Day 1
Signs your AI-built app looks AI-generated
An AI-built app looks AI-generated when it shows the same default tells: generic card grids, stock gradients, uneven spacing, weak contrast, and placeholder-style copy. To fix it, check the app UI against a fixed checklist, then change only what a rule-based check flags. Xpensiv SI runs that check on apps built with Cursor, Lovable or Claude Code.
Get API keyThe tells, in plain language
None of these are code bugs. They are the things a person notices by looking, which is exactly what an AI coding tool does not do.
- Text you have to squint at. Grey labels on white, or thin type under about 12px, that is hard to read at a glance.
- Sideways scroll on a phone. A card or image pushes past the edge at 390px wide, so the page jiggles left and right.
- Vague button labels. Two buttons that both say Submit, or a primary action labelled Click here, so nobody knows what happens.
- Spacing that drifts. Gaps and alignment that change from one section to the next, so the page feels assembled rather than designed.
- Missing alt text and keyboard traps. Images with no description and controls you cannot reach with the Tab key.
- A headline that fights the background. Hero text set too light or too close in colour to the page behind it.
How to check your own app
- 01
Open it on a phone
Load a public page on an actual phone, or at 390px wide in your browser, and look for sideways scroll.
- 02
Read every label out loud
If a button or heading does not say what happens, a visitor will not know either.
- 03
Squint at the text
Anything you have to lean in to read is too faint or too small.
- 04
Run a check for the rest
Xpensiv is designed to open the page in a real browser and measure contrast, overflow, text size and wording, then hand you a fix list with screenshots. You decide what to change.
A quick self-check list
| Tell | What to look for |
|---|---|
| Readability | Faint or tiny text you squint at |
| Phone fit | Sideways scroll at 390px wide |
| Wording | Buttons that do not say what they do |
| Spacing | Gaps that change between sections |
| Accessibility | Missing alt text, keyboard you cannot use |
Questions answered
How do I make my AI-built app not look AI generated?
Look for the visual tells: faint text, a page that scrolls sideways on a phone, vague button labels and spacing that drifts between sections. Each finding is written as a plain instruction you can paste back into your AI coding tool, then run the check again to see whether it is gone.
What are the signs a web app looks AI generated?
Faint or tiny text, sideways scroll at 390px wide, buttons that do not say what they do, gaps that change between sections, and missing alt text or keyboard traps. If several show up in the first few seconds, the page reads as unfinished.
Why does my Cursor or Lovable app look generic, and how do I fix it?
AI coding tools check that the code works, not what the page looks like at desktop and phone width, so the visual gaps slip through. Open the page on a phone, read every label out loud, then run a check for the rest.
See which tells show up on your page.
Public pages only. The check reads the live page and does not change your app.