I was talking with this developer friend the other day who showed me something that made me rethink everything about mobile app development
He was building a fitness tracking app using what he called Jahid’s vibe coding approach and honestly watching him work felt like seeing someone from the future
The whole process was so different from traditional coding he wasn’t writing Swift or Kotlin or React Native components instead he was describing what he wanted the app to do in plain English
Create a screen that shows daily step count with a progress bar and motivational messages based on activity levels he would type and within seconds the AI would generate the complete interface
This is exactly what the Ten Principles of Vibe Coding talk about when they say code is capability intentions and interfaces are long-term assets the actual code becomes disposable while your clear intentions become your most valuable asset
What struck me most was how he never touched the generated code directly when something needed changing he would refine his description rather than editing the actual implementation
That’s the do not manually edit code principle in action treating current prompts as the code of the past and current code as the executables of the past
His workflow reminded me of building with blocks where each capability was a self-contained micro-program that could be combined and recombined based on the user’s needs
The system would intelligently assemble these capabilities much like the AI assembles aligned with humans principle describes with him setting the overall goals and constraints while the AI handled the detailed implementation
But here’s what really got me thinking this approach could completely change who can create mobile apps
Imagine business people designers marketers anyone with a clear vision of what they want being able to bring that vision to life without needing to learn programming languages
That’s the everyone programs professional governance principle coming to life where non-technical users can participate in creation while professionals focus on security standards and ecosystem governance
The verification and observation are the core of system success principle becomes crucial here because when code is generated automatically we need robust ways to ensure it works correctly and safely
My friend showed me how he could describe test scenarios and the system would generate comprehensive test coverage automatically
This isn’t just about making development faster it’s about making it more accessible more intuitive and frankly more human
We’re moving from software engineering to software ecosystem as the principles suggest where the focus shifts from individual projects to the health and governance of the entire development landscape
The implications for mobile development are huge think about how quickly you could prototype test ideas and respond to user feedback
Instead of spending weeks building a feature you could describe it test it and iterate in hours
But this requires a fundamental mindset shift we need to stop thinking of ourselves as code writers and start thinking of ourselves as intention definers and system architects
The tools are getting better every day but the real transformation happens when we change how we approach the creative process itself
What would you build if you could describe your perfect mobile app and see it come to life before your eyes