Leo Dion
@leogdion.bsky.social
Hey everybody! I'm an independent Swift developer. My company is https://brightdigit.com I also have a Youtube channel and podcast on Swift development. When I'm not doing development, presenting, or recording; I'm with my 6 kids.
Patreon update for members: Beer City Code prep, git-trees 1.0, Bushel guest tools, AtLeast beta 7, FCPKit/KeynoteKit, and Publish → Swift 6.4. www.patreon.com/brightdigit
BrightDigit — creating podcasts and software for Apple devices
Get more from BrightDigit on Patreon. creating podcasts and software for Apple devices. Support BrightDigit and get exclusive access to their work.
patreon.com
"Everyone thinks they're good at prompting" — @mergesort.me's challenge: it's a learnable skill, not an innate one. The 6 ways AI tools reliably fail, Joe on "work slop," and @donnywals.bsky.social on a year of agents ("almost every time there's a subtle bug"). buttondown.com/brightdigit/...
The Honest AI Conversation
What AI-assisted development actually looks like in 2026
buttondown.com
I'm speaking at iOSDevUK 2026! 🎉🏴 "CloudKit as Your Backend: From iOS to Server-Side Swift" — the server-side patterns Apple's docs leave out, from rebuilding MistKit (210⭐) and running it in production. Sept 7–10, Aberystwyth, Wales. First time at this one — come say hi! www.iosdevuk.com
Been excited for this one 🎙️ New EmpowerApps with @mergesort.me on AI-assisted development in 2026. He opens with "everyone thinks they're good at prompting" — but that's a context-building skill. 🎧 brightdigit.com/episodes/208...
I got invited by @leogdion.bsky.social to his podcast to talk about our highlights from #WWDC26. 🍎 Full video: 👇 #iOSDev www.youtube.com/watch?v=P499...
120% Likely with Cihat Gündüz
Cihat Gündüz returns to break down everything from WWDC 2026. We go through Swift 6.4's quality-of-life wins, Apple turning Foundation Models into a full agentic harness, Xcode 27's agent and…
youtube.com
Next week @mergesort.me is back on EmpowerApps 🎙️ — this time on AI-assisted development in 2026. How we actually use these tools, #WWDC26, Apple's position in AI, and what's next. What questions or topics do you want us to cover? Reply 👇
Build.ms
Lessons about engineering, product development, design, business, marketing, and AI.
build.ms
How did I rebuild my REST API CloudKit Swift Package using Claude Code?
Rebuilding MistKit 🔧 CloudKit + Claude Code
Journey through rebuilding MistKit: from CloudKit docs to modern Swift with Claude Code.
mailchi.mp
Got the Family #DonkeyKongBananza and we've been playing a ton. It's a really good game but the resemblance to Super Mario Odyssey is so striking. The dialogue, the collecting, the bosses... No wonder it's by the same team.
Is anyone else having issues setting a timer with Siri lately? It keeps cutting off part of what I say from "Set a timer for 3 minutes" to "Set a timer for 3" (pm).
The Shape of AI: Jaggedness, Bottlenecks and Salients open.substack.com/pub/oneusefu...
The Shape of AI: Jaggedness, Bottlenecks and Salients
And why Nano Banana Pro is such a big deal
open.substack.com
Here's a big thank you to the remarkable people who generously imparted their invaluable insights to us: Haozes, Irving Popovetsky, @mecid.bsky.social, @leogdion.bsky.social, Manthan Gupta, @czechboy0.dev, Lazar Otasevic, Brandon Weng, Alex Weng and Corey Davis
Fatbobman (东坡肘子)@fatbobman.com · 8mo agoFatbobman’s Swift Weekly #115 is out! A Sunday Incident 🌠 watchOS Development Pitfalls and Tips 📱 My journey to Swift 6 and Strict Concurrency 📗 TCA Architecture: A Glorified Antipattern 💬 FluidAudio and more... weekly.fatbobman.com/p/fatbobman...
I'm excited to share part two of my guide on MistKit, my CloudKit library for non-Apple platforms like Ubuntu and AWS. This article covers using the library in my projects, Bushel and a new RSS reader, and includes tips for working with Claude Code. brightdigit.com/tutorials/re...
