In a week from writing this we will already know what has been announced at WWDC 2026. I’m lucky to be attending in person and can’t wait to enjoy the Apple Developer Christmas times (as we like to call it).
I’ve been developing iOS apps since 2009, and have witnessed quite a few WWDCs over the years. I love predicting, but also hoping for improvements that make our lives as developers easier. In this article, I’ll highlight what I think would be great improvements to see next week.
What is WWDC?
WWDC is Apple’s World Wide Developer Conference. It takes place every year around the first or second week of June. It’s the week in which the new major OS changes are announced, and also the week in which we developers get new APIs and a new Xcode version.
Tip: Update your MacBook now
Just a small tip before I dive into my wishes: update your macOS now!
I’ve been waiting too long to download the latest Xcode because I didn’t prepare well: I had to update my MacBook to the latest OS version first. It feels incredibly stupid at that point, and yes, you even need the latest minor version. Or at least, that’s what I would recommend to not be surprised. I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen to me at WWDC 2026 at least!
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Prediction 1: A better environment for Agentic Development
Agentic development requires a different IDE. We’re no longer writing much code ourselves; the agents are doing it for us. In all honesty, I nearly write any code myself anymore. Instead, I’m focused on guiding and optimizing my agents to write code to the quality that I prefer. By using Agent Skills like mine for SwiftUI or Swift Concurrency, I’ll be able to generate code that matches my quality preference.
Fun fact: when Claude and Codex introduced an IDE without an easy code editor, I was kind of upset. In hindsight, I think I just wasn’t ready for the direction they were taking. With the agent models we have today, I feel way less need to look at my code, which justifies an IDE that is less focused on manual code editing.
Now, let me be clear: I still review code changes in PRs before merging in. However, it’s a completely new workflow, and I’d love to see an updated Xcode at WWDC 2026 that still focuses on code editing, but comes with a so-called Agent mode for those who are ready for it.
Prediction 2: An official MCP for App Store Connect
I currently prefer to use Helm for App Store Connect and Astro for App Store Optimization. The developers behind Helm are working on a CLI, and Astro already comes with a localhost MCP that I access from ChatGPT, Claude, and other AI clients via MCP Beast (which broadcasts localhost MCPs to the cloud).
However, I’d love to see an official MCP for App Store Connect from Apple, that allows authentication via their API keys. It feels like low-hanging fruit and the logical step forward for them to further allow agents to automate our daily tasks.
Prediction 3: App Intents become even more important
If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you know I’m a big fan of App Intent Driven Development. For many developers, it’s been clear early on that App Intents can play a big role in the future. In fact, they already do today.
Imagine if App Intents get integrated into agent sessions, giving apps like Claude and ChatGPT access to any iOS app that offers intents. It would suddenly open up a lot more automations.
It does make me think about the future in an odd way: will users open up our apps way less often? If AI can do their tasks, our UI becomes less important, and the ability to let agents do their tasks becomes more important. It will bring new challenges like optimizing in-app conversions and monetizing effectively, so it’s both exciting and terrifying. It could be the biggest announcement of WWDC 2026.
Wish: Official Agent Skills, CLIs, and MCPs
While I already mentioned an MCP example and we already have an Xcode MCP and CLIs, I just wish for Apple to continue supporting agentic development. I’m proud and happy to have been publishing one of the most popular agent skills in the community, but I would be even happier to deprecate them because Apple releases official ones. Ideally, they would open-source the Agent Skills so we can work together.
Similarly, I think they can further open up developer tooling. Apps like Icon Composer and Xcode Instruments don’t work well with agents today and can be further optimized for integrations. Updating App Store Metadata, archiving, and publishing a new release: to automate these, we still have to do a lot of work ourselves. Yes, there’s Xcode Cloud, but I believe this process can be optimized even further with agents.
Conclusion
I didn’t go extreme with my wishes and predictions, but I also hope to be surprised by doing so. WWDC is a special event for us all, and I’m sure there will be some big surprises next week.
If you’re around, make sure to find me and say hi. I’d love to meet you all! I’m a tall Dutch guy, probably smiling (I do that a lot), and absolutely open and social. Don’t feel like you’re disturbing me, don’t be shy in general during WWDC 2026 if you’re there in person: connect with the community! Let’s have a beer, a coffee, or just a casual chat and enjoy the events together.
Thanks!