First try to vibe code a native iOS app

Mar 14 2025

For this project, I chose Eagle.cool, an application already well-known among designers and illustrators. Its principle is simple: a visual bookmark manager designed to store images, videos, and links, effectively creating a true creative library. My goal was to transform this desktop experience into a fluid, reactive, and tactile iOS version, all while preserving its original visual logic.

The Experiment: From Prompt to Prototype

The exercise wasn't meant to be scientific. I simply wanted to see how far I could go in a few hours using:

  • The Nami framework, developed by a friend.
  • A few well-crafted prompts.
  • The Idol documentation, which served as my guiding thread.

The result, as seen in the video, isn't scalable for mass production—but that is precisely what makes it interesting. It demonstrates the true potential of 'vibecoding' and assisted generation when aligned with a clear design intent. In a very short time, I was able to recreate the core of a native app with complex features:

  • Automatic creation of smart folders.
  • Color detection and extraction from imported images.
  • Contextual organization of local content.

Establishing DevOps Intelligence

The framework I relied on served as more than just a technical foundation. Its central concept is almost philosophical: framing the AI's creativity.

It automatically generates a “DevOps” folder that acts as a technical memory bank. Every error encountered by the model is logged—along with its solution. Consequently, with each new iteration, the system consults its own learning log to avoid reproducing the same failures. In other words: we are teaching the AI to capitalize on its errors, rather than simply generating faster. Towards a New Culture of 'Vibecoding'

Beyond the prototype itself, this experiment led me to reflect on how we code today. 'Vibecoding' is not a method, it is a posture: it consists of co-constructing with a model, designing in rhythm rather than in sequence, and allowing the technical framework to absorb the repetition in order to liberate the creative process.

This native iOS prototype of Eagle.cool is just the beginning, but it paves the way for a different approach to software creation—one that is less linear, more circular, and deeply experimental."