1. Turn an idea into an observable problem
An app idea often starts with a solution: a dashboard, a notification or an assistant. Before designing it, describe the situation. Who struggles, when does it happen, what does it cost them, and what do they do today? Write that description without mentioning your app.
Use the result to evaluate every feature. If you cannot explain how a screen improves that situation, leave it out of the first version. A clear problem also makes feedback more useful: you can ask whether the person completed their task instead of whether they liked the interface.
- Choose one primary user.
- Describe their current workaround.
- Define the result they should reach without your help.
2. Scope a first version you can actually finish
Your MVP is the smallest complete journey that lets you test the central use case. Keep an entry point, a main action and an understandable result. Include loading, empty, error and recovery states: these are part of completing the journey.
Accounts, subscriptions and complex synchronisation can wait when they are not necessary to test that use case. Every external service adds decisions about configuration, data and failure. Reduce those dependencies before asking AI to produce a large amount of code.
3. Choose tools you can maintain
React Native and Expo let you build for iOS with JavaScript or TypeScript. Local native iOS builds use Xcode. Expo also offers EAS services for cloud builds and submission, which change where those steps run.
Choose based on the native features you need, your ability to debug, service costs and how you expect to maintain the app. Record that choice. A new tool is not automatically a reason to rewrite a working prototype.
4. Give AI a narrow, verifiable task
Provide the relevant files, the behaviour you want and a way to check it. A useful request might be: preserve a draft when the app restarts, show a recovery message if reading fails, and explain how to verify both outcomes. That is easier to assess than asking for a complete app.
Review the changes and run the checks yourself. Keep important decisions about navigation, data and permissions in the project so future sessions have the same context. Credentials belong in appropriate secret storage, not in prompts or committed files.
5. Test beyond the simulator
Install on a real iPhone early. Try the keyboard, permissions, slow connectivity, interruptions and reopening the app later. Walk through both a fresh installation and an existing session. A polished demo can still rely on data or permissions that a new user will not have.
Once the core journey is stable, give a TestFlight build to a few people who did not watch you build it. Ask them to complete one task without a spoken explanation and record where they hesitate.
6. Include publication in the project
Prepare the App Store description, screenshots, support page, privacy information and review access during the beta. They must describe the version you are submitting. Apple’s review preparation guidance covers both the app and the information needed to assess it.
Keep a release record with the build, its source commit, known limitations and checks performed. This makes a rejection or a later bug easier to investigate. Your job continues after the upload: you need to support the app you have shipped.