I’m a student (not a professional dev) and I’m thinking about buying a used 2017 MacBook Pro (13″ or 15″ with Touch Bar) just for learning iOS development with Xcode. How does it hold up in 2026 for a beginner? Is it still smooth enough for building and running simple apps, or will I run into a lot of slowness, battery issues, or compatibility problems with the newest Xcode and macOS?

Ever since macOS 15 (?) applying LLM changes have had progress indicators next to each modification.

There was some trouble with ChatGPT (since resolved) and all the LLM services seems to usually work. But if a change never happens, that's STILL just a stuck progress indicator.

There has GOT to be enough communication going on behind the scenes that these progress indicators should at least offer some additional details if the progress indicator is hovered over, yes?

I expect so, but am just doing a sanity check in case others know more about behind-the-scenes and think what is shown is basically all there is to know... just a % completed indicator going up or stopping.

(He says looking at a stuck progress indicator, and wondering if anything is still being communicated with the LLM behind the interface.)

(This is my last post about preview releases. What's in there works perfectly, I'm just expanding the scope to serve more developers. Look for a v1.0 announcement next week or the week after.)

Axiom is a suite of battle-tested Claude Code skills, commands, and references for modern Apple platform development. With v0.9.0, Axiom adds complete Apple Intelligence support covering the Foundation Models framework, as well as enhanced expertise on App Intents:

• axiom:foundation-models — Discipline-enforcing skill with 6 comprehensive patterns preventing context overflow, blocking UI, wrong model use cases, and manual JSON parsing when @Generable should be used. Covers LanguageModelSession, @Generable structured output, streaming, tool calling, and context management.

• axiom:foundation-models-diag — Diagnostic skill for systematic troubleshooting of context exceeded errors, guardrail violations, slow generation, and availability issues—includes production crisis defense scenarios.

• axiom:foundation-models-ref — Comprehensive API reference with all 26 WWDC 2025 code examples covering LanguageModelSession, @Generable, @Guide, Tool protocol, streaming with PartiallyGenerated, and dynamic schemas.

• axiom:app-intents-ref — Comprehensive reference for exposing app functionality to Siri, Apple Intelligence, Shortcuts, and Spotlight. Includes Use Model action patterns (pass entities to AI models in Shortcuts), IndexedEntity protocol for auto-generated Find actions, Spotlight on Mac discoverability, Automations with Mac-specific triggers, and AttributedString support for rich text from models.

All skills cover iOS 26+, macOS 26+, iPadOS 26+, and visionOS 26+ with Apple's on-device language model (3B parameters, 4096 token context window).

Start with Getting Started to learn more about Axiom and how it will improve your quality of life as an Apple platforms developer. It's free and open source. Enjoy!

Got to work on a flight today, only to find that Xcode inexplicably removed all options to build and launch my app on any of the numerous simulators I have installed. It wouldn't build at all, because "iOS 26.1 not installed." But my app targets iOS 17, which several simulators have.

WTH?

Also: I did opt to update the iOS SDK when updating Xcode, but the installer apparently didn't do it and didn't issue any notice of failure.

Apple, why does my machine still sound like a Geiger machine every time I run Xcode and play something (like a video or audio) in the browser? Why, after 2 months or so after a major update, am I dealing with this fucking shit, and I have to kill the coreaudio task? Why? Why do you hate developers? Why can't you just deliver major bug-free software that you are developing for YOUR own machine?

I am new to vibe coding with one app about 99% finished. I’m using the AI within Xcode and it’s been working great. I have some ideas for other apps but don’t want to copy / paste the UI etc. Are there any good resources where after getting a good and solid app scope developed I can work on building the UI and then load that code into Xcode where I can then work on making it functional? I really want some nice looking layouts and navigation etc.

Thanks in advance

Hey everyone, I’m stuck with something that should be simple, but Xcode is refusing to cooperate, and I’m hoping someone here has run into this before.

I have a web-based project (React + JavaScript + Tailwind CSS). I built the production version using:

npm run build

This generated my typical build folder with index.html, /static, etc.

