A New Path to the Fastlane - App Development

[Supa]

Hey everyone!

Been a while since my last endeavour to get on the Fastlane – actually around 8 years.

I tried a few things over the years, but nothing that created a lot of value for others – and therefore nothing that made any money.

But now I am finally back driving on a lane that one day hopefully leads to the Fastlane.

I will keep this short, as there's not much to share as of yet. I still wanted to create this progress thread now, to have it follow along this new endeavor from the very beginning.

A few weeks ago – after stumbling upon this post on here – I asked something, that I didn't ask in a long time – what problem do people want to be solved?

And after a bit of thinking – especially about what hurt me in the past that I would have loved and also paid for a solution for – I found something.

It's an attempt at a solution for a problem in an area that I have quite some experience – and frustration – in: weight loss.

And the best way to being this idea to life is as an app. Only problem is, I'm not an app developer, or a developer at all.

So I started my journey to become an app developer, to be able to bring my idea (and more down the road) to life.

It's been a long time since I truly believed to ever be able to get onto the Fastlane. This idea brought back that spark of hope. So yeah. Happy to see where this will go. I'll take you along the journey.

 

Dislike ads? Become a Fastlane member: Subscribe today and surround yourself with winners and millionaire mentors, not those broke friends who only want to drink beer and play video games. :-)

[Cameron Akhtar]

I like the idea. What will be your angle? How will you stand out from other weight loss apps? There are a lot of them out there. I think that deserves some reflection. If you can set yourself apart from the crowd, you will surely see more success.

 

[Supa]

I like the idea. What will be your angle? How will you stand out from other weight loss apps? There are a lot of them out there. I think that deserves some reflection. If you can set yourself apart from the crowd, you will surely see more success.

Great questions!

My app idea arose from multiple concepts, ideas and sources of inspiration:

• The posts by @heavy_industry and @Johnny boy in this thread made me rethink weight loss
• A post I read somewhere about calories tracking, that resonated a lot with my own experiences and those of loved ones - it said something a long the lines of "calories tracking is great - the problem is to consistently do it over a long time"
• My own weight loss journey
• I remembered reading about a japanese concept of eating until you are 80% full - it's called Hara Hachi Bu

The last one - Hara Hachi Bu - is at the core of the app idea, here's a short description (from here):

"Hara Hachi Bu is a Japanese term meaning “Eat until you’re 80% full”. It originated in the city of Okinawa, one of the world’s blue zones regions, or exceptional hot spots where people live extraordinarily long and healthy lives. People there use this advice as a way to control their eating habits. Interestingly, they have one of the lowest rates of illness from heart disease, cancer, and stroke, and a fairly long life expectancy.

Hara Hachi Bu: Stop eating when you’re 80% full"

While most of the weight loss apps are based on one or two concepts: calories (+ macros) tracking and/or fasting, I want mine to do something different.

To me, one of the most difficult aspects about weight loss is the long process - especially when trying to lose bigger amounts of weight. At the same time, while and after losing 30 kg (66 lbs) I actually enjoyed the process the most - even more than the actual weight loss.

I want the app to give people a process that's at the same time simple to actually do every day - even on a long journey over months or years -, that they can enjoy and gives them a sense of accomplishment on most days, and that is effective.

So yeah, that's the main idea behind the app. How I aim to achieve that is something for future posts. I am still working on the concept, while at the same time learning app development. I also built a "prototype" in my notes app that let's me manually do what the app should do and am currently testing the system myself.

 

[Sean P]

The concept of Hara Hachi Bu resonates with me, remembering my own experience with weight loss. It is a very simple concept that is often overlooked by those seeking magic weight loss pills (pun intended). With the introduction of weight loss drugs that are said to have few or no side effects, the diet industry appears to be facing a challenge.

My weight loss journey has taught me that even a small weight loss can have a positive impact. I'm talking a few pounds over the course of a month or a few weeks. You begin to feel better, and high blood pressure or sugar levels tend to drop. Overall, it's a great feeling that influences your mood and, as a result, your performance at work.

So yes, it is important to capture and appreciate the small gains in any weight loss journey. It is also important to enjoy the journey, as small gains add up to significant weight loss over time. Wish you good luck!

 

[Milo_Start]

Wish you good luck.
What will be the difference from the million other weight loss apps out there?

 

[Supa]

Wish you good luck.
What will be the difference from the million other weight loss apps out there?

Thanks. See one comment above yours.

 

Dislike ads? Become a Fastlane member: Subscribe today and surround yourself with winners and millionaire mentors, not those broke friends who only want to drink beer and play video games. :-)

[Milo_Start]

Thanks. See one comment above yours.

Have you checked other weight loss app before?

Are you sure they are not doing the same thing, or something similar?
Have you talked with users of other weight loss apps?
Are they happy with the current app market? what they want to be improved / different?
What the feedback they bring to your idea?

