GitHub Copilot for Xcode now in public preview

Bring intelligent coding assistance to Apple's Xcode with the GitHub Copilot extension, now available in a public preview for those with a Copilot license.

Don't confuse GitHub Copilot with Microsoft's AI — it is an AI-powered developer tool for use in an IDE. GitHub Copilot can provide code suggestions and help a developer via a chat tool that has access to GitHub's repositories.

According to an announcement from GitHub, Copilot is coming to Xcode as an extension. Copilot license holders can access the public preview and get it installed by following the getting started guide.

There are a few features available in the public preview.

Code completion
Multi-language support like Swift and Objective-C
Multiline suggestions
Content filtering
Block suggestions matching public code

Apple already includes an AI-powered tool called Swift Assist in Xcode. It offers predictive code completion for coding in Swift and using Apple SDKs, so it is a more specific tool than GitHub Copilot.

The ability to add GitHub Copilot to Xcode will be a boon for developers looking to get AI assistance on problems outside of Swift. Both Apple's and GitHub's tools will continue to improve and help developers keep focused on high-level problems.