Replit, an AI-driven integrated development environment, updated its mobile app to generate further mobile apps to order.
What’s new: Replit’s app, which previously generated simple Python programs, now generates iOS and Android apps and app templates that can be shared publicly. Mobile and web access to Replit’s in-house code generation models is free for up to three public applications. A Core plan ($25 per month, $180 per year) buys unlimited access and applications, code generation by Claude 3.5 Sonnet and OpenAI GPT-4o, and monthly credits for generated checkpoints.
How it works: The app and web tools are powered by Replit Agent, an AI coding assistant designed to help users write, debug, and deploy applications with little manual setup. Replit Agent is based on Claude 3.5 Sonnet and calls other specialized models. The agent framework is built on LangChain’s LangGraph. It breaks down development tasks into steps to be handled by specialized sub-agents.
- The mobile app includes three views in development or “create” mode, enabling users to build applications with natural language instructions in a chatbot interface, ask Replit’s chatbot questions, or preview applications in a built-in browser.
- A quick start panel also lets users import projects from GitHub, work using built-in templates, or build apps in specific coding languages.
- The system can plan new projects, create application architectures, write code, and deploy apps. Users can deploy completed apps to Replit’s infrastructure on Google Cloud without needing to configure hosting, databases, or runtime environments manually.
Behind the news: The incorporation of Replit Agent to Replit’s mobile app is a significant step for AI-driven IDEs. Competitors like Aider and Windsurf don’t offer mobile apps, and mobile apps from Cursor and Github provide chat but not mobile app development. Moreover, few coding agents can deploy apps to the cloud on the desktop or mobile.
Why it matters: Replit’s new mobile app produces working apps in minutes (although some early users have reported encountering bugs), and automatic deployment of apps to the cloud is a huge help. Yet it raises the stakes for developers to learn their craft and maintain a collaborative relationship with AI. While Replit’s web-based environment exposes the code, encouraging users to improve their skills, the mobile app hides much of its work below the surface. It brings AI closer to handling full software development cycles and adds urgency to questions about how to address the balance between automation and hands-on coding.
We’re thinking: AI continues to boost developer productivity and reduce the cost of software development, and the progress of Bolt, Cursor, Replit, Vercel, Windsurf, and others is exhilarating. We look forward to a day when, measured against the 2024 standard, every software engineer is a 10x engineer!