To me, it seems that you are going to develop and app based on what you think is needed, not what actually needed in the market.
Get your feedback first, talk with real users of other apps.

 

[Supa]

Have you checked other weight loss app before?

Are you sure they are not doing the same thing, or something similar?

I have tested many other weight loss apps before, big and smaller ones. Not one of them did something even remotely similar to what I plan to do. If there is one, I haven't come across it yet.

To me, it seems that you are going to develop and app based on what you think is needed, not what actually needed in the market.
Get your feedback first, talk with real users of other apps.

Thanks for pointing that out. I probably took it a bit too granted, that what I would want for my own weight loss journey, is something others will find value in as well.

Right now I am only in the concept phase and simultaniously learning to develop apps. So there's a lot of time until I write my first line of code for this app idea, a lot of time to get feedback from users of weight loss apps.

 

[Supa]

Little update: just bought a MacBook Air, as development for the Apple eco system requires macOS. Until now I am learning the fundamentals of the Swift programming language theoretically. Once the MacBook Air arrives, I can start to learn to code by actually doing it.

 

[Gypsy Soul]

.

 

[Supa]

Hi Supa congrats on the Macbook Air purchase! Sounds like you are gearing up to build an app? Can you share what problem you plan to solve?

I've played with Swift many years ago just after Objective C started to fade a bit.

Thank you!

Yes, once it's here, I plan to start the 100 Days of SWIFTUI on hackingwithswift.com, as many recommend as a great place to start.

The problem I try to solve is a rather big one: weight loss. But more specifically, I want to provide people who want to lose weight a simple, enjoyable and effective way to do so, without the need to track everything they eat and drink. I want to achieve this by, among a few things, focusing on the Hara Hachi Bu method from Japan (a few posts above I posted a quick explanation).

 

Dislike ads? Become a Fastlane member: Subscribe today and surround yourself with winners and millionaire mentors, not those broke friends who only want to drink beer and play video games. :-)

[Gypsy Soul]

.

 

[Cameron Akhtar]

Hi Supa! Sounds cool man. Will you integrate some kind of meal tracking such that a user would be able to take photo of their food and the app somehow tracks calories this way?

Or will the user input information through typing into the mobile app?

Seems like the app may also play a helpful reinforcement learning type thing for the user? (Like a motivational tool)

Interested to follow your progress thread.

Good idea, once you get the ball rolling you might want to integrate features from the apps you will be competing with. First things first though I think you should identify the core feature and publish the app as a minimum viable product. After the app is published then you can add new features, but don't get caught up adding a ton of stuff delaying the process.

 

[Supa]

Will you integrate some kind of meal tracking such that a user would be able to take photo of their food and the app somehow tracks calories this way?

Or will the user input information through typing into the mobile app?

The concept I have so far aims at being way simpler than tracking individual meals. It's more about tracking how full you felt during each meal, with the goal being 80% full - which is from the Hara Hachi Bu method I mentioned above.

Seems like the app may also play a helpful reinforcement learning type thing for the user? (Like a motivational tool)

Yes, definitely! A huge factor in my own weight loss journey was to read about people who lost a lot of weight and what changed in their life during and after the weight loss. I plan to implement some form of inspiration into the app.

I also want some type of gamification in a later version.

First things first though I think you should identify the core feature and publish the app as a minimum viable product.

Totally agree. I want the first versions to focus on the core functionality and add more features later on.

 

[Supa]

A little update.

Currently on Day 28 of the 100 Days of SwiftUI.

In May - before I got my MacBook and before I started the course - I started to work on the concept of the app. I also created a “prototype” - basically doing manually what I want the app to do - and am since then constantly refining it while using it for my own weight loss. The version of the prototype I have been using for the last few weeks will probably be the one that makes it into the app as I’m very happy with its simplicity and effectiveness.

All in all very happy with the progress so far

 

[Supa]

Litte update: I'm halfway through with the 100 Days of SwiftUI course - just finished Day 50!

 

Dislike ads? Become a Fastlane member: Subscribe today and surround yourself with winners and millionaire mentors, not those broke friends who only want to drink beer and play video games. :-)

[Timboo]

Hey Supa,
The idea seems interesting and definitely should work as you basically reduce the amount you’re eating by 20% every few weeks..

Glad to read you started acting and hopefully acquired a new skill by now! How did it go, did you manage to finish the course by now?
I also like the idea of being your own first testimonial! However I still didn’t fully grasp how the app will help me? Counting calories is easily digitalized, there is a numerical goal to it.. but how does the app support simply eating less? Will it be kind of a diary?

Let me push you a bit further: what are your next 3 steps to achieve until the end of the year?

Hope you understand this post as a motivation!

 

[Supa]

How did it go, did you manage to finish the course by now?

