Apple is is nearing the completion of a “critical” new software tool for app developers that would step up competition with Microsoft, reports Bloomberg.
The tech giant has purportedly been working on the tool for the last year as part of the next major version of Xcode, Apple’s flagship programming software. Bloomberg says it’s now expanded testing of the features internally and has ramped up development ahead of a plan to release it to third-party software makers as early as this year.
Xcode is Apple’s development tool. A free download at the Mac App Store, Xcode includes things developers to make apps for the Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple TV set-top box, the Apple Watch, and the Vision Pro.
Bloomberg says the new system will operate similarly to Microsoft’s GitHub Copilot and use artificial intelligence to predict and complete blocks of code. Also from the article: Apple is also exploring the use of AI to generate code for testing applications, an often tedious process. Currently, Apple is pushing some engineers to try these new AI features internally as part of a “dogfooding” effort — when a company uses its own products — to make sure they work properly before releasing them to outside developers.
