Building reminders that actually get answered
The idea came from a real pain point: a caregiver schedules a reminder for a loved one, sends a text, and it gets lost. What if the reminder rang as a full system alarm on their phone — and turning it green required a single, explicit tap? I sketched the core loop: schedule, ring, "I got it!" — anything less is a miss. The working name is "ForgetDoNot."
Built on Apple's AlarmKit so reminders ring as real, full-screen alarms — impossible to miss. The acknowledge button ("I got it!") is the only way to go green; dismissing just snoozes. I also made the button label customizable, so families can personalize it ("Done", "Got it, love you").
Chose raw CloudKit (CKShare zones) over NSPersistentCloudKitContainer for the sharing model. It gives true zone-level sharing: the owner mirrors a reminder into a shared zone, the recipient's device rings and acks, and the status flows back. One URL, one actor, clean accountability.
The big gap: if both apps are closed, nobody can check whether a reminder was missed. Solved with a thin server — a Cloudflare Worker + D1 + APNs. Five minutes after a fire, it sends a silent push to wake the owner's app; at eight minutes, a visible banner and badge. The app stays the decider; the server is just a timer and a fallback.
Added a second sharing rule: "Broadcast." One QR code, everyone who scans it rings — no status, no follow-up. Perfect for "dinner Sunday at 6" to the whole family. Built subscriber records so the owner sees who joined, can remove anyone, and subscribers can opt out.
Filled in the edges: daily/weekly/monthly/yearly recurrence (with a rolling alarm for monthly/yearly), push to all of a user's devices, a month-at-a-glance status calendar, tutorials, and a splash. The core is solid and testing well on two devices and two iCloud accounts.
ForgetDoNot — so nothing slips through.