Xcode
No written verdict yet. Here is what commenters said.
Why people recommend it
“I'd also recommend Xcode 27 beta”
“I use Xcode almost exclusively, but with the Vim key bindings which have been integrated very well”
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“Start with XCode then use an LLM to design and develop it out from there its great.”
“you can see SwiftUI previews alongside generated code”
“those are a delight to work with”
Caveats and dissent
“You don’t love it when you open a file that is randomly associated with Xcode and you see that icon start to bounce?”
“loading Xcode is overkill when you just want to edit a markdown file”
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“It would serve a single purpose much better than xCode does”
“I did have to borrow a mac and use xcode to set up my project, I wish that weren't the case.”
Often compared with
Who recommends it in their own words
Threads where it came up
- Xcode 26.3 unlocks the power of agentic coding 18 mentions
- Swift is a more convenient Rust (2023) 6 mentions
- Building and Shipping Mac and iOS Apps Without Ever Opening Xcode 4 mentions
- Swift on Android: Full Native App Development Now Possible 3 mentions
- Ask HN: Why doesn't Apple provide Xcode 27's markdown editor as a separate app? 2 mentions
- Tim Cook to become Apple Executive Chairman 2 mentions
Data: xcode.json. Quotes are verbatim; the verdict and theme labels are written by a model from these comments, and every clause links to its sources.
All comments 40
I built a small but polished native mac markdown reader that you can install, and if you set it as the default handler of markdown files, xcode wont highjack it, I just tested that with my update to macos/xcode 27. It's currently waiting review to be published on the app store, but you can download directly from my webpage. it's open source. https://nano.thirdeyeds.com/
“sideload it to my apple tv via xcode”
“You don’t love it when you open a file that is randomly associated with Xcode and you see that icon start to bounce?”
“loading Xcode is overkill when you just want to edit a markdown file”
“Swift and Xcode are my main tools”
“It would serve a single purpose much better than xCode does”
“But it is possible to run even the latest Xcode 26.6 by directly executing Xcode.app/Contents/MacOS/Xcode”
“Xcode has always been available for free.”
“Enable the xcode mcp server”
“I did have to borrow a mac and use xcode to set up my project, I wish that weren't the case.”
“This is the first time I've ever heard Xcode be called clever.”
“No screwing with Xcode or anything”
Location: Montreal, Canada | EST timezone Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: No • Technologies: Swift, Objective-C, AppKit, UIKit, SwiftUI, CoreData, REST, Stock/Forex/Crypto • Tools: Xcode, Github, Figma, Jira/Linear/Trello, Cursor/ChatGPT/Claude • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christiancomeau • Resume/CV: http://chriscomeau.com/resume • Email: chris.comeau@skyriser.com
“more robust and more responsive than debugging native code in Xcode”
“like the Xcode development environment for iOS”
“Looks like Apple are making an effort to get agents to create decent code with Xcode skills”
“I do not turn on AI integration in Xcode.”
“I'd also recommend Xcode 27 beta”
“I usually use Xcode GUI”
“Everyone will still need to use Xcode for at least some debugging, no way around that.”
“honestly would not even know what to do / click in xcode”
“I went back to Xcode because the debugger UI was better than what I could get out of VS Code at the time”
“I use Xcode almost exclusively, but with the Vim key bindings which have been integrated very well”
And I just discovered there's a group in Seattle called XCoders (https://xcoders.org/), I'll drop in on their social next week and maybe learn more about the Swift/Apple ecosystem.
“it has a known bug with XCode 24.5”
“Start with XCode then use an LLM to design and develop it out from there its great.”
“It's a monstrosity devs have to endure”
“The version of clang that ships with Xcode”
“Xcode has been truly awful: non-deterministic, crashing all the time, and error messages that tell me absolutely nothing.”
“Tools: Xcode, Github, Figma, Jira/Linear/Trello, Cursor/ChatGPT/Claude”
“I use Xcode, but just to run the app with Command-R”
“Xcode and the Apple toolchain are virtually forced upon you. It isn't open in the slightest”
“Xcode on/off for some Obj-C/Swift dev”
“I'd like to get rid of xcode”
“XCode is my least favourite IDE that I use regularily.”
“I knew that to run my build, I needed to use Xcode”
“things like Xcode, VSCode, web browsers, mail, Quicken, Spreadsheets and Word Processing”
“The latest Xcode supports targeting back to macOS 11.”
“nothing similar (Xcode slow, QtCreator slow, etc)”
“I created a mindmap App in XCode”