Forem: Manuth Lochana

Android Dev Hack: Windsurf > ChatGPT + Android Studio Switching

Manuth Lochana — Sat, 29 Nov 2025 11:01:57 +0000

Student developer here, been testing Windsurf on real Kotlin projects for a week.

Ditched Firebase (was overcomplicating things). Now using Google Android tooling properly + Windsurf for AI assistance.

Why it's better:

✓ Understands Kotlin idioms natively (not generic code suggestions)
✓ Refactored 3 Kotlin modules in 5 minutes (manual = 2+ hours)
✓ Works offline (my internet drops 2-3x/day in Sri Lanka)
✓ $10/month vs Copilot's $20/month
✓ Privacy mode = code stays local
✓ Android Studio integration is seamless

Real example:

Old workflow: Android Studio → copy code → ChatGPT → implement → debug
New workflow: Windsurf handles it in Android Studio directly

Time saved? 30% faster shipping.

Have you used Windsurf for Android/Kotlin development? Drop your experience below. Curious to know if anyone else found this workflow improvement.

Quick Links:

Windsurf: windsurf.com

AndroidDevelopment #Kotlin #StudentDeveloper #IndieHacking #AITools #Windsurf

Google Antigravity: The Agent-First IDE That Changes Everything

Manuth Lochana — Wed, 19 Nov 2025 09:34:44 +0000

Google just dropped something wild alongside Gemini 3 - meet Antigravity, an IDE that's basically rethinking how we code with AI.

What's Different?

Instead of the usual "AI chatbot in your IDE" approach, Antigravity is built agent-first from the ground up. The agents can autonomously work across your editor, terminal, AND browser at the same time. Think of it like having a junior dev who can actually execute full tasks while you work on other stuff.

The Cool Parts

Artifacts Over Noise
Instead of showing you every single tool call and API request, Antigravity agents produce "Artifacts" - task lists, implementation plans, screenshots, browser recordings. It's way easier to verify what the AI actually did.

Two Modes

Editor View: Traditional IDE experience (like Cursor, Copilot, etc.)
Manager View: Mission control for spawning multiple agents across multiple workspaces in parallel. This is the game-changer.

Self-Learning
Agents build a knowledge base from past work - code snippets, architecture patterns, successful task sequences. The more you use it, the smarter it gets for YOUR codebase.

The Details

Free in public preview with generous rate limits
Supports Gemini 3 Pro, Claude Sonnet 4.5, and GPT-OSS
Available for macOS, Linux, Windows
Local operation with async feedback on artifacts

My Thoughts

This feels like the first IDE that's actually designed for the "agent era" instead of just bolting AI features onto traditional tools. The Manager view especially - being able to orchestrate multiple agents while working in the foreground is exactly what we need as these models get more capable.

The Artifacts approach is smart too. Nobody wants to read through 500 lines of tool calls. Just show me what you're planning, what you did, and proof it works.

Worth checking out if you're building anything serious with AI coding assistants.

🔗 Official announcement: https://antigravity.google/blog/introducing-google-antigravity

Firebase Studio Prototyper Wasted My Entire Weekend - A Rant

Manuth Lochana — Mon, 17 Nov 2025 13:49:50 +0000

I gave Firebase Studio Prototyper AI one job.

Build a simple mind-mapping interface with draggable nodes.

That's it.

What I got:

Attempt 1: An ugly dark-mode disaster that ignored my design specs completely. Nothing worked. Buttons were decorative.

Attempt 2: I said "fix this mess."

It gave me a blank page with ONE broken button.

Attempts 3-10: I simplified. "Just make ONE node appear when I click."

Same. Broken. Page. Every. Time.

The Problem

Firebase Studio Prototyper can't handle:

Real-time Firestore listeners
Any complex React library
Basic state management
Literally any real application logic

What I Found

I'm not alone:

Reddit: Multiple posts about "Prototyper stops working"
Google Forums: "Firebase Studio going downhill"
Medium: Someone literally titled their article "Firebase Studio Sucks"

My Take

Firebase Studio Prototyper is a toy.

It can generate a login form. Maybe a todo list. But anything beyond basic CRUD?

It will waste your time.

I spent 6 hours going in circles. I could've coded it myself in 2 hours.

Lesson Learned

Google's own AI can't even properly use Google's own Firebase.

That's all you need to know.

Have you been burned by Firebase Studio? Share your story. 👇