It's going really well! I'm on Day 73 now. Though the course is designed in a way, that you usually need around an hour per day, some days are a bit harder than others and I like to take more time for these, so I do most days in one day and some in two. Really enjoying Paul's way of teaching and can recommend his course to anyone interested in Swift and SwiftUI

I also like the idea of being your own first testimonial!

Thank you! I'd be very grateful!

However I still didn’t fully grasp how the app will help me? Counting calories is easily digitalized, there is a numerical goal to it.. but how does the app support simply eating less? Will it be kind of a diary?

I'm keeping my descriptions of the app a bit vague on purpose for now, because I'm still a bit away from developing it and don't want to have the concept of my app floating around the internet before I actually get to develop it.

But I can give you some details. They will be a score system behind the scenes, I'm still thinking about wether I'll show the score to the user or not, but regardless of a score being explicitly shown or only used in the backend, the main way of seeing your daily progress as well as your overall progress will be a graph. I want this graph to be both - a representation of the users journey so far, in other words, their weight loss, as well as a beautiful way to see their daily progress, so wether they had a great day, a good day, an ok or a not so good one in regards to reaching the goals within the app.

The graph is inspired by the app Gentler Streak. Though it will be different in a lot of ways, I love that app's graph being the main focus when one opens the app.

Let me push you a bit further: what are your next 3 steps to achieve until the end of the year?

1. Finish the 100 Days of SwiftUI course or, if not possible until the year's end, as many days as possible, before continuing in the new year.
2. Though the basic concept of the app and its score system stand now, there's still a lot to finetune.
3. Research more on the legal aspects of publishing an app in the health area.

 

[Timboo]

I'm keeping my descriptions of the app a bit vague on purpose for now, because I'm still a bit away from developing it and don't want to have the concept of my app floating around the internet before I actually get to develop it.

Makes sense, I was actually just curious but you got a point there! Didn't know the App but after referencing Gentler Streak, I think I better understand of where you want to go with this!

1. Finish the 100 Days of SwiftUI course or, if not possible until the year's end, as many days as possible, before continuing in the new year.
2. Though the basic concept of the app and its score system stand now, there's still a lot to finetune.
3. Research more on the legal aspects of publishing an app in the health area.

Perfect, I'm sure you get the course done! Almost a pro now
Looking forward to your update next year!

 

[Supa]

Makes sense, I was actually just curious but you got a point there! Didn't know the App but after referencing Gentler Streak, I think I better understand of where you want to go with this!

Yeah, once I have something to show, I'll happily do so

Perfect, I'm sure you get the course done! Almost a pro now
Looking forward to your update next year!

Thank you!

 

[Supa]

Little update: Day 75 of the 100 Days of SwiftUI course done - already 3/4 complete!

Meanwhile my "prototype" (aka me manually typing in and calculating all the stuff that should go into the app) is working great! I have developed a score system and am happy with it after trying it for some time now. I also have a name for the app. Very happy with the progress so far, but really looking forward to finally develop the app, once I finish the course.

 

Dislike ads? Become a Fastlane member: Subscribe today and surround yourself with winners and millionaire mentors, not those broke friends who only want to drink beer and play video games. :-)

[Cameron Akhtar]

Are you using the Cursor IDE? If not, I would start using it right away. It's just like VSCode, but with an LLM built-in which can help you work way faster. The free tier is pretty good but I pay for the 20 bucks a month version. Crazy what you can do with the AI man.

 

[Supa]

Are you using the Cursor IDE? If not, I would start using it right away. It's just like VSCode, but with an LLM built-in which can help you work way faster. The free tier is pretty good but I pay for the 20 bucks a month version. Crazy what you can do with the AI man.

So far I‘ve been copying and pasting code into and from ChatGPT lol so definitely gonna look into that, thank you!

 

[MrLexington]

1. Finish the 100 Days of SwiftUI course or, if not possible until the year's end, as many days as possible, before continuing in the new year.
2. Though the basic concept of the app and its score system stand now, there's still a lot to finetune.
3. Research more on the legal aspects of publishing an app in the health area.

I can’t help with #1, but I have a couple of thoughts on #2 & #3.

One thing you may consider in structuring the app is that I would bet most people are terrible at knowing when they are full, much less a fraction of full. Americans, at least usually eat quickly, which means by the time the vagal nerve is stimulated, we might be past the point of full. You might consider reading some of the background material on eating slowly and building some of that practice into the app so people can learn to estimate things like “half full,” etc.

As for the legalities, do be careful. Giving health advice is fraught, and you may want to consider disclaimers. At the very least, read some of the fine print on non-FDA-approved supplements, because you will likely be making similar disclaimers. If you have some extra bucks, you might consider getting an attorney to sign off on some disclaimers before a full launch.

Have fun,
MrL

 

[Supa]

Thank you for your help!

