Building a Generative Coloring Book App with Claude as Senior Dev

A developer on r/ClaudeAI shared their experience building Imagine: Coloring for Kids, a generative coloring book iOS app, using Claude as a senior development assistant. The app lets users prompt any idea (e.g., “Create a happy cat riding a bike”) to generate coloring pages, with themed packs and safety controls.

Architecture

The app follows a pragmatic SwiftUI pattern with service objects and model stores:

• SwiftUI views handle screens
• Models define prompt ideas, theme packs, saved coloring
• Services handle business logic (StoreKit, kid-safe prompt checking)
• Backend worker for image generation
• Swift Data for local storage

Where Claude Helped

As an intermediate iOS developer, the author found Claude most useful for:

• Identifying edge cases that would only surface from user complaints
• Implementing UX-friendly error handling
• Eliminating single points of failure in the architecture

Safety features include guard rails to prevent access to external links, purchases, or inappropriate prompt/rename input. The app offers 5 themed coloring packs as add-ons; the author offered promo codes for community suggestions.

Key Takeaway

Claude acted as a senior dev focusing on robustness and safety — catching issues before release and enforcing sandbox constraints suitable for a children's app.