AI Chat Interface

The AI Chat is your primary tool for building apps in Newly. Through natural conversation, you can build your app, create features, fix bugs, and refine your app in real time.

How It Works

The chat panel on the left side of the screen is where you interact with the AI. Simply describe what you want in plain language - English or in your own native language, and the AI will:

Understand your request and build your app
Generate and modify code
Build and deploy changes
Show results instantly in the preview and Expo Go

Note: This is a build-focused AI. Use it to build, modify, fix, or add features to your app, not as a general-purpose chatbot for asking unrelated questions.

The AI maintains the full context of your conversation and project. You can reference previous changes, screens, or features by name.

Writing Effective Prompts

Clear prompts lead to better results. By describing what you want in a simple and specific way, you’ll help the AI build exactly what you’re looking for. Here are some proven patterns to follow:

Be Specific

Good
Too Vague

- Start with a one-line description of your mobile app.
Example: “Build me a calorie-tracking app with AI integration.” or "Build me a flashcard app."
- Provide short, clear context about the app’s main purpose.
Example: “Users can take a photo of their meal, and the app analyzes whether it’s healthy, then estimates calories, carbs, protein, and fat.”
- Focus on a simple version of your app in your first prompt.
You can enhance features and add complexity in follow-up prompts.

Build me an app

Describe the Behavior

Good
Too Vague

User experience is crucial. Make sure you understand the full flow of a user’s journey in your app.
- Map the user journey: Determine if users need to create an account, go through onboarding, or if your app works without sign-ups and stores user data automatically.
- Test the app: Use Expo Go to check that all features work properly and the experience feels smooth. If something doesn’t work—like button overlays, saving/deleting issues, or navigation problems—note the issue and ask the AI to fix it.
- Use clear icons: Ensure your app’s icons are intuitive and easy to understand. You can pick your preferred ones from the visual editor.

Note: When prompting the AI, combine a screenshot with your text prompt. This helps the AI understand the exact location and context for building or modifying features.

Make my app flow good

Reference Existing Elements

Good
Ambiguous

- Fixing existing features: Always reference the specific feature that isn’t working and explain exactly what needs to be fixed. Uploading a screenshot is highly recommended.
Example: “At the Upload Picture of the Meal feature, I cannot upload a picture, and it doesn’t analyze or give me counts for protein, carbs, calories, and fat. Please fix this.” (+ screenshot)
- Adding new sections or features: Clearly explain what you want to add and where it should appear in the app.
Example: “Please add a new section to my app where I can see a monthly report of my meals, including calories, carbs, protein, and fat.”
- Modifying design: You can upload a design from Figma, a Pinterest sample, or simply describe your design ideas in plain language. Use the visual editor for implementing design changes.
- Fixing unclear icons: If you see question marks in place of icons, you can fix them immediately using the visual editor.

Add a save button somewhere

Database and Backend (including Authentication)

- Authentication setup: Decide how users will sign up and log in (e.g., email/password, social login, or anonymous access). Newly provides built-in options for Email, Google, and Apple authentication.
- Data storage: Determine what user data needs to be stored, such as profiles, settings, or app content. Database is created by Newly using our own database as a solution.
- Testing authentication: Test all flows thoroughly, including sign-up, login, password reset, and logout on web preview, iOS and Android using Expo Go. Ensure users can access and modify their data correctly. If login fails or errors appear, upload a screenshot or clearly describe which authentication method isn’t working, then ask the AI to fix it.
- Prompting the AI: Be specific when asking the AI to build or fix backend functionality. Include clear descriptions of the issue, expected behavior, and relevant screenshots. Check the info bar descriptions to understand what has been done and what caused the issue, this helps you prompt the AI more effectively.

Fixing Bugs

Be very specifc when fixing the Bugs
- The login button isn't working on the sign-in screen. When I tap it with valid credentials, nothing happens. Expected: navigate to the home screen after successful login.
- Always the best idea to screenshot the error and upload it in the chat, and asking Newly to fix the error/issue

Styling Changes

- Use Visual editor for most of your design changes.
- If you want to upload a design from Figma/Pinterest/or any other platforms, it is
better to give the design in the very first prompts, so the design of your app is aligned with
the backend and also when enhancing the app, design is there to help you build the app flow.
- When uploading a design, be specific if you only want the brand and color, not the sections and tabs, so that
Newly only copies the design and keeps your app structure as it is.

Understanding AI Responses

As the AI works on your request, you’ll see:

Status Indicators

Icon	Meaning
🧠 Thinking	AI is analyzing your request
📝 Writing	Code is being generated
🔧 Building	App is being compiled
✅ Complete	Changes are ready in preview

Activity Feed

The chat shows what actions the AI is taking:

Reading files - Analyzing existing code
Writing files - Creating or modifying code
Installing packages - Adding dependencies
Building - Compiling the app
Committing - Saving changes to version history

Each commit includes a summary of what changed, making it easy to track progress and revert if needed.

