This year has been AWESOME for HabitKit in terms of ASO so far. Top 3 for the keyword "habit tracker" 🎉

Playing around with different timer screen concepts... This is super hard, but I think I'm making progress 🤔

Trying to come up with a good-looking History list view for my upcoming Focus Timer app. Still a work-in-progress, but I like the general direction. What do you think?

Building An Indie App Business #77: Focus Timer Progress & Autumn Optimism open.substack.com/pub/sebastia...

The gold standard of how a native iOS app should look: Gentler Streak! I always come back to it when I'm out of ideas how to solve a tough UX or design problem!

I used some weird hacks, but I successfully added a DatePicker to the toolbar of the history tab. I love the iOS 26 default calendar look! 👌

Implemented an infinite-scrolling calendar view for my Focus Timer side project, inspired by the UX from Apple's Fitness app 🙈

Added local notifications for the end of a session/break 👌

Added the ability to reset a "routine" in case the user wants to start fresh. Still not sure about the UX but this feels natural to me.

Added a Lock Screen Activity as well!

Read everything about my new app project: open.substack.com/pub/sebastia...

Learning about Live Activities on iOS today! Started with a widget for the Dynamic Island 🙌

Added a placeholder app icon to my Focus Timer app. Definitely looks better than the ugly Xcode default icon 😅

Back at my SwiftUI side project again: Added the ability to reset a session in case it was started accidentally.

Just upgraded to iOS 26 and MacOS Tahoe and I'll have to admit: I was really skeptical about the Liquid Design changes, but now I think it's the coolest thing ever. Love how native apps look now! This is peak design IMO❤️

First time I'm using my Pomodoro-timer side project app for work on a real device 🤩

I decided to get myself some new Apple devices this year (the new Apple Watch Ultra and AirPods look awesome). Now it's time to wait 30 days and see if I still want them afterwards #FinancialLiteracy 😅

1,000 Substack subscribers! Started as a commitment tool for myself, now I have 1000 email addresses to keep people informed of what I'm up to. If I ever release a new app, this will be worth it so much!

"The best app of its kind" is exactly what I was aiming for 🤩

Added a simple database debug viewer for a quick look at my SwiftData entities. By the way, is it possible to view the underlying database with TablePlus? 🤔

Hooked up the tab view accessory to the database. Now it's correctly displaying the current session as well 👌

Added "skipping" sessions. Now I can cycle through a complete Pomodoro routine 👌

Hooked up the timer view with the database. Now it's possible to start the first Pomodoro sessions!

First shot of a barebones Pomodoro timer view. This will be the bread-and-butter of the app.

No "Weekly Indie Log" today because of important vacation reasons! Gotta relax as indie hacker as well 😎

I hear "Saw your app on Starter Story / The Studio" sooo often! Being featured in these videos has been a huge win for me and HabitKit 🙏

So awesome how this is moving around! Gotta love SwiftUI 👌

Added a tab view bottom accessory so the current session will never be far away. Tried to mimic the Apple Music style!

Nearly at 1K subscribers for my newsletter! If you didn't know, I share a weekly summary of my journey as an indie app developer every Sunday.

Implementing the SwiftData models for my Pomodoro side project. This is soooo easy 👌 Lots of people saying that SwiftData isn't mature enough for "real" apps. Anyone else had problems with it? If yes, which issues did you face?

Learning about SwiftData today for my side project. The API looks really cool and I love how easy it looks to implement cross-device sync with iCloud...

App Updates, iOS 26 Dreams, and the Power of 1% Daily Improvements: open.substack.com/pub/sebastia...

Love this "sheet opening" transition! It's literally just two lines of code with SwiftUI, so cool and smooth 🤩

Progress on my Pomodoro-App-Side-Project: Added a settings screen with the most important entry for starting a new project ->The mighty debug button which will allow me to seed data and clear the database 🔧

Starting a new side project: a Pomodoro timer app ⏱️ I’m keeping it clean, minimal, and focused on the best UX possible. This is mainly a learning project for me (SwiftUI + SwiftData + iOS 26 Liquid Design), but I’ll share the journey here. Let’s see where it goes 🚀

I ended the Product Page Optimization A/B experiment for my App Store screenshots. The old set performed better for some reason. I'll try again soon!

iOS 26 Prep: Transforming the HabitKit app icon using the new Icon Composer for a liquid glass design. Looks cool to me. What do you think?

The only productivity/self-improvement book you ever need to read: "The 1% Rule" by Tommy Baker!

The best part of being self-employed? No more "Sunday Blues." I haven't felt that "dread" in over 1.5 years, and I'm really grateful for it.

One thing I haven't been doing enough the past years: Competitor research, especially on pricing. I think it's super important to stay up-to-date with popular apps in your category (or the App Store in general).

After reading "Building a Second Brain" by Tiago Forte, I've been using the PARA method to organize my notes. It has completely revolutionized my note-taking and productivity setup.

Considering scheduling a "Come back, we miss you" notification for 7 days later if users haven't opened the app. Good idea or bad idea?

The first few days of my App Store screenshot A/B test are slightly worse, but I think I should give it some time. It might just be random...

Got some great new habit icons for HabitKit by upgrading to Font Awesome 7 👌

"You absolute slaves of capitalism" is a new one for me...

Building An Indie App Business #74: The Screenshot Update That's Been on My Todo List Forever sebastianroehl.substack.com/p/building-a...

Oh god, no. I'm sure this will cost me two days of fixing my Android environment 😭

I dropped the ball on learning SwiftUI. Motivation wasn’t there and the project I picked didn't inspire me. Fresh energy this weekend, new project, same goal. Let’s try again diving into native iOS development!

Currently adding support for new Font Awesome 7 icons to HabitKit. They finally added an icon for "Meditation" 🧘

After three years on the App Store, this is the first time I'm setting up a Product Page Optimization A/B test 😅