Prototo is the AI-native prototyping tool that runs natively on real iPhones. Describe your app to Claude Code or Codex, hit Publish, and anyone opens it from a link in the free Prototo app. No TestFlight, no builds, no code.
You're not locked to one agent anymore. When you set up the desktop app, pick Claude Code or Codex. Same live simulator, same native feel, either model driving.
The part designers keep flagging: you build with the AI plan you already pay for. And most designers I talk to have their own Enterprise plans tied to their companies. Prototo never charges for AI use, so whatever subscription you've got is the only one you need.
I've been looking for a faster way to prototype native iOS experiences without jumping between design tools and Xcode. Prototo has a really interesting approach. Instead of creating static mockups, you can describe a screen in plain language and see it running as a native app. The workflow feels simple, modern, and focused on helping ideas come to life quickly.
What needs improvement
I'd love to see support for Android in the future, along with integrations with more AI models besides Claude
vs Alternatives
Figma is great for UI design, but interactive prototypes still don't feel like real native apps. Expo is powerful but requires coding. Prototo sits in an interesting middle ground by making native prototyping much more accessible while keeping the experience close to the real thing.
Ratings
Ease of use
Reliability
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Maker
📌
Hey everyone, it's Sherizan, the creator of Prototo. Stoked to be sharing this with you. Prototo came from a problem I kept hitting. Every time I wanted to prototype something native with real gestures, real scroll physics, actual Liquid Glass, I had two options. Fake it in Figma or hand it to an engineer and wait. Neither felt right.
The gap was obvious once I saw it. Nothing existed for a designer who wanted genuine native fidelity, prompt-only, without opening Xcode. Figma Make renders through a webview. Expo and SwiftUI are built for developers.
So I built the thing I needed. First as a proof of concept.
One terminal command. The iOS Simulator opened. You described a screen to Claude Code in plain language, it appeared. No canvas, no file to touch. I wanted to see if the idea even worked before building anything bigger.
It worked. 5,500+ npm installs, no marketing. Designers started sharing videos of their prototypes running in the Simulator. That was the signal.
So I built Prototo Desktop.
One window now. Claude Code on one side, the iPhone Simulator on the other. Same interaction model, describe and it appears, but no terminal, no commands to remember. The part I'm actually proud of is Publish. One button turns a prototype into a link. Anyone opens it on their own iPhone through the Prototo app, no build, no export, and it runs natively on their device.
Getting a prototype off your machine and onto someone else's phone, running for real, not a screen recording, not a webview, is a genuinely hard problem. That was the real work.
How does publishing actually work behind the scenes when someone opens the link in the Prototo app, does it stream the UI definition or does the app pull down a full bundle first?
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Maker
@feride188591 Great question. From the viewer’s side it’s designed to feel instant, you open the link, sign in, and the prototype is just running natively on your phone, real gestures and all.
The “how” is what makes Prototo possible and most of the development that went into.
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Have you considered adding a way for recipients to leave timestamped comments or annotations directly on the prototype? Like, tapping and holding a screen to drop a note that the maker can see in their dashboard. Would make async feedback way less painful than stitching screenshots into a doc.
Report
Maker
@agackesen72622 good idea. We have a few ways to do it and will be in our next iteration.
Very nice product! Last week I spent a lot of xcode configuration and installing & bugfixing dependncies. With Prototo i didn't have this issue. Also the tools see my skills from Claude Code. Looking forward for next steps and more feature.
Report
Maker
@mbalasinski Thanks Maciej, this means a lot. Hearing about the dependencies pain is the best feedback I could get. More coming soon!
Hey everyone, it's Sherizan, the creator of Prototo. Stoked to be sharing this with you.
Prototo came from a problem I kept hitting. Every time I wanted to prototype something native with real gestures, real scroll physics, actual Liquid Glass, I had two options. Fake it in Figma or hand it to an engineer and wait. Neither felt right.
The gap was obvious once I saw it. Nothing existed for a designer who wanted genuine native fidelity, prompt-only, without opening Xcode. Figma Make renders through a webview. Expo and SwiftUI are built for developers.
So I built the thing I needed. First as a proof of concept.
One terminal command. The iOS Simulator opened. You described a screen to Claude Code in plain language, it appeared. No canvas, no file to touch. I wanted to see if the idea even worked before building anything bigger.
It worked. 5,500+ npm installs, no marketing. Designers started sharing videos of their prototypes running in the Simulator. That was the signal.
So I built Prototo Desktop.
One window now. Claude Code on one side, the iPhone Simulator on the other. Same interaction model, describe and it appears, but no terminal, no commands to remember.
The part I'm actually proud of is Publish. One button turns a prototype into a link. Anyone opens it on their own iPhone through the Prototo app, no build, no export, and it runs natively on their device.
Getting a prototype off your machine and onto someone else's phone, running for real, not a screen recording, not a webview, is a genuinely hard problem. That was the real work.
Simpler always wins.
@sherizan Congrats on the launch!
@kutlwano_melamu thank you so much!
How does publishing actually work behind the scenes when someone opens the link in the Prototo app, does it stream the UI definition or does the app pull down a full bundle first?
@feride188591 Great question. From the viewer’s side it’s designed to feel instant, you open the link, sign in, and the prototype is just running natively on your phone, real gestures and all.
The “how” is what makes Prototo possible and most of the development that went into.
Have you considered adding a way for recipients to leave timestamped comments or annotations directly on the prototype? Like, tapping and holding a screen to drop a note that the maker can see in their dashboard. Would make async feedback way less painful than stitching screenshots into a doc.
@agackesen72622 good idea. We have a few ways to do it and will be in our next iteration.
Very nice product! Last week I spent a lot of xcode configuration and installing & bugfixing dependncies. With Prototo i didn't have this issue. Also the tools see my skills from Claude Code. Looking forward for next steps and more feature.
@mbalasinski Thanks Maciej, this means a lot. Hearing about the dependencies pain is the best feedback I could get. More coming soon!