Building an app with AI is still hard

A look at everything going on in the world of Replit.

January 16, 2025

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I saw this tweet the other day. I think it’s true at the moment… although AI can probably get you 90% of the way there with a push.

It will be interesting to see how tools like Replit bridge the gap for people who don’t have a computer science or developer background - especially those from the creative world.

Prompt-to-add integrations are a great start. An Agent brainstorming mode would be a huge step. And more visual tooling to help people see the pieces of their app overall would be a game-changer.

What’s new with Replit

In the two weeks since I last published so much has shipped.

  • Share apps in development mode via QR code - good for testing on mobile.

  • And it looks like easier PostgreSQL database management is in the works - because this is what I see in my Replit account.

Useful & interesting

Last week Replit started putting their Tech Talks series on YouTube. Here’s one where they talk about Agent.

Meanwhile, Matt Palmer has put out another Replit Agent’s beginners guide - this time building a cat image generator.

Finally, Replit founder Amjad Masad sat for an interview with Semafor to talk about the development process behind Agent and Replit’s new strategy targeting the non-coders of the world.

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