I built an app using AI – I have no idea how to code!

I’m not kidding, you can go to the App Store for iPhone or Google Play Store for Android and download the app “I” built right now. This is an exercise in how remarkable AI really is, and the options it presents to those who might not have the means to develop an app.

Now, for Harry and James, the legends who created the EFTM app for iOS and Android relax, I don’t have the inclination, or patience to take this on at much more of a level than I already have – plus, I enjoy supporting Aussies doing their best. I did this for two reasons, Stig wanted his timezone app, and I wanted to see what I could really do having heard so many stories of “AI coding”.

Let’s rewind a little. Stig is my mate who travels the world with me filming the content we need for Live TV crosses, Segments and Videos. Many years ago he discovered an app called “Zones” which was this really simple app that showed a bunch of places around the world and their time relative to each other with a sliding bar to allow you to move “forward in time” or backwards to see what the time difference would be at different times of the day.

That app is gone, no longer available.

Yes, there are many many similar apps out there, I found them. But I wasn’t recreating that app because it would be unique or popular, I was seeing if I could recreate the app myself – with zero coding knowledge.

I launched Claude on my MacBook Pro, switched to “Code” and typed this:

“I want to build an iOS app to simply demonstrate the timezone difference between one place and another (or several others), with a sliding time interface to allow you to scrub forward and backwards in time.”

Now what I did know was that apps are built in XCode on Mac, and I already had an Apple developer account – you’ll need both.

But boy oh boy, from there, it just happens.

Looking at the app in an iPhone “Emulator” on screen, I had feedback, and went back and forth a few times with my Claude Coder to tweak things – like the range of the hours in the slider. The First app also showed very few cities to add to the list, so I said “we need a more complete city list, if i search San Francisco or Cupertino i get nothing.“

Claude found a database of over 170,000 cities and ensured that the required disclosure for usage was listed within the app.

From there, Claude uploaded the app to my developer account so I could test it on my real phone. Using Apple’s app-testing software “Testflight” I was able to give Stig a copy to try too!

Now I knew I was onto something. I added some visual branding with the EFTM logo, and thought about simple things like Dark Mode. We (me and Claude) also came up with the idea of having an alert that Daylight Savings Time was changing relative to your home city and listing those warnings.

What I was blown away with was the simple things that it did all on its own, like press and hold to re-order, and swipe to delete or swipe right to set as home.

I was getting cocky. So, I asked Claude to make a Widget. No issues!

With the app in pretty good form, I had it waiting for review so I could test on some other peoples phones too.

While waiting, I thought, Oh – what about Android?

Claude did it all. I just asked “can you give me an idea how do we build that SAME app for Android?“

The entire toolset used for Android development was setup and installed on my MacBook.

Going LIVE on the App Store and Google Play Store wasn’t smooth, perhaps even frustrating. But this was my first time. Google needed the app to progress from stage to stage even though I was ready to go from basic demo to live instantly!

Apple was a stretch too, their submission review process is manual, so twice they came back upset that you could load the EFTM Website in the app and we show the “Google Play” download link. So we made a new version of the app where the EFTM logo launches the EFTM app instead.

The Apple process was slow, very slow, but we got there, and today, it’s live. Both platforms are live, the app is free to download – so hey, check it out? Maybe leave Claude and I a little positive review? Mention Claude in your review like he’s a real person hey?

This process was mind-blowing to me. It felt like I had a skilled developer with me. When Apple rejected me, and asked questions, I pasted that and Claude gave me the answers.

What are the limitations? I don’t know frankly – but what would have taken a few thousand dollars to develop, was done using my standard Claude (Paid) Subscription.

Does this mean it’s useless to learn how to code? No. But it does mean that someone who has coding knowledge could prompt AI in a far more detailed way and achieve some remarkable results.

It also means that someone who can’t afford the cost of basic coding might be able to do some cool things, but – be prepared for frustration, and be sure to ask questions of your AI coder if you don’t understand, otherwise you simply won’t get what you want.

All that is to say – Wow – I built an app, and I have no idea how to code!

Download “Stig Time” Now: iOS (App Store) or Android (Google Play)