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Mr. Pérez, a software engineer in Chicago who had never made a mobile app before, spent five weeks over the winter tinkering with “vibecoding” A.I. tools to create a prototype, and two more preparing the app for Apple’s App Store. The app, InfoDrizzle, has been modestly successful, netting 1,300 downloads and about $500 in profit. Mr. Pérez’s next app was more popular. The two apps were part of a surge of additions to Apple’s App Store over the past year and a half, after years of slower growth — thanks in large part to vibecoding. Vibecoding emerged as a phenomenon last year as A.I. improved at creating software code. Without knowing anything about programming or writing a line of code, people can describe an idea to an A.I. tool, which can build a custom website or app for them.
芝加哥软件工程师佩雷斯此前从未开发过移动应用，去年冬天，他花了五周时间摸索“氛围编程”（vibecoding）AI工具，制作出一款应用原型，随后又用了两周时间准备将其上架苹果App Store。这款名为InfoDrizzle的应用小获成功，下载量达1300次，利润约为500美元。而佩雷斯开发的下一款应用则更受欢迎。在经历多年增长放缓之后，苹果App Store在过去一年半里迎来了一波新增应用热潮，这两款应用正是其中的一部分——这一增长很大程度上得益于氛围编程。随着AI在编写软件代码方面能力的提升，氛围编程在去年成为一种现象。无需掌握任何编程知识，也无需编写一行代码，人们只需向AI工具描述自己的想法，它就能为用户打造定制化的网站或应用。
1、tinker with
1. 试图修理或改进某物，通常是在没有专业知识或技能的情况下进行的尝试
2、prototype 研
英/ ˈprəʊtətaɪp /｜美/ ˈproʊtətaɪp /
n. （新型汽车、机器等的）原型，雏形；典型，范例；蓝本，最初形态；（电子）原型滤波网络；（生物、天体等的）原始型；（建筑、汽车等的）全真模型
v. 制作（产品的）原型
“I feel like the mobile app space was really hot 10 years ago and kind of got boring,” Mr. Pérez, 27, said. “Now, it’s the hottest thing again because of A.I. and vibecoding and how that technical barrier is not there anymore.” But as with many things A.I., just because something is easy to build doesn’t mean people will use it. It is not clear if vibecoding is breathing new life into the App Store or just cluttering it. Last year, the number of new apps released in the App Store grew 30 percent to about 600,000, according to estimates by Sensor Tower, an app analytics firm. In the first half of this year, new apps doubled to about 560,000.
27岁的佩雷斯表示：“我觉得移动应用领域在十年前非常火热，后来逐渐归于平淡。但现在，得益于人工智能和氛围编程，加上技术门槛不复存在，这一领域又成了最热门的方向。”不过，和许多与AI相关的事物一样，开发一款产品变得容易，并不意味着人们就会去使用它。目前尚不清楚氛围编程是在为App Store注入新的活力，还是仅仅使其变得臃肿杂乱。应用分析公司Sensor Tower的估算数据显示，去年App Store新上架的应用数量增长了30%，达到约60万款。今年上半年，新上架应用数量更是同比翻倍，达到约56万款。
1、clutter
英/ ˈklʌtə(r) /｜美/ ˈklʌtər /
n. 杂乱的东西；杂乱
v. 乱堆，塞满；使（脑子里）塞满（乱七八糟的事）
This boom could be a boon for Apple. The company takes a 30 percent cut of in-app purchases like subscriptions, or 15 percent from smaller developers. Theoretically, the more apps in the App Store, the more revenue for Apple. But Apple can’t take its cut if consumers don’t download and buy things from apps — and downloads from the App Store haven’t taken off. Last year, they grew 3 percent to 35.4 billion, according to Sensor Tower. In the first half of this year, downloads grew 2 percent to 17.6 billion.
这波应用增长或许会给苹果带来新的收益。苹果会对订阅等应用内购买抽取30%的分成，对小型开发者这一比例则为15%。理论上，App Store中的应用越多，苹果的收入就越高。但如果消费者不下载应用，也不在应用内购买商品和服务，苹果就无法从中获得分成——而目前，App Store的下载量并没有随之迎来爆发式增长。应用分析公司Sensor Tower的数据显示，去年App Store下载量仅增长了3%，达到354亿次。今年上半年，下载量增长率为2%，达到176亿次。
1、boon
英/ buːn /｜美/ buːn /
n. 裨益，优势，有用的东西
adj. 愉快的；慷慨的
Even if they aren’t being downloaded and used, all of the new apps demand resources and labor from Apple. The company manually reviews apps before they are released or updated in the App Store. In recent months, app makers have complained in Apple’s developer forums of longer review times. Peter Ajemian, a spokesman for Apple, said Apple consistently reviewed 90 percent of app submissions within 48 hours. “We’re thrilled to see a new generation of developers embracing the latest tools to build and ship apps faster than ever,” he said in a statement. “All apps are held to the same high standards for quality, privacy and security that users have come to trust.”
即使这些新应用无人下载和使用，它们也会占用苹果的资源和人力。所有应用在上线App Store或更新版本之前，都需要经过苹果的人工审核。近几个月来，有应用开发者在苹果开发者论坛上抱怨称，应用审核等待时间有所延长。苹果发言人彼得·阿杰米安表示，苹果一直能够在48小时内完成90%的应用申请审核。他在一份声明中表示：“看到新一代开发者积极采用最新工具，以前所未有的速度开发并发布应用，我们感到非常振奋。与此同时，所有应用都必须满足同样严格的质量、隐私和安全标准，这也是用户长期以来所信赖的。”
1、spokesman 研
英/ ˈspəʊksmən /｜美/ ˈspoʊksmən /
n. （尤指男性）发言人，代言人
2、submission
英/ səbˈmɪʃn /｜美/ səbˈmɪʃ(ə)n /
n. 屈服，投降；提交，呈递；提交的文件，呈递材料；<法律>（向法官提出的）看法，意见；<正式> 意见，建议
When Apple introduced the App Store in 2008, developers flooded it with new apps. Growth in the App Store stagnated after 2017. New releases hit a low in 2022, about 420,000, according to Sensor Tower. But since vibecoding became possible, that has changed. Much as they did in the early days of mobile apps, developers are joining the gold rush. Mr. Pérez is one of those developers. He is planning on quitting his job at JPMorgan Chase next month to develop apps full time.
