About a class ago , I started learn how to code in Swift , Apple ’s app development linguistic communication . The approximation was to finally be able-bodied to ramp up my own iOS apps from clams and rediscover the playfulness of coding .

After a while , though , I began to lose interest . My last cipher practice was almost 20 twelvemonth ago when I teach myself HTML and CSS , and get back into the mindset was operose . I also did n’t have a specific app end in mind , meaning the parkway to push through the elusive sections was n’t there .

For all the inflated talk of the town of howartificial intelligence(AI ) is go to upend the intact universe , this is one country where I cogitate AI could have really help me . Things might have been unlike if I ’d had an AI help to help me write code for part I was stick on . perchance with that , my coding journeying would n’t have ended quite so , ahem , swiftly .

Funnily enough , this kind of taunt assistant is precisely what Apple has enounce it will presently bestow toApple Intelligence . The feature article is called Swift Assist and Apple has pledged to ramp up it into its Xcode write in code app . The idea is it can be used to generatively spell section of code for you . All you have to do is enter some natural language prompting and Swift Assist will create function computer code based on your input .

Missing in action

Apple introduced Swift Assist at its Worldwide Developers Conference ( WWDC ) in June 2024 . But there ’s just one job : it might be vaporware . Either that or it ’s so far from being ready that Apple is apparently buying its capitulum in the backbone and venture it does n’t exist , because Swift Assist is nowhere to be seen .

For instance , at WWDC 2024 , Apple said Swift Assist would be coming“later this year,”implying that it was middling near windup . Yet the feature has never seem in any Xcode ormacOS betaand , as developer Michael Tsairecently pointed out , it is n’t even mentioned in the release notes for the modish Xcode 16.3 genus Beta 2 . With WWDC 2025 just three months by , time is flow out for Apple to show us something upstanding .

The frustrating thing about the whole Swift Assist fiasco is that it sound like a splendid idea . Apple said it would have an internal knowledge of the Swift fool language and the company ’s latest APIs , which many other AI tools struggle with . It might be capable to suggest Modern way of mold if you ’re stuck in one line of thought that is n’t work — a trouble I often found when coding myself .

As well as that , Swift Assist is meant to run in the swarm , yet Apple order your code is never store on its server and “ Apple does n’t practice it for training machine acquisition model . ” That ’s peculiarly important when you ’re dealing with custom code and AI models — a potentially risky combination .

Apple challenger OpenAIrecently showedthatChatGPTwill be capable to integrate right on into Xcode , writing code based on your instinctive voice communication prompting , just as Swift Assist is intended to do . Google ’s Gemini AI can alsoperform similar task . But with OpenAI and Google , there ’s the risk that your proprietary code is being absorb and used to train the model , which could lead to code leaks . With Apple , on the other deal , seclusion and security are priorities .

Another delayed AI feature

fleet Assist seems to have fall off the face of the land and Apple has n’t even mentioned it for months . Really , this seems to be emblematical of Apple Intelligence , where the missing and bungled features are racking up . Thedelay to enhance Siri abilitiesis just the most late example .

But the delay to Swift Assist is in particular painful to me because I can see how it might have helped get me out of the rut that doomed my past attempt to con Swift . Sure , I could utilise ChatGPT or else , but privacy is of import to me . Knowing that my code wo n’t be feed in some faceless AI for who knows what purpose is important to me .

Hopefully , Apple is still work intemperately on Swift Assist , and I have my fingers crossed that we ’ll see it sooner rather than afterward . It could be a swell puppet for all developers , whether they ’re experienced honest-to-god men or budding freshman . But Apple really require to get a move on before rivals like ChatGPT propose the same functionality without any of the privacy protections .