Adding an AI feature to an iOS app is easy. Adding one that doesn't bankrupt you, freeze the UI or leak your API key is the actual job.

I've shipped AI features in production apps: image generation, voice transcription, real-time translation across DeepL, GPT and Gemini, and receipt parsing from camera input.

WHAT I BUILD

Streaming responses with async/await — text appears as it generates, no spinner, no frozen screen

Proxy backend so your API key never ships inside the binary (hardcoding it is the single most common mistake I find in audits)

Cost control: token budgeting, response caching, model routing — cheap model first, expensive model only when needed

On-device options where they fit: Speech, Vision, Core ML, Apple Foundation Models — zero API cost, works offline

Graceful failure: rate limits, timeouts and refusals handled as product states, not crashes

TYPICAL FEATURES

Chat or assistant inside your app

Image generation and editing

Voice input, transcription, summarization

Document, receipt or photo understanding

Translation with automatic language detection

I'll also tell you when the AI feature isn't worth building. Sometimes a $0.03-per-request feature can't survive your pricing, and it's better to hear that in week one.

Describe the feature. You'll get a scope, a timeline and an estimated per-user API cost before we start.