Apple Announced Swift Assist at WWDC 2024... So Where Is It?

[MacRumors]

At WWDC 2024, Apple announced Swift Assist, an AI-powered coding companion integrated into Xcode 16 that's designed to assist developers by generating code from natural language prompts. At the time, Apple said Swift Assist would be coming "later this year."

We're now three months into 2025, and it's nowhere to be seen.

Swift Assist (Image: Apple)​

Unlike Apple Intelligence, Swift Assist never appeared in beta. Apple hasn't announced that it's been delayed or cancelled. The company has since released Xcode 16.3 beta 2, and as Michael Tsai points out, it's not even mentioned in the release notes.

Swift Assist is different from the new predictive code completion engine in Xcode 16 that can suggest the code developers need and runs locally on a developer's device. Here's how Apple described Swift Assist in its Platforms State of the Union:

Building an app is more than just typing code. It's about transforming entire ideas into code. And the easiest way to do that is with natural language. So we created a larger and more powerful model that runs in the cloud. And crafted a unique experience in Xcode that only Apple could deliver. Introducing Swift Assist, a companion for all your coding tasks. And whether you know exactly what you're after, or want help writing the best Swift code, Swift Assist can answer your coding questions and help with tasks like experimenting with new APIs.

Swift Assist knows Apple's latest SDKs and Swift language features, so you'll always get up-to-date and modern code that blend perfectly into your project. So now, tasks like exploring new frameworks and experimenting with new ideas are just one request away. Like all Apple developer services, Swift Assist is built with your privacy and security in mind. Your code is never stored on the server. It's only used for processing your request, and most importantly, Apple doesn't use it for training machine learning models. Swift Assist and the new predictive completions will turbo charge the way you work in Xcode. This marks the beginning of a journey to add extraordinary intelligence into our tools. What an exciting time to be developing for Apple platforms.

Unfortunately, any initial excitement has long been replaced by frustration. Check out some of the comments from the developer community:

Jbmaxwell:

I could really use Swift Assist to deal with some SwiftUI problems I'm having. None of the LLMs are particularly good at SwiftUI, and seem to be wasting more of my time than they're saving. When, Apple???? You're the only ones with the data and the incentive to build a really knowledgeable Swift coding LLM.... super frustrating.

Asteng88:

Unfortunately Apple are so far behind the AI curve right now. They spent so much time on the useless AR glasses that every other company has killed off. I think [Tim Cook] thought the AR was his iPhone moment. Should have spent the time and money on AI like everyone else. Code complete is a joke compared to VSCode with Copilot.

Rennarda:

It's feeling more and more like this is something that will get rolled back to Xcode 17 this summer. Has anybody heard anything about it? Maybe it'll be quietly pulled all together, in favour of better Xcode integration with Chat GPT and the like?

WWDC is starting to feel more and more like a preview of what Apple might release over the coming year - but normally the dev tools they show are shipped by the end of the summer.

It's a bad look for Apple, especially given the current controversy surrounding the company's delayed personalized Siri features. WWDC 2025 is less than three months away, and it seems that developers are beginning to wonder whether they'll ever see Swift Assist in Xcode 16 at all. We've reached out to Apple for comment.

Article Link: Apple Announced Swift Assist at WWDC 2024... So Where Is It?

 

[augustrushrox]

It's Apple. Over budget and behind schedule. What did you expect?

 

[pksv]

"Apple Intelligence" will soon be like "Voldemort" inside Apple.

 

[ghostface147]

Something rotten is going on at Apple.

 

[DBZmusicboy01]

Apple Intelligence is a much bigger controversy than even the iPhone 4 Bar Leak.

 

[Rychiar]

maybe cus this is a useful AI tool like LLM Siri. Apple only makes nonsense gimmick AI tools, sorry for the confusion.

 

[xmarcuswildx]

Something rotten is going on at Apple.

Yeah somebody must be Cooking them.

 

[Nozuka]

I'm surprised to hear, that other LLMs are not good at Swift Code. Is there not enough code publicly available to train them on?

 

[Mrkevinfinnerty]

Coming in 2027 with Homepad, Apple Intelligence and Airpower

 

[sunapple]

Leaked Tim Cook strategy notes:

1. Announce
2. Profit
3. Delay
4. Announce
5. Profit
6. Release
7. Profit

 

[iBluetooth]

Something rotten is going on at Apple.

