Can you still download Alex for Xcode?
The Alex team stopped new downloads on October 1, 2025. Its September announcement said the team was joining OpenAI, planned to keep serving people who already had Alex installed, and would stop releasing new features. Current access for existing installations is unverified.
What did Alex do in Xcode?
The team documented an AI sidebar that suggested edits and helped explain errors while you worked on Swift code in Xcode, Apple’s app development environment for the Mac. Older tutorials may call it Alex Sidebar or Alex: AI for Xcode.
If the tutorial shows both Xcode and Alex, use the Xcode steps to find the project and the screen you want to change. The Alex steps describe how the assistant helped with those edits at the time.
How do you keep working on an existing project?
Find the folder that contains your Xcode project and copy the whole folder, including edits that live only on your Mac. Open the copy in Xcode and find a familiar screen in the project.
Before running the copy, confirm that any data and sign-in settings point only to separate test services. Use sample records and test accounts. Check that the copy cannot read or change live data, send real messages or take real payments. If you can’t verify those settings, inspect the files and keep the check on paper. For an iPhone app with isolated settings, choose a simulator in Xcode and check that a familiar screen shows the expected text.
What should you check before choosing another assistant?
Start with the task you want help with, such as explaining a Swift error. Check which macOS and Xcode versions the assistant supports and what access it needs. Try the task in a small sample project and review the files it proposes to change.
Keep a copy of any project instructions you still use. If you want to bring settings or conversation history to another tool, check what you can actually export from your installed version and what the other tool can import.