As AI brokers and vibe-coding apps acquire traction, a broader debate is unfolding throughout the tech business over what they might imply for the way forward for conventional apps and software program instruments, with some in Silicon Valley arguing that it may finally push customers away from apps altogether.
A rising variety of firms are even exploring gadgets constructed round AI brokers over purposes. That imaginative and prescient may very well be in distinction to the billion-dollar app financial system championed by the likes of Apple, whose iPhone continues to closely depend on third-party apps and the ecosystem of builders behind them.
That is the context during which WWDC 2026, Apple’s annual developer convention, is arising subsequent month (June 8-12).
To get a way of what app builders themselves make of all this, The Indian Categorical spoke with a handful of iOS platform engineers and indie creators on the Apple Developer Centre in Bengaluru final week. A few of them have spent years constructing for the platform. And what we discovered was one thing underrated and extra attention-grabbing than a disaster in ready.
Transport an app generated from just a few prompts is distinct from understanding person wants, corresponding to why a colour-blind guitarist may discover a tick-mark extra accessible than inexperienced and pink tuning indicators or why somebody could favor on-device expense monitoring.
Nikhil Nigade, the developer behind Pockity, a private finance and budgeting app, talked about how his poor relationship with cash rising up led him to construct a platform that enables customers to hint precisely how cash strikes between their earnings, financial savings, and bills. “I needed it to be a pleasant factor, a relaxed train, not one thing you do on the finish of the month, like a chore or homework that has been pending for a lot of weeks,” he mentioned.
Pockity is constructed solely utilizing Swift UI, Apple’s programming language for growing apps for its numerous platforms. It’s designed with a number of entry factors to assist customers log transactions in seconds. “Whereas quite a lot of apps prioritise for the period of time customers spend within the app, I need individuals to spend as little time as potential as a result of they’re doing one thing else in life,” he mentioned.
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Nikhil Nigade, developer of Pockity. (Picture: Apple)
On the affect of AI brokers on the app financial system, Nigade opined, “AI brokers will quickly speed up what customers can do on their gadgets particularly with future integrations with apps. For builders, this implies visibility to a brand new cohort of customers which beforehand by no means found your app organically. Straight co-related with income.”
One other app featured in Apple’s Developer Showcase in Bengaluru was Peak, which aggregates knowledge from HealthKit, Apple’s developer framework for health-tracking and health, and streamlines it right into a block-based interface, whereas giving customers the choice to create customisable dashboards based mostly on their well being priorities.
Harshil Shah, a Mumbai-based developer, mentioned that the concept for Peak was born through the COVID-19 pandemic. “In the course of the lockdowns, I turned very sedentary. Even going exterior for a stroll felt harmful since you may run into somebody and get the virus. I’m a tech man, so my first resolution was to not purchase trainers or a health club membership, however to purchase an Apple Watch. Over time, I discovered that it was not sufficient because it offered solely three well being targets,” he mentioned.
Peak is designed to be totally user-controlled with contextual well being knowledge monitoring on the centre. “My present health purpose may be lifting, however that won’t all the time be the case. Possibly later I determine I need to get into operating, prepare for Hyrox, or begin enjoying pickleball. Targets change over time, so the person, not the app, must be in cost,” he added.
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Like Pockity, Peak is constructed utilizing Swift UI and in addition leverages Apple’s Widget Equipment that lets customers observe their exercises with out having to open an app straight from their residence display screen.
Harshil Shah, developer of Peak. (Picture: Apple)
When requested whether or not AI makes it simpler for others to spin up their very own variations of Peak, Shah mentioned, “It’s nice that vibe-coding is letting individuals construct issues which they beforehand couldn’t. However on the identical time, LLMs are usually not deterministic and their outputs aren’t assured to be right. So you must be able to confirm these outcomes, particularly almost about delicate well being knowledge.”
The AI app rebirth
Opposite to the hypotheses that AI-powered instruments would exchange apps, app releases worldwide within the first quarter of 2026 have been up by 80 per cent year-over-year on the iOS App Retailer alone, in line with a report by market intelligence agency Appfigures. Relatively than viewing AI as a menace, the builders in Bengaluru appeared centered on deeply integrating the know-how into their apps.
Take Zoho Pocket book: a cross-platform, AI note-taking app that helps customers seize concepts utilizing textual content, checklists, audio, sketches, and pictures in visually organised digital notebooks.
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With greater than eight million downloads up to now, the ad-free platform is catered to the wants of scholars in addition to working professionals. It comes with Apple Intelligence options corresponding to Writing Instruments within the Textual content and Guidelines Playing cards, together with help for Apple Pencil 2, palm rejection, and 10 Indian languages.
Mohideen Sheik Sulaiman, principal iOS engineer at Zoho (left) and Ashok Ramamoorthy, senior product supervisor at Zoho. (Picture: Apple)
On how a cross-platform app matches with Apple’s tightly managed ecosystem, Ashok Ramamoorthy, senior product supervisor at Zoho, mentioned that there’s an possibility for customers to again up their knowledge and import it onto a brand new system.
Zoho Pocket book additionally built-in Liquid Glass from the primary day. On the toughest a part of adapting to Apple’s distinctive design language aesthetic, Mohideen Sheik Sulaiman, principal iOS engineer at Zoho, mentioned, “The app felt noticeably sooner, lighter, and extra responsive, whereas additionally delivering a refreshed visible expertise. Customers discovered it a lot simpler to find notes, whether or not by shopping inside notebooks or utilizing search.”
“Some early suggestions highlighted a necessity for stronger consistency in making use of Liquid Glass rules throughout the whole app, significantly in areas corresponding to Settings,” he added.
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Arima and Aman Jain, builders of Letter Circulation. (Picture: Apple)
Alongside the debut of Liquid Glass at WWDC 2025, Apple additionally introduced that it’s opening up entry to Apple Intelligence fashions for app builders through the Basis Fashions Framework. Letter Circulation, a Wordle-inspired puzzle recreation developed by Arima and Aman Jain, is an instance of an app that has successfully leveraged Apple’s personal foundational fashions hosted on-device whereas saving on cloud API prices. It additionally embraces Liquid Glass and makes use of Apple’s Metallic graphics and computing API to generate background themes.