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AI Code Brief - Paul Solt

Join 5,901+ iOS/macOS developers using Codex and agents to build and ship apps. Expect practical tutorials, repeatable workflows, and hard-earned lessons from 7 shipped apps and time at Apple, Microsoft, and GoPro.

Paul Solt and Ray Fernando at the GPT-5.5 on 5/5 Launch Party
Featured Post

3 Things I Learned from the GPT-5.5 Launch Party

Hey Reader, I flew out to San Francisco to visit OpenAI. It was a whirlwind and super fun to meet the team behind the Codex app. And I was able to chat with developers to learn about their own workflows. Read: 3 Things I Learned from the GPT-5.5 Launch Party I met Ray Fernando, Sam Altman, and many other great people at OpenAI and beyond. I was inspired by some of the discussions to start work on my Codex Librarian research tools and skills. This builds upon my DocSetQuery GitHub project....

Codex app + GPT 5.5 for iOS and macOS App Development

Hey Reader, Watch how I build iOS and Mac apps with Codex in 20 minutes. This is my latest Codex GPT-5.5 workflow for shipping real apps. Watch: How I Build REAL Apps with the Codex App and GPT-5.5 GPT-5.5 is really smart, but it still makes mistakes. I show this tool I use daily Get a peek look at my app's sales history See the CLI tools I'm using to find app opportunities If you need an app idea, this video is for you. I'll show you some new tools you can use to find opportunities from...

Codex app and GPT 5.5 with Paul Solt

Hey Reader, My workflow with GPT-5.5 is completely different from GPT-5.4 — and this changed over the weekend. With GPT-5.4, I revived my 9-year-old Super Easy Timer app and pushed conversion from 0.5% to 7.1% over the past two weeks. This week, I had early access to GPT-5.5 and it unblocked my deprecated macOS dependencies in one shot. I wrote up exactly how I'm using the Codex app + GPT-5.5 to build iPhone and Mac apps faster — and how I'm using App Store reviews to write copy that actually...

Hey Reader, One indie dev was stuck at $250 MRR for 13 years. Then he started following Viktor Seraleev, changed 5 things, and hit $5,031 MRR a year later. The fix? Just better packaging. New icon New screenshots New onboarding Simple flow One key paywall placement I broke down five rules from Viktor that stop developers from making over $100: $250 to $5K MRR: 5 App Store Packaging Rules That Actually Work Read the full article → If your app is only converting at 1%, your only goal is to make...

Codex + Xcode Agent Skills

Hey Reader,This week I'm sharing the Skills and Plugins I'd install before letting Codex touch an Xcode project. These skills prevent your agent from writing deprecated code (that they trained on), and push agents to use modern Swift app development. With these skills your agents can make any app: Install These Skills Before Codex Touches Your Xcode Project Grab these iOS + macOS Skills and Plugins for Codex Grab skills for: Swift + SwiftUI Swift Concurrency Liquid Glass iOS + macOS...

Hey Reader, What workflow is best for Codex and Xcode? There are a lot of tools you can configure to work with Xcode, but they might be costing you context (or wasting time). Last year, I started using Makefiles with my agents. A Makefile is a script that can be used to build or run anything (like xcodebuild). I love that you can extend Makefile targets to support variables to hyper focus testing with agents. It's better for Codex to make one tool call that does exactly what you need, rather...

App Store Screenshots

Hey Reader, My last app launch was a flop. I wrote the App Store copy after I’d already submitted for App Review — and I knew it. If you’re in that same boat, that’s okay. But don’t stop there. This week’s article breaks down the research workflow I should have used from the start: using AI and competitor reviews to write copy before you design a single screenshot. Read: The Screenshot Mistake That’s Costing You Downloads Every Day Grab the free 100 Best Practices for App Store Screenshots...

Hey Reader, Before you build iOS app screens, pick colors, or hire an artist, you need a visual direction. I put together an article on four ways I explore the style of an iOS app or game so I can move from vague idea to something real. Read it here: 4 Ways to Explore the Style of Your iOS App or Game Dangerous Snake App UI Concepts using Pencil Learn about: Mood Boards Hiring an artist Sketch prototypes ChatGPT visual design Agentic UI design AI is now good enough to help with a big part of...

App Documentation for Agents

Hey Reader, Agents write better code when they can read docs instead of guessing from memory. A 2026 paper found up to a 20% improvement in first-try code accuracy when models were given the right programming context. So what do you do with that? Don’t rely on the agent to know everything from their training set. Instead, provide tools or local docs that they can reference. Your local docs should include sample code so agents can use the code correctly (the first time). If you’ve ever read...

Codex GPT-5.4 - My Workflow for App Development

Hey Reader, My iOS and macOS app development workflow has changed since my last GPT-5.2 Workflow video. GPT-5.4 lets me iterate on bug fixes, features, and ideas much faster than before. Watch: How I Build Apps with Codex and GPT-5.4 If you want to build apps with agents, use my app-creator skill. It can scaffold a new Xcode project and teach your agent how to create a Makefile for an existing Xcode project. 2 Tactics You Can Steal #1 Use a Learnings.md File with Your Agent Self-improvement...