Rebuilding MistKit with Claude Code - Real-World Lessons and Collaboration Patterns (Part 2)
After building MistKit's type-safe CloudKit client, we put it to the test with real applications. Discover what happened when theory met practice—the unexpected discoveries, hard-earned lessons, and…
brightdigit.com
Rebuilt my server-side CloudKit library (MistKit) using Claude Code 12 months of work → 3 months with AI Here's how we turned Apple's 2016 REST API docs into modern type-safe Swift 🧵
It’s so beautiful! After a year and half I finished wiring my speakers and Ethernet! 😭🥲 Truly a piece of art!
Here are the 2 tools I use to stay productive every week: * @BearNotesApp for my daily goals * @Apple #Numbers for my weekly goals (one week per sheet) I can't believe I've been doing this for 6 years and still haven't built my own todo app as a replacement. 😅
I am excited to release Bushel 2.3.0 with a new "Glassy" icon and major bug fixes. mailchi.mp/8b1d66e20337...
🚀 Bushel v2.3.0 is here! ✅ Critical SwiftData stability fixes 📸 Screenshot capture for snapshots (Pro) 🖥️ Autohide toolbar in full screen (Pro) 🆕 Full macOS 26 & Xcode 26 support Download now from the Mac App Store 🔗
Bushel - Virtual Machines
Need to try out old versions of macOS for your software? Want to try a script or piece of software without breaking your Mac? Discover the features of Bushel and step into a world of limitless…
apps.apple.com
So I wasn’t planning on buying physical games for the Switch 2 but if I buy something for the kids for Christmas ahead of time it’d have to be right? 🤷♂️
Hey! It's been a while since I introduced myself. I'm Leo Dion, and I create content about software development in the Apple Space and Swift for Swift developers interested in growth and quirky tech topics. Whether you're new or have been around, I'm glad you're here.
How many switch case statements do you have before you refactor it into something else like a Dictionary?
Is there a use case for this if it crashes when there's no object? developer.apple.com/documentatio...
subscript(_:as:) | Apple Developer Documentation
Returns the model for the specified identifier, downcast to the appropriate class.
developer.apple.com
Just released SyntaxKit - a declarative DSL for Swift code generation I went from attempting to train a custom LLM to successfully using Cursor and @anthropic.com's Claude Code for iterative development. Perfect for anyone building code generation tools. us12.campaign-archive.com?u=cb3bba007e...
GitHub - brightdigit/SyntaxKit: Generate Swift code programmatically with declarative syntax.
Generate Swift code programmatically with declarative syntax. - brightdigit/SyntaxKit
github.com
Just completed a full rewrite of MistKit – my Swift Package for server-side and command-line CloudKit Web Services! This time I used AI to generate an OpenAPI document for the API, then built abstractions on top. Article coming soon on the rebuild process. github.com/brightdigit/...
GitHub - brightdigit/MistKit: Swift Package for Server-Side and Command-Line Access to CloudKit Web Services
Swift Package for Server-Side and Command-Line Access to CloudKit Web Services - brightdigit/MistKit
github.com
I decided to use the LLM tools out there to simplify and abstract SwiftSyntax and build a DSL for creating code templates and Macros. It was an interesting experience to say the least and glimpse into the possibilities of these tools and their limitations. brightdigit.com/tutorials/sy...
Building SyntaxKit with AI: A Developer's Journey
Follow the journey of building SyntaxKit using AI tools like Cursor and Claude. Learn practical lessons about AI-assisted development, from failed LLM approaches to successful iterative workflows,…
brightdigit.com
Bought an EV and then I realized… We should design the colors for iPhone Pros
Working on a developer conference talk about AI adoption journeys. The theme: most of us went from "this is overhyped" to "oh no, p-doom" to "actually, this is pretty useful for specific things." How do we maintain healthy skepticism while embracing useful tools? Anyone else speaking about AI?
My current AI development workflow: • Claude Code for project-level management • Cursor for focused iterations • Regular human code reviews (AI makes mistakes) • Clear constraints and examples What's yours? Where do you see it fall short? Where do you need to step in?
I've lived through: 3D printing, VR "this time it's different", crypto, self-driving cars "next year" AI feels different because the tools actually work TODAY. Not perfect, but useful. The question isn't "will AI take over?" It's "how do I use these effectively?"
