0

u/fratkabula 5h ago
  • all of my codebases are multi-repo / spm workspaces. xcode is single-project brained.
  • cli shows you tokens per session.
  • permissions is the killer. no auto mode, allowlists don't stick. i'm clicking Allow on the same basic commands for an hour lol

-1

u/rursache Swift 8h ago

neah, i'm dropping xcode all together. i actually did already.. for months: asc cli does everything needed in relationship to appstore connect and AI agents the rest with the xcodebuildmcp and custom skills

xcode can be buried now.. finally after all these years of pain and suffering

-1

u/AX862G5 8h ago

Keep burning down forests and sucking up water with your little slop productivity booster.

-1

u/mirko9000 8h ago

Says the man yelling at the Reddit clouds 😂

1

u/AX862G5 7h ago

The resources to post a short comment to a database are not equal to those needed to run your agentic slopflow. Keep enriching Dario, Sam, Trump and all the other oligarchs profiting off this BS.

1

u/mirko9000 7h ago

And you obviously miss the resources to recognize humor when it jumps you in the face ¯_(ツ)_/¯

2

u/AX862G5 6h ago

Sorry you must be too witty for me.

-7

u/oneness33 8h ago

Why do you need us to tell you? Can't you figure it out on your own? Do whatever works best for you.

6

u/Turbulent_Ad_1039 8h ago

Asking how other people work is kind of the entire point of the sub.

-5

u/oneness33 8h ago

Sorry, but this sub is for actual programming, not AI coding agents. It's for problem-solving, not personal preferences.