How I Built an App for All Apple Platforms Using AI (and No Coding Experience)

I just launched a new task app for all your Apple devices. It's called Kan Do. It works on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and even Apple Vision Pro. I wanted to build the best Kanban app across the Apple ecosystem. It syncs with iCloud, runs lightning fast, and has absolutely no subscription. You pay a one-time fee of $3 and get it everywhere.

What exactly is Kan Do?

It's a task and project management app focused heavily on Kanban boards. The main navigation gives you an Inbox, Today, Upcoming, and Flagged section to separate your tasks.

Below that, you can create spaces with individual projects underneath. Each project holds your list of tasks. You can view them as a Kanban board or switch to a list view with the tap of a button. Everything is built natively in Swift. That keeps swiping across columns and moving tasks incredibly fast.

Why I needed to build my own task app

I actually really like Apple's Reminders app. It's fast and includes a built-in column view. I used it for years to manage my video projects. But it definitely has limitations. You can only attach a single image to a task, and the notes area is very basic.

My typical workflow involved keeping a bare note for every video with my sponsor reads, PDF documents, and images. I then kept a separate Reminders board for the actual video tasks. I wanted a single place that combined a beautiful column view with rich text and heavy file attachments.

Rich markdown and file attachments

This was a huge priority for me. I wanted to be able to add rich markdown text, attachments, and multiple links to every single task.

Here's how to try it

1. Tap any task to expand the note screen.
2. Type your text using standard markdown.
3. Use the styling menu to add Bold, Italic, or a To-Do checklist manually.

You can also drag PDFs, documents, and multiple images directly into the note attached to the task. If you need to refer back to a PDF while working, just double-click it to open a preview.

Fixing the Shortcuts experience

One thing that frustrated me about Apple Reminders is the New Reminder action in Shortcuts. You can choose a list and set an alert, but you cannot specify a column. I had to build a workaround just to drop a task into a specific column.

In Kan Do, I built a robust Add Task action to fix this completely.

How it works

1. Open Shortcuts and add the Add Task action for Kan Do.
2. Choose your project and select the exact column you want.
3. Add Tags, a Due Date, or a Priority flag directly in the setup.

Building with AI and zero coding skills

I'm not a developer. I did some web development years ago, but I don't know Swift. I built this entire app using AI.

I opened Xcode, created a new project, and connected the Claude agent. I used my Anthropic account on the $100 Claude Max plan. From there, I just talked to Claude. I gave it instructions to build the app, run it on my Mac, send it to my iPhone, and archive it for the App Store. It took about a week to get it ready.

The AI handled almost everything perfectly. It did struggle with a few specific bugs, like dragging a task into the empty space of a column. For that, I used a great app called Contextly to help talk to Claude and figure out a solution. If you want to hear the deep dive on this process, I discuss it with David Sparks on the Mac Power Users podcast.

A quick look at what's next

I'm already working on a second app. I have a TestFlight beta available right now for members of my Shortcuts community. I share new shortcuts every week, run live streams, and even gave away 100 promo codes for Kan Do to my members.

Go explore

Building an app was challenging, but the AI tools available today make it incredibly fun. Kan Do is out now in the App Store for a single $3 purchase. Grab it for your iPhone, Mac, or iPad, and let me know how it fits into your workflow.