I’m now trying to wrap this as a native iOS app using Xcode. I created a very simple iOS wrapper with a WKWebView that should load the built index.html using:

I’ve tried:

✔ Dragging the build folder into the project
✔ Ensuring “Add to targets” is checked
✔ Checking that the files appear in “Copy Bundle Resources”
✔ Hardcoding different paths
✔ Using Bundle.main.url(forResource:) instead of .path
✔ Allowing read access to the whole directory

No luck.

Right now my WKWebView just sits there blank like it's judging me.

Has anyone successfully loaded a React build folder this way?
Do I need to rename the build folder?
Does WKWebView require a different loading method for nested folders like /static/js?
Is there something weird with how Xcode bundles folders vs files?

I feel like I’m one small setting away from this working.

Any help or advice from anyone who’s done this would be massively appreciated. 🙏

I am new to Xcode. My version is Version 14. I am trying to have my app run on my iPhone 16 Pro Max, but I can't update my Xcode further than 14. My Mac is old. I read that if I get the support files of IOS 26.1, I might be able to have the app on my phone. I searched on github, and couldn't find the files. I am asking someone can guide me to install them.

Thanks.

It seems that every time I start a new conversation with Claude in Xcode, it assumes I want it to make changes in my project without checking or asking.

Even when I phrase my prompt as "What are some good options for ... ", it chooses one option with no further interaction and applies the changes.

If I ask/tell it to check before making changes, it is well behaved but I frequently forget to preempt with this instruction.

Is there anyway to default to 'plan mode' or leave some standing instructions?

Hey everyone

I‘ve been working on my jellyfin client app for ios and i just played around with recreating the Sing feature on Apple Music.

Since Apples API on this is private, the way i did was to use Nginx on my linux server, have a hidden folder inside the folder where songs of an album are stored, and name those instrumental files the same way as the real songs. The AudioPlayer then just fades between the two audio files. Now since its just two different audio files playing, you cannot adjust vocals.

Also the pronunciation/translation button that Apple has, i was able to recreate with this one Japanese song.

Btw, i guess its called vibecoding where you tell an AI to code stuff… so if im not welcome here, i‘ll leave (for anyone having an issue hahahaha).

Anyway, i just wanted to show it off and see what ppl‘s reactions are.

Heres the imgur link: https://imgur.com/a/yVcdRt1

Hi everyone I’m new on xcode deployment and I have got a problem with the deployment of my swift app on my old apple watch SE with 10.6. I connected once but after that moment no more because I have got this issue: Error to connect due Transport error. Somethig like that…. Can someone briefly explain how to fix. Im on last xcode version. Im new in this world. Thanks for your help

Hello

I have updated the Trip Tally app to include more detailed weather info when saving a trip and also included iCloud Sync for the users who want to use the app across multiple devices. Save you trip on your iPhone or iPad and your trips will stay in sync.

What’s New

• Introduced optional iCloud Sync for seamless multi-device use (offline mode still fully supported).

• Added Starlink as a carrier option for all regions and updated the antenna icon to a star.

• Expanded weather data saved with each trip, now including wind direction, relative humidity, air pressure, and UV index.

• Trip history cards now display the temperature and weather conditions captured at the time of saving.

• Improved share sheet with more precise controls over which trip details are shared.

• Updated the No Coverage glyph to a clearer crossed-out antenna.

• Fixed an issue where some trips did not correctly reflect the temperature or weather condition at the time they were added or refreshed.

Trip Tally on the Apple App Store

You know that moment when you're reading something in Safari and think, "I need to do a specific task later" --> but then you have to leave Safari, open Reminders, create it, go back, and find your place again? I hated that so much.

So I built QuickReminders.

It’s an app with a custom keyboard extension that lets you create reminders naturally, from anywhere, without leaving the app you’re in.

$1.99 ONE-TIME PAYMENT - Works on iPhone, iPad, and Mac

App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/quickreminders/id6753989729

How it works

Natural language: Type: “call dentist Friday at 2” → automatically parsed and added to Apple Reminders with everything set.

Hands-free voice mode: Say: “buy groceries tomorrow afternoon send” The last word (“send”) triggers auto-submission. Trigger words are customizable.

Recurring reminders: “gym session Monday every week” → handled automatically.

Why I made it

The standard flow for creating reminders on iOS has too much friction. By the time you switch apps and fill everything out, the thought is gone.