Image-Based Prompts

You can attach images to your prompts for:

Design references - “Make it look like this screenshot”
Bug reports - “Here’s what I’m seeing, it should show X instead”
Inspiration - “Build something similar to this app”

To attach an image:

Click the image icon in the chat input
Upload or paste an image
Add context in your message

[Attached: screenshot of a competitor app]

Build a home screen similar to this but with our color scheme.
Keep the card layout but use rounded corners.

Multi-Step Requests

For complex features, break them into steps:

Core Feature

Create a shopping cart screen that shows:
- List of items with image, name, price
- Quantity selector for each item
- Total at the bottom

Add Interactions

Add functionality to the cart:
- Increase/decrease quantity with +/- buttons
- Remove item on swipe left
- Update total automatically when quantities change

Checkout Flow

Add a checkout button that:
- Validates cart is not empty
- Shows a confirmation modal with total
- Navigates to payment screen on confirm

Breaking complex features into steps gives the AI clearer context and produces better results.

Conversation Context

The AI remembers your entire conversation. Use this to your advantage:

User: Add a product listing screen with cards showing product images and prices.
AI: [Creates product screen]

User: Make the cards tappable and navigate to a detail page.
AI: [Adds navigation without needing to be told what cards]

User: The detail page should show the full product info.
AI: [Knows which product data to display]

Asking Questions

Not every prompt needs to generate code. You can ask:

How does X work? - Get explanations of features
What’s the best way to…? - Get recommendations
Can you explain this code? - Understand generated code
What files were changed? - Review recent updates

When asking questions (vs. making changes), the AI will respond with explanations without modifying code.

Troubleshooting

AI Not Understanding

If the AI misinterprets your request:

Be more specific about what you want
Reference/upload exact screenshot or component names
Describe the current vs. expected behavior

Changes Not Appearing

If changes don’t show in preview:

Wait for the build to complete (check status indicators)
Reload the preview if needed
Check the activity feed for errors
Check the app both in iOS and Android, and see if both does not show or only one, and prompt accordingly

Reverting Changes

If something breaks:

Use the revert function to see version history to restore a previous commit

Best Practices

Start Simple

Begin with core features, then add complexity. It’s easier to build up than fix a complex broken system.

One Thing at a Time

Make one request per message for clearer results. Multi-feature requests can confuse the AI.

Test Frequently

Check the preview after each change via Exp Go. Catching issues early is easier than debugging later.

Use Descriptive Language

Instead of “button”, say “blue Submit button at the bottom of the form”.

Reference the Preview

“The third item in the list isn’t showing correctly” is clearer with context from what you see.

Getting Started

Features

Troubleshooting

Integrations

Subscriptions (RevenueCat)

Advanced

Prompting

AI Chat Interface

The AI Chat is your primary tool for building apps in Newly. Through natural conversation, you can build your app, create features, fix bugs, and refine your app in real time.

How It Works

Writing Effective Prompts

Be Specific

Describe the Behavior

Reference Existing Elements

Database and Backend (including Authentication)

Fixing Bugs

Styling Changes

Understanding AI Responses

Status Indicators

Activity Feed

Image-Based Prompts

Multi-Step Requests

Conversation Context

Asking Questions

Troubleshooting

AI Not Understanding

Changes Not Appearing

Reverting Changes

Best Practices

Next Steps

Live Preview

Code Editor

​AI Chat Interface

​The AI Chat is your primary tool for building apps in Newly. Through natural conversation, you can build your app, create features, fix bugs, and refine your app in real time.

​How It Works

​Writing Effective Prompts

​Be Specific

​Describe the Behavior

​Reference Existing Elements

​Database and Backend (including Authentication)

​Fixing Bugs

​Styling Changes

​Understanding AI Responses

​Status Indicators

​Activity Feed

​Image-Based Prompts

​Multi-Step Requests

​Conversation Context

​Asking Questions

​Troubleshooting

​AI Not Understanding

​Changes Not Appearing

​Reverting Changes

​Best Practices

​Next Steps

Live Preview

Code Editor

AI Chat Interface

The AI Chat is your primary tool for building apps in Newly. Through natural conversation, you can build your app, create features, fix bugs, and refine your app in real time.

How It Works

Writing Effective Prompts

Be Specific

Describe the Behavior

Reference Existing Elements

Database and Backend (including Authentication)

Fixing Bugs

Styling Changes

Understanding AI Responses

Status Indicators

Activity Feed

Image-Based Prompts

Multi-Step Requests

Conversation Context

Asking Questions

Troubleshooting

AI Not Understanding

Changes Not Appearing

Reverting Changes

Best Practices

Next Steps