2008年苹果推出App Store时，开发者曾蜂拥而入，向平台输送了大量新应用。但在2017年之后，App Store的应用增长陷入停滞。Sensor Tower的数据显示，新应用发布数量在2022年跌至低点，约为42万款。但随着氛围编程变为现实，这一局面迎来了改变。就像移动应用发展初期那样，开发者们正再次涌入这场淘金热。佩雷斯就是其中一员。他计划于下个月辞去在摩根大通的工作，全职投入应用开发。
1、stagnate
英/ stæɡˈneɪt /｜美/ ˈstæɡneɪt /
v. 停滞，不发展，不进步；因不流动而变得污浊；使淤塞，使沉滞，使萧条
2、the gold rush
n. 淘金热：指19世纪中叶在美国加利福尼亚州和其他地区发生的淘金热潮，吸引了大量人口涌入这些地区寻找黄金
This flood is a mixed bag for Apple. The App Store is “not like a typical storefront, where you have shelf space,” said Phillip Shoemaker, who led the App Store from 2009 to 2016. That means that having a lot of new, vibecoded apps — “stuff that somebody might use once” — isn’t necessarily a problem for Apple, he added. Instead, Mr. Shoemaker said, the risks for the App Store are having “more junk,” or making it easier for “a bad actor” to slip in something problematic, like inappropriate content. Apple could also see less upside than expected from the surge. Vibecoded apps might not offer in-app purchases, which tend to be more complicated to set up, and contain ads instead, said Eric Seufert, a mobile advertising analyst who runs Mobile Dev Memo, a blog about the app economy. “Apple doesn’t benefit from that,” Mr. Seufert said.
这股应用涌入潮对苹果来说喜忧参半。曾于2009年至2016年负责App Store业务的菲利普·舒梅克表示，App Store“不像传统实体商店那样存在货架空间限制。”他补充说，这意味着，大量由氛围编程开发的新应用——“一些用户可能只会使用一次的东西”——并不一定会给苹果带来问题。相反，舒梅克认为，App Store面临的风险在于出现“更多垃圾应用”，或者让“恶意开发者”更容易将有问题的内容混入平台，例如不当内容。此外，苹果从这波应用增长中获得的收益也可能低于预期。移动广告分析师、关注应用经济的博客Mobile Dev Memo创办人埃里克·赛弗特表示，氛围编程应用可能不会提供应用内购买功能，因为这类功能通常设置起来更加复杂，而是选择内嵌广告。赛弗特说：“苹果无法从这种模式中获益。”
1、mixed bag
n. 混合体：既有积极的方面又有消极的方面
2、upside
英/ ˈʌpsaɪd /｜美/ ˈʌpsaɪd /
n. 好的一面，优势；（股票价格）上涨
But not all app developers are hoping to make money for themselves — much less Apple. David Svensson, who works on revenue operations at a construction technology company, started vibecoding in earnest with OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude in February, when his workplace started pushing its employees to use A.I. Mr. Svensson, 44, now pays for a subscription to the tools and makes “small little apps that solve a specific thing,” like tracking fire risk and bans in Sweden, where he lives. Over the past five months, Mr. Svensson has released 11 apps in the App Store, where they have been downloaded nearly 2,400 times in total. “I want to keep it as a passion,” Mr. Svensson said. “If something blows up, sure, that would be super, super nice. But that is not the thought behind this.”
不过，并不是所有应用开发者都指望靠此赚钱——更别提为苹果创收了。大卫·斯文森在一家建筑科技公司负责营收运营，今年2月，随着公司开始鼓励员工使用人工智能，他开始认真尝试利用OpenAI的ChatGPT和Anthropic的Claude进行氛围编程。现年44岁的斯文森如今付费订阅了这些工具，制作一些“解决特定问题的小应用”，比如追踪他居住地瑞典的火灾风险和禁火令。过去五个月里，斯文森已在App Store上架11款应用，累计下载量近2400次。斯文森说：“我希望把它一直当作一种兴趣爱好。如果某个应用突然火了，那当然会非常非常棒。但这并不是我做这些事情时的出发点。”
1、in earnest
1. 认真的；诚挚地；正经的
来源：纽约时报
作者：Kalley Huang
发表日期：2026.07.20
原文标题：‘Vibecoded’ Apps Are Flooding the App Store. Is That Good for Apple?
声明：原文观点仅代表原作者个人看法，并不代表本公众号立场
写作积累
⭐️P2｜It is not clear if …… is breathing new life into …… or just ……
释义：目前尚不清楚，……是在为……注入新的活力，还是只是在……。
例句：It is not clear if AI-generated content is breathing new life into the media industry or just flooding it with low-quality material.
翻译：目前尚不清楚AI生成内容是在为媒体行业注入新的活力，还是仅仅用低质量的内容将其淹没。
阅读打卡
What can be inferred regarding the current state of the App Store ecosystem?
A. The enthusiasm of app developers is unmatched by user download growth.
B. Traditional app developers are being completely replaced by non-programmers.
C. App downloads have experienced a sharp decline over the past two years.
D. High-quality applications now account for the majority of new submissions.
参考答案：A
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