AI Generated Native Apps: Can Tools Like Area30 Really Replace Early Dev Work?

I have been spending some time experimenting with a new wave of AI powered app builders and wanted to open a genuine discussion with the Product Hunt community around where this space is actually heading.

Recently, I tested a tool called Area30.app. The core idea is simple but ambitious. You describe a mobile app idea in plain English and it generates native iOS and Android apps along with a complete backend. That includes the database, APIs, authentication, and a visual backend manager to configure and manage everything. These are not web wrappers. They are real native builds.

What stood out to me was the speed. The jump from idea to a working prototype happened in minutes. For anyone who has built mobile products before, you know that even setting up auth, basic CRUD APIs, and project structure can easily take days or weeks. Seeing that compressed so dramatically raised some interesting questions.

This made me think beyond just one product and more about the broader direction we are heading as builders and founders.

Are we approaching a point where AI tools can realistically replace early stage mobile development teams for MVPs?

Where do these platforms tend to break down once you move past demos and prototypes? Custom logic, scalability, security, performance, long term maintainability, or ownership of the code?

For those who have tried similar tools, did they hold up when real users and real requirements came into play, or did you eventually have to rebuild from scratch?

I am intentionally less interested in hype and more interested in real world experience. Some of these tools look impressive on the surface, but the real test is whether they can support iteration, complexity, and growth over time.

If you have used AI driven app builders, whether successfully or unsuccessfully, I would love to hear what worked, what didn’t, and where you think the true limits are right now.

For transparency, the tool I tested is Area30.app, but the discussion is really about this entire category of products and what it means for how we build software going forward.