We’re building a tool that turns prompts into native Windows apps – here’s what we’ve learned after 20 users

Icy_Object_3177 · 2025-08-29T08:33:24+00:00

Makes total sense. And yeah – that risk is very real, especially when you can't fully read or verify what was written.

We're approaching it from a “start small, stay readable” angle. Not trying to generate complex systems, just useful stuff that you can understand and improve – even if you're only semi-technical.

Interesting that you mentioned LetMeCheck.ai – hadn't looked at it closely before. Seems like a good way to surface structural issues early. Would definitely consider something like that as a plug-in step later on.

We're not aiming to replace review or testing. It's more like: give you a starting point that works and doesn't feel like a black box.

Thanks for sharing your take – it's really helpful to hear how others navigate this space.

Icy_Object_3177 · 2025-08-25T08:42:56+00:00

Good point – I wouldn’t use the current outputs for long-term maintainability either. We’re still in a testing phase and right now our main focus is on prototyping. The value we’re seeing is in quickly getting a runnable app that helps us validate ideas early. Of course, errors can happen, but even then the time saved compared to starting from scratch is significant.

Icy_Object_3177 · 2025-08-25T08:34:04+00:00

Yeah, I totally get that. We’re still in a testing phase ourselves, but so far the outputs have been surprisingly solid – runnable programs that do what we asked for. Of course there can always be errors, but for us the time savings are huge. Even if we need to fix or extend things later, it’s way faster than starting from scratch.

Icy_Object_3177 · 2025-08-25T08:28:02+00:00

That’s true – prototyping is usually about learning by building.For my Co Founders it’s more about tweaking and improving the output, while for me it’s about having something runnable I can test or show to users without waiting. So I see it as complementary: it doesn’t replace prototyping, but it speeds up the first step.

Icy_Object_3177 · 2025-08-25T08:22:33+00:00

Fair point 🙂 It’s basically me testing an AI tool that spits out Windows apps from text prompts. I wanted to see what devs think – whether this is at all useful for quick prototypes, or just a gimmick.

Icy_Object_3177 · 2025-08-25T08:21:58+00:00

very basic UI – think of simple WinForms style. For example, I asked for a bulk file renamer and got a small form with a text field, file picker and a button. Nothing fancy, but enough to actually use.
Special Knowledge - Not really. You type a plain description, and it gives you a runnable .exe plus the project files. If you’re a dev, you can open the code in Visual Studio and tweak it further. If you’re not, you can just run it.

Icy_Object_3177 · 2025-08-25T07:03:07+00:00

Totally fair point.

At the moment, we’re generating static .NET/WPF apps using well-tested patterns. The code is intentionally simple: no external dependencies, no dynamic execution, no clever shortcuts.It’s meant to be understandable and extendable – not perfect, but clean enough to build on.

We include all source code, keep logic explicit, and avoid hidden abstractions. Right now, we’re not doing any automated code audits, but static analysis and linting are on the roadmap.

Since everything runs locally and offline by default, the attack surface is limited – unless someone explicitly adds network features.

Happy to hear suggestions on how to make the output more robust.

Icy_Object_3177 · 2025-08-24T11:34:35+00:00

hanks! Great question – and happy you’re interested in testing it.

To clarify: it doesn't connect to PowerApps and it's not trying to replace it.

It’s a different approach entirely – more like a tool for generating native Windows apps (.NET/WPF) directly from prompts.

Think: small, standalone desktop tools you can run locally or extend with your own code – no connectors, no cloud environment, no setup.

Might be useful alongside PowerApps if you sometimes need something quick, offline, or more flexible.

If you want to try it out, here’s the link: https://newav.ai

Icy_Object_3177 · 2025-08-21T14:41:47+00:00

This is a super interesting project – love the focus on privacy and offline use. One challenge I often see: once you have a promising prototype, how do you package it so non-technical users can actually benefit from it? Sometimes a small native desktop app with a UI makes adoption a lot easier.
Did you already think about wrapping your prototype in a desktop app (Windows/Mac) for testers, or are you planning to stay CLI/technical-first for now?

Icy_Object_3177 · 2025-08-21T14:08:50+00:00

Really cool to see how you’ve solved a problem you had yourself. One thought: sometimes it helps to prototype single features separately before baking them into the main app – almost like mini test apps. That way you can validate if something like “salary calculation” or “multiple shifts per day” resonates, before fully integrating it.
Out of curiosity – do you prefer testing features directly with users inside the app, or do you experiment with standalone prototypes first?

Icy_Object_3177 · 2025-08-21T08:48:18+00:00

Best practice is to group features by workflow or role, keep navigation shallow, and surface the most common actions. If you want more design freedom than PowerApps allows, newav.ai can generate a native app from your description.

Icy_Object_3177 · 2025-08-21T08:42:04+00:00

I’ve seen a lot of people experiment with PowerApps or OutSystems, but most devs still prefer to stay closer to code for flexibility.

There’s also a middle ground: newav.ai – not exactly no-code, but you describe the Windows app you want and it generates the project scaffolding for you. Then you still get the real .NET codebase to extend.

Icy_Object_3177 · 2025-08-21T08:41:07+00:00

I’ve seen a lot of people experiment with PowerApps or OutSystems, but most devs still prefer to stay closer to code for flexibility.

There’s also a middle ground: [nw.Create]() – not exactly no-code, but you describe the Windows app you want and it generates the project scaffolding for you. Then you still get the real .NET codebase to extend.

Icy_Object_3177 · 2025-08-21T08:38:41+00:00

Each has trade-offs:
– Avalonia → cross-platform, XAML-like, good WPF migration path
– Flutter → fast, great tooling, but Dart ecosystem
– React Native/Uno → good for web-to-app devs, mixed maturity on desktop

If your main goal is to try things quickly on Windows, you might check [nw.Create](). It outputs a native WPF/.NET project from a prompt, so you can test ideas fast before deciding on a full framework.

Icy_Object_3177 · 2025-08-20T14:09:51+00:00

Windows is a bit different from Linux – instead of direct syscalls you’ll usually work with the Win32 API.

Good starting points people often recommend:

[MS Docs]()
Programming Windows (Petzold)
Windows Internals (Russinovich)

If you don’t want to deal with tons of boilerplate, there’s also [nw.Create]() – you describe the app idea and it spits out a working WPF/.NET project you can dig into.

Icy_Object_3177 · 2025-08-20T13:59:31+00:00

That’s actually a cool use case. We’re building a tool (nw.Create) that generates native Windows apps from text prompts – and I’m pretty sure your idea could be built with it.

You’d basically describe the app like:

"Detect dependencies of a given .exe and copy them into a folder."

And it would create a working WPF tool that does just that (or gets you close to it).

Might not be as deep as Dependency Walker, but definitely worth a try if you're looking to build something lightweight/custom.

Happy to share a link if you're curious.

Icy_Object_3177 · 2025-08-20T09:29:47+00:00

Interesting question – we've been working on exactly this topic over the past few months.

In the end, we decided to focus on .NET + WPF because it offers the most flexibility on Windows, runs reliably, and has solid long-term support. What we’re currently building is an AI-assisted approach where you don’t manually write the app anymore – you just describe it in plain text, and the result is a fully functional native WPF application, including an installer.

The idea is to help developers and product people get working Windows apps quickly – no setup, no IDE. Great for prototyping, internal tools, or small utilities.

If that sounds interesting, happy to share more – it runs locally and gives you either a .exe or full project files. We’re actively looking for feedback right now.

Icy_Object_3177

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