At the 2025 WWDC conference, Apple announced its plan to open its artificial intelligence technology to the developer community, launching the Foundation Models framework and an upgraded Xcode26. This marks a major breakthrough for Apple in the field of AI development tools.
Foundation Models Framework: Privacy-Centric AI Integration Solution
Apple's new Foundation Models framework provides developers with a centralized set of tools to directly embed Apple’s proprietary AI models into applications. The biggest highlight of this framework is that it runs entirely on the device locally without any cloud connection, ensuring user privacy while providing free access to developers.
The framework is built directly into the Swift programming language, allowing developers to access Apple Intelligence features with just three lines of code. Core functions such as "Guided Generation" and "Tool Invocation" are pre-installed, significantly lowering the technical threshold for integrating generative AI into existing applications.
The journal application "Day One" from renowned app Automattic has already adopted this framework, offering users "privacy-centric intelligent features".
App Intents Upgrade: Visual Search Capabilities Shared System-Wide
Apple also upgraded App Intents, enabling developers to extend application functionality across all system usage scenarios. The latest version adds visual intelligence support, allowing applications to directly display visual search results in system-level locations such as Siri, Spotlight search, and widgets. Users can jump directly from search results to the corresponding application.
Etsy, an e-commerce platform, has applied this feature to optimize product searches in its iOS application. According to Etsy's Chief Technology Officer Rafe Colburn, many creative items on the platform are difficult to describe accurately with text, and the visual search function is helping buyers discover unique items from small sellers more effectively.
Xcode26: AI Assistant Enters Development Environment
The release of Xcode26 brought developers a directly integrated AI programming assistant. Developers can now use ChatGPT directly within the IDE even without a personal OpenAI account. It also supports adding other AI models through API keys or running local models on Macs equipped with Apple Silicon chips.
The new AI tools in Xcode26 cover the entire development process, including automatic code generation, test writing, documentation creation, error analysis, and design concept iteration. The code editor provides intelligent suggestions based on context, such as creating Playgrounds, error fixes, or generating preview views.
In addition to AI features, Xcode26 optimizes the user interface, improves navigation experience, local directory management, and accessibility design. Developers can now dictate Swift code via voice or navigate the entire Xcode interface using voice commands, further enhancing development efficiency.
Apple's comprehensive opening of AI tools reflects its strategic layout in embracing AI technology trends while maintaining its privacy protection philosophy. This lays a solid foundation for the popularization of AI applications in the iOS ecosystem.