One thing you may consider in structuring the app is that I would bet most people are terrible at knowing when they are full, much less a fraction of full. Americans, at least usually eat quickly, which means by the time the vagal nerve is stimulated, we might be past the point of full. You might consider reading some of the background material on eating slowly and building some of that practice into the app so people can learn to estimate things like “half full,” etc.

That‘s a really great point! I have some ideas on how to help users to recognize - and this before it’s too late and they overate - how full they are. But I haven’t thought yet about implementing something that helps them to experience that. That’s a fantastic idea and goes straight into my list of features

As for the legalities, do be careful. Giving health advice is fraught, and you may want to consider disclaimers. At the very least, read some of the fine print on non-FDA-approved supplements, because you will likely be making similar disclaimers. If you have some extra bucks, you might consider getting an attorney to sign off on some disclaimers before a full launch.

Yes, I have a lot of due diligence to do for this. I‘ll avoid making any health claims as far as I can, but to some degree there have to be some. The good thing is, that the app has at its core the Hara Hachi Bu method, it is not a „do this and you’ll be healthy and fit“ but more a „people in one of the blue zones of the world do this, so why not do the same?“

Nonetheless it‘s in some way giving health related advice, so I‘ll spend a big chunk of the time before launch on the due diligence work.

 

[Supa]

Yesterday I finished the 100th day and the epilogue of the 100 Days of SwiftUI.

Absolutely fantastic course, as everything by Paul Hudson! I also love that he offers the whole course for free, as he says, to help everyone to learn Swift and SwiftUI no matter how much they earn. I already subscribed to his premium membership, which is fantastic as well.

After finishing the course I started the app project of my first app and wrote its first lines of code.

Now shit get‘s serious lol. I‘m a bit nervous and worried if I can pull this project off, that I planned over the last few months alongside doing the course. But I‘m still confident that this will be a great product that will help people.

When these last months were planning, learning how to drive and getting the car ready for the journey, we now just pulled out of the driveway. Let‘s go.

 

Dislike ads? Become a Fastlane member: Subscribe today and surround yourself with winners and millionaire mentors, not those broke friends who only want to drink beer and play video games. :-)

[Timboo]

Just remembered that I didn’t respond here yet. Congrats again on finishing the course and now being able to start the actual project. Really curious how you translate the knowledge into your own app!!

How are you progressing?
What/when is your next milestone?

 

[Supa]

Just remembered that I didn’t respond here yet. Congrats again on finishing the course and now being able to start the actual project. Really curious how you translate the knowledge into your own app!!

How are you progressing?
What/when is your next milestone?

Thanks for asking

At first it was quite intimidating to sit in front of a blank canvas, without any guidance on what to do first and what next, like I had during the course. But then I started to work on this project like I have been taught by Paul (the awesome guy doing the 100 Days of SwiftUI) and started to build this app step by step.

Working on own app after the course really shows how fantastic the course is. I feel absolutely capable of turning my ideas into code. Of course I don't know everything to build this yet, but I know a lot and I have a great foundation on which to build upon.

Building the app is lots of fun and I'm progressing pretty good. The work on it is a mixture of applying what I've learned and building upon the learned when I want to implement something I don't know yet how to do.

I've layed down a plan of steps to accomplish and am currently working on the data model for the app. I am also working on the basic UI and will work more on it once I have the data sorted out.

 

[Cameron Akhtar]

Have you tried that AI IDE Cursor I told you about yet?

 

[bc0510]

Thanks for asking

At first it was quite intimidating to sit in front of a blank canvas, without any guidance on what to do first and what next, like I had during the course. But then I started to work on this project like I have been taught by Paul (the awesome guy doing the 100 Days of SwiftUI) and started to build this app step by step.

Working on own app after the course really shows how fantastic the course is. I feel absolutely capable of turning my ideas into code. Of course I don't know everything to build this yet, but I know a lot and I have a great foundation on which to build upon.

Building the app is lots of fun and I'm progressing pretty good. The work on it is a mixture of applying what I've learned and building upon the learned when I want to implement something I don't know yet how to do.

I've layed down a plan of steps to accomplish and am currently working on the data model for the app. I am also working on the basic UI and will work more on it once I have the data sorted out.

Wow, everything counts. The learning experience and now implementing those into your app is something you will enjoy every moment. However, I do not believe it is going to be a fastlane by developing the app by yourself as you have just learned how to code. To make a paying/ professional app, you should work with an experienced developer or an experienced team. I am from a development background and I do seasonal development work, however, when I want to build an app, I use my team and tell them the goals, the direction, and so on. Even after doing all that, a good professional app takes months to develop, months to make it mature, and so on. As you have good technical experience, that will help you drive this project efficiently. However, if you do not have a budget and do not have enough time, then you should do it yourself. I will help you test your MVP when it is ready.