Welcome to my corner of the internet. Over Christmas break, I built an iOS app almost entirely with AI. This is the story of how that happened.

The Problem

I travel long distances with two cats. Cats don’t adapt easily to long journeys, unfamiliar environments, or sudden changes in routine—so planning a route that works for them takes more thought than just picking the fastest drive.

I used to drive from Chennai to Goa, breaking the journey with an overnight halt in Bengaluru. After moving to Hyderabad, those natural stop points disappeared. Planning cat-friendly routes became significantly harder.

I looked for an app that could help. Couldn’t find one. So I built it.

The Twist

I had zero iOS experience. I’d never written a line of Swift in my life.

Over the Christmas break, I built PurrPilot—a route planning app for cat parents—almost entirely with AI assistance using Claude. And it actually shipped.

That experience changed how I think about building software. I didn’t write most of the code myself. But I shipped something real, built from actual travel constraints and lived experience.

This blog is where I’ll share what that journey looks like.

What to Expect

I’ll be writing about:

• Shipping iOS apps with AI - What it’s actually like to build apps when you’re not writing most of the code
• Scope decisions - How to decide what to build (and what not to build)
• The human side of AI-assisted development - Prompting, reviewing, debugging code you didn’t write
• Honest reflections - Because I think there’s value in transparency about this new way of building

Let’s Connect

If any of this resonates with you, I’d love to hear from you. Find me on Twitter or drop me an email.

Here’s to shipping software in whatever way works for you.

- Shahin