I guess they realized that perfection is difficult to achieve with current AI and that they overpromised with all their AI features as they needed to announce to be relevant.

 

[CarAnalogy]

I would love to see some actual humility out of Apple at WWDC this year. Some realistic statements, announcing things that are actually ready to be released at least in beta, things like that.

So tired of being patronized to every year. These pre-recorded formats are not good for Apple. They are already far too much in their own bubble. They need feedback, even if it's just from their carefully chosen friendly audience members.

 

[airwalk331]

This isn’t surprising. Apple can barely follow through with what they show off at their events these days.

I miss Steve Jobbs. Whoever started that forum thread knows.

 

[jclardy]

The simple answer is - anyone dedicated on AI projects was fully pushing on the consumer AI side, developer tools are always an afterthought.

 

[Graphate]

(A) AI’s ability is probably vastly overblown; that goes for Apple Intelligence too. Apple’s on-device tools are good if you have okay writing to begin with. I think it’s just more pronounced about it’s difficult for a layperson to spot the holes in other AI models than it does with Apple… in part because it goes viral when Apple Intelligence summarizes a BBC article poorly.

(B) If I received a nickel every time an Apple Event announced something that never happened in the last 20 years, I’d maybe have a dollar. It happens about once a year, but not so often that people have cared enough to declare Apple is a sinking ship.

So…
(C) I don’t think that Apple falling through or delaying an announcement is predictive or indicative of something new, just because it’s AI.

 

[nfl46]

lol. Oh Apple….wtf

 

[Etc_]

Leaked Tim Cook strategy notes:

1. Announce
2. Profit
3. Delay
4. Announce
5. Profit
6. Release
7. Profit

That became apparent as soon as they started integrating ads into system apps. If the rumors are true, Maps is next in line. Why would they do that? Are they really so desperate for ad revenue that they’re willing to trade customer trust?

 

[Tig_one]

I would love to see some actual humility out of Apple at WWDC this year. Some realistic statements, announcing things that are actually ready to be released at least in beta, things like that.

So tired of being patronized to every year. These pre-recorded formats are not good for Apple. They are already far too much in their own bubble. They need feedback, even if it's just from their carefully chosen friendly audience members.

Feedback does nothing if you keep buying.

 

[urtules]

Wait, I thought the new auto-complete introduce in 16.2 is Swift Assist.

 

[ThatGuyInLa]

I would love to see some actual humility out of Apple at WWDC this year. Some realistic statements, announcing things that are actually ready to be released at least in beta, things like that.

So tired of being patronized to every year. These pre-recorded formats are not good for Apple. They are already far too much in their own bubble. They need feedback, even if it's just from their carefully chosen friendly audience members.

When everyone laughed at the price of the XDRs monitors display stand cost, that was it. The shutdown from the bug gave them more excuse. No more live shows where reaction from the audience is a risk for their stock price.

 

[CarAnalogy]

That became apparent as soon as they started integrating ads into system apps. If the rumors are true, Maps is next in line. Why would they do that? Are they really so desperate for ad revenue that they’re willing to trade customer trust?

Yes. They see services as the only lifeboat off the iPhone raft they've been riding their entire resurgence. Services means ads and subscriptions.

Though I'm ok with high quality ads in maps, it's the one reasonable place for small business to promote themselves. I do actually want to know what stores are around me and if they can pay a slight fee for promotion everyone wins.

 

[siddavis]

Artificial Introductions

 

[victorvictoria]

Who knew that inventing and using an artificial intelligence could be hard?

 

[Ubuntu]

Wait, I thought the new auto-complete introduce in 16.2 is Swift Assist.

I thought the same, but I SA is meant to be more like Copilot I think, e.g. prompts more than auto complete:

Apple empowers developers and fuels innovation with new tools and resources

Apple unveiled new tools and resources to enable developers worldwide to create more powerful apps across iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and visionOS.

www.apple.com

FWIW, I can highly recommend the official Github Copilot for Xcode extension.

 

[Etc_]

Yes. They see services as the only lifeboat off the iPhone raft they've been riding their entire resurgence. Services means ads and subscriptions.

Though I'm ok with high quality ads in maps, it's the one reasonable place for small business to promote themselves. I do actually want to know what stores are around me and if they can pay a slight fee for promotion everyone wins.

Guess I have a different opinion. An operating system (especially when the company chooses to make its apps part of it) should never ever have ads.