Apple Intelligence is putting AI at the center of the iOS experience, and companies looking to maximize iPhone user engagement will need an AI-integrated app. Luckily, Apple unveiled new tools aimed at simplifying and enhancing the app development process.

Siri Is Now Your Brand Engagement Manager

Apple made significant improvements to Siri, which was a highlight from WWDC 2024. These AI-powered updates aim for “more natural, contextually relevant, and personalized interactions.” For example, if you ask Siri, “Show me those running shoes my wife sent me yesterday,” Siri can now find the product link in iMessage and redirect you to the app with your size pre-selected.

Apps can now write entities into a personal intelligence system called the Semantic Index, which Siri can access. Using the App Intents API, developers have a critical opportunity to enable sophisticated, context-aware interactions and information access through Siri, shortcuts and other tooling.

In addition to the leap in voice comprehension, Siri is also getting a new text-based interface, allowing interaction on the bus, in a crowded restaurant, or on a plane.

TLDR: Build a Siri integration into your app’s product roadmap. With these improvements and new features, the 1.5 billion Siri queries per year are set to skyrocket. To take advantage of that, brands need to strategically integrate Siri into their app.

AI-Powered Enhancements in Xcode Accelerate Development

Apple’s Xcode, the integrated development environment (IDE) for macOS, is getting a major boost with AI capabilities through Swift Assist, designed to streamline coding and boost developer productivity. Here’s how to leverage what’s new:

• Code Prediction and Completion: Xcode now features AI-driven code prediction and completion, akin to GitHub’s Copilot. This function predicts and suggests complete code blocks, enabling developers to write code faster and with fewer errors.
• Context-Aware Recommendations: Swift Assist offers tailored suggestions based on your code’s specific context, making recommendations more relevant and helpful, especially for new developers or those unfamiliar with parts of the Swift language.
• Automated Testing Code Generation: Xcode’s new AI features can automatically generate test cases, ensuring comprehensive test coverage and reducing manual effort. This allows developers to focus more on building features, leading to faster and more reliable app releases.

TLDR: Start experimenting with these AI-powered enhancements to accelerate time to market. Xcode will be a game-changer on many fronts: It will increase developer productivity, reduce development costs, enhance app quality, and accelerate time to market, giving companies a significant competitive edge.

AI Enhances Privacy, User Experience and Safety

The integration of AI in Xcode and Swift Assist is not just beneficial for developers but also significantly enhances the end-user experience:

• Higher Quality Apps: With AI-driven testing and code completion, apps are more likely to be bug-free and optimized for performance, providing users with a smoother and more reliable experience.
• Faster Updates: AI tools reduce development time, allowing for quicker updates and new features, keeping your app competitive and responsive to user needs.
• Enhanced Security: AI can help identify potential security vulnerabilities during the development process, ensuring that your app is secure from threats and protecting user data.

TLDR: AI paired with Xcode and Swift Assist is the rising tide that lifts all boats. Brands investing in app development can have more confidence that their apps will continuously provide the high-quality experience customers demand at significantly lower maintenance costs.

By integrating cutting-edge AI features of Apple’s ecosystem and Xcode, Apple is empowering developers to create high-quality apps more efficiently. Leveraging these tools offers companies a competitive advantage by saving time and money in the development process while enhancing productivity and delight for both engineers and end-users.

Are you ready to bring your idea to life, cut costs and time and improve efficiency? Contact us today.

Zac Frank is the director of product management at Code and Theory and SJ Singh is the solutions architect at Code and Theory.