The Tech Pulse

Figma To App Store In 37 Minutes With AI [Tutorial]

One Sentence Summary

The video demonstrates how to rapidly build and deploy an iOS app using AI coding tools and design processes in under an hour.

Main Points

  1. Building iOS apps with AI tools is faster and more feasible than many think.
  2. Starting with a simple, single-feature app helps save time and gather user feedback early.
  3. Designing in Figma before coding ensures clarity and reduces development mistakes.
  4. Inspiration from existing apps guides effective mobile design and user experience.
  5. Prompt engineering and AI collaboration streamline the coding process efficiently.
  6. Windsurf and other AI tools can generate functional app code from detailed instructions.
  7. Testing on iOS simulators and real devices ensures app quality before app store submission.
  8. Expo simplifies building, testing, and submitting iOS apps to TestFlight and the App Store.
  9. Feedback collection via TestFlight helps refine the app before public launch.
  10. The app store review process remains the most time-consuming step, requiring patience.

Takeaways

  1. Use design tools like Figma to plan your app thoroughly before coding.
  2. Break down features into simple, manageable parts for quick development.
  3. Leverage AI coding tools to generate initial app code, saving months of manual work.
  4. Test extensively on simulators and real devices to catch bugs early.
  5. Prepare for the app store review process by following guidelines and being patient.

Gemini summarize

This video provides a tutorial on how to build and launch an iOS app using AI coding tools in under 37 minutes. The hosts, Ras and another individual, demonstrate the entire process from ideation to app store submission.

Here's a breakdown of the video:

  • Introduction and Concept (0:00-4:24): The video highlights the opportunity in building iOS apps with AI, contrasting it with the focus on web apps. They decide to build a simple mood tracker app inspired by a popular TikTok app, emphasizing the importance of starting with a single feature for faster development and user feedback.
  • Figma Design (4:24-14:28): Ras explains the importance of designing the app in Figma before coding to visualize the user flow and gather feedback. He demonstrates how to use competitor research and wireframes to create a clear design for the app's welcome screen, mood selection, sub-emotion selection, journal entry, and home screen.
  • Building the App with Windsurf (14:28-23:25): The tutorial moves to the coding phase using Windsurf and Expo. They show how to set up an initial project, use the iOS simulator, and provide high-level instructions to the AI to build each page based on the Figma designs. The process involves sending one page at a time to the AI to prevent "hallucinations."
  • Testing and Debugging (23:25-28:28): After building the app, they test its full flow in the simulator, demonstrating how to select emotions, add journal entries, and view past entries. They encounter a bug where the app returns to the welcome screen after restarting and show how to use prompting to fix it, emphasizing the importance of clear communication with the AI.
  • Submitting to the App Store (28:28-30:52): The video covers the process of compiling the project into an iOS build using Expo and submitting it to TestFlight for external testing. They show how Expo simplifies the submission process by automating many steps that would typically be done manually through App Store Connect.
  • Episode Summary and Future Outlook (30:52-34:41): The hosts reflect on the speed of development and discuss potential future features for the app, such as integrating an LLM to generate mood reports. They also touch upon marketing strategies using platforms like TikTok to reach a wider audience and gather user feedback through TestFlight's screenshot feature.