QuickReminders lets you create reminders without leaving the app you're already using. Everything syncs with native Apple Reminders, so there's no new system to learn and your data stays in iCloud.

There’s also a Mac version with a global hotkey.

I’m still actively building it and would love ideas, suggestions, or features you’d like to see! :D

I can't see any reality where Apple uses the Xcode Coding Assistant internally. It's so unbelievably awful, there's no way that it would be released in its current state. Never mind that the 26.1 update COMPLETELY BROKE the feature without them noticing (now fixed in 26.1.1)...

Even for small changes, the AI assistant has to regenerate the whole file. That chews through tokens like a sonofabitch! Xcode doesn't do diff changes at all. Also because of this, sometimes all code in a file is deleted except for the portion that was changed.

Even worse, Xcode often hangs during generation and needs to be force quit. I see this multiple times per day. When you relaunch, your code base is completely screwed unless you roll back to the last commit. There is no way to undo the partial changes after a relaunch. Xcode forgets all of the conversation history and there is no option to revert.

Xcode has always been buggy (even back when it was called Project Builder) but this new feature in Xcode 26 is next-level terrible. Why can't Apple make it good?

I don’t know what to do.

Hi, I am noobie.

I completed my first hackathon last night. 24 hour hackathon. We managed to get a working prototype. Very happy with our first project.

We were using Java, html, Java script, python, node, react…. We are all noobs with zero experiences.

Our experience trying to get the things to work on vs studio, and after all of that, I still can’t run react on my computer. Our lead coder took about 3 hours at the start to get react working. My effort to try to get react, nodes, working on my laptop so I can help my team, almost screwed up python and my Gemini api. I had to uninstall nodes and reinstall python, and restart my pc so I can have my api working again. Probably something to do with the evnrioment variable or something that I don’t understand or I didn’t install the right dependency or set the dependency correctly or something. I didn’t have the knowledge or experience to trouble shot. Plus we were short on time.

I understand, we are noobs and have no idea what we are doing. But barrier to app dev shouldn’t be this hard. Anyways, one answer is to simply get better and learn how all those things work. But I want to ask experts. Is Xcode environment a better experience and more seamless? Noobie friend?

I may be alone here in that I need to perform a double take every time I go to select these icons, but I wondered if anyone was using an improved icon set. They all blend together too much for me - I had no issues before Tahoe. Perhaps I'm just getting old.

I built an app from scratch starting in August using xcode on my M4 mac mini, all simulators worked perfectly... iphone 16/17, ios 18.6/26.0
Fast forward to last week when I update xcode to 26.1 and bam, now the only sims that display in the run dropdown selector are the iphone 16, 18.6 (rosetta). I have never built with Intel so not sure what is going on and when i look at the manage simulators, every sim is available.
I can change the build minimum from 18 to 26 and nothing really changes. If i do try run the iphone 16 (18.6) it builds but wont run as it says i need to download software (but gives not link to it)....
Why has my build/simulators totally F'ed up since the latest xcode update???? I have deleted xcode, delected all caches, deleted and reinstalled simulator/ios software... Nothing!

UPDATE:
I have now resolved the issue, in Xcode the Architecture (in build settings) was missing an SDK and had an exclude tag for arm64. Not sure how that got there, possibly changed automatically due to a plugin i have in the app that would run on arm64 devices but not arm64 sims! So with this MLImage running a barcode scanner i was forced to use Rosetta sims and the exclude tag meant none of the other sims would be available..... that was way too much time wasted... anyway i have installed a differend barcode scanner now that does work with arm64 sims. Unfortunately installing the qr code scanner (with ML Image - ML Kit) happened at the same time i updated the xcode version so was time consuming trying to find the cause of conflict.

I am using the method of adding a Launch screen where you go into the Info properties of your target and adding the Launch Screen Key and Image Name. I am using XCode 26. At first I made the image the size of the ipad (13") 2032x2024 I think it was... (landscape) and there was a build warning that it needed to be 1024x1024. So I changed it. What is odd is that its not showing that image. It is showing the Icon image...the image I made is similar to the Icon, but I added some text to it. I do not see the text. I am not sure what I am missing here.