Build an iPhone app
Make and test an app, prepare its store listing, and learn the steps for submitting it to Apple.
Original course title & technical overview
Build iPhone Apps on a Mac with Claude, Xcode and Computer Use. From an empty Mac to an app on TestFlight: set up Xcode and Claude Code, create the Apple Developer account, drive the simulator with computer use and Desktop Commander, build a real SwiftUI app from a brief, and ship it to a client’s testers.
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2026 EDITIONWhat you can offer
Make and test an app, prepare its store listing, and learn the steps for submitting it to Apple.
Detailed deliverables
Native iPhone apps for small businesses and creators: booking, loyalty, ordering, a content companion, an internal tool. You deliver a working SwiftUI app on TestFlight with source code, and optionally handle the App Store submission.
Tools (free plans have limits): A Mac running the current macOS, Xcode (free, Mac App Store) with the iOS platform installed, Claude Code and the Claude desktop app with computer use, Desktop Commander, XcodeBuildMCP (optional, structured Xcode control), Apple Developer Program ($99/year), A backend: Cloudflare Workers + D1 (from A4) or Supabase, TestFlight and App Store Connect
You will make
- A Mac set up for iOS development: Xcode with the iOS platform, command-line tools, Claude Code, Desktop Commander, computer use permissions for Xcode and the Simulator
- An Apple Developer account, with the certificates and identifiers Apple requires, created with Claude guiding each screen
- A SwiftUI app built from a brief: navigation, data model, networking to a Workers API, local persistence, a polished UI, app icon and launch screen
- Automated build, test and simulator runs driven by Claude (xcodebuild, simctl, the Desktop simulator pane), with screenshots Claude reads to fix UI bugs
- A TestFlight build installed on a tester’s phone for the capstone client, with privacy details, screenshots and the App Store listing drafted
Inside this course
6 lessons · 11 AI instruction templates · 6 worked examples · 3 exam versions · final practice projectLesson 1 is open as a free preview, ready-to-use AI instructions included. Sign up free to unlock the rest and try AI instructions in the practice area.
- 1🔒 Sign inWhat you will learn · 2 min
- 2🔒 Sign inSet up your tools · 10 min
- 3Preview freeSet up the Mac and prove the loop · 45 minPrepare the Mac tools used to build iPhone apps. Create a small practice app, run it in a simulator, and check the screen.
- 4🔒 Sign inThe Apple Developer account, step by step · 50 minUnderstand the Apple account and app records needed for publishing. The account owner handles enrollment, sign-in, agreements, and payments.
- 5🔒 Sign inBuild the app: SwiftUI, data, networking · 120 minBuild the screens and navigation, connect the information the app needs, and handle loading and errors clearly.
- 6🔒 Sign inPolish: icon, launch, onboarding, privacy · 60 minImprove the icon, first-time experience, permissions explanations, and small interactions. Check the app’s privacy information against what it actually does.
- 7🔒 Sign inTestFlight: archive, upload, testers, feedback · 60 minPrepare a signed test version and share it through Apple’s testing service. Use tester feedback to fix problems before release.
- 8🔒 Sign inApp Store submission, maintenance and selling the service · 45 minPrepare the store listing and submission, respond to review feedback, and agree on future maintenance with the client.
- 9🔒 Sign inCertification exam · 25 min10 questions · 80% to pass · three versions, a retake is never the same test.
- 10🔒 Sign inFinal project: A subscription-bouquet app for Petal & Stem · 75 minA subscription-bouquet app for Petal & Stem: graded on 5 criteria, pass at 15/20.
- 11🔒 Sign inCheck your work · 15 min
- 12🔒 Sign inFeedback and certificate · 5 min
- 13🔒 Sign inPublish your service · 20 min
Final practice project: A subscription-bouquet app for Petal & Stem
A practice assignment from Petal & Stem (Neighborhood florist with a subscription bouquet service). You will see the scoring guide (rubric) before you start.
| What we check | What earns the full 4 points |
|---|---|
| Brief followed | All five screens and the subscription, pause and delivery/pickup flows work against the live API; all deliverables present |
| Engineering quality | Clean MVVM structure per CLAUDE.md, typed API client, offline handling, tests passing, no warnings, commits per feature |
| Design and accessibility | Brand tokens applied, SF Symbols, consistent components, dark mode and AX5 screenshots clean, purpose strings specific |
| Apple compliance | Account in client’s name with you as App Manager, App ID and automatic signing, privacy manifest, account deletion, Sign in with Apple, export compliance set |
| Delivery | TestFlight build installed by another person who completed a booking without instructions; listing review-ready; hand-off complete |
Honest expectations. You need a Mac; there is no honest way around Xcode for iOS (Expo/EAS can build in the cloud for simpler apps, covered in lesson 6). Apple’s review rejects apps for reasons you will find petty; the lesson on the account and review covers the common ones. Claude writes most of the Swift; you still need to understand the structure well enough to steer it, and this track teaches exactly that much.