Day 3: I Built Reminders That Roast You on Time
Watch an AI agent build recurring reminders that reach a closed phone, a Remote Config sarcasm pack, a 60-second break tracked in Analytics, and a notification center backed by three Cloud Code functions. Three real bugs fixed along the way.
Watch the full tutorial or read the summary below
Overview
Day 3 of the Move Well build: an app that nags you to fix your posture, built prompt by prompt on AppAmbit. Move Well is the app's working name; on Day 4 it becomes Unshrimp.
The app starts talking to you. Reminders are local notifications scheduled within each user's active hours at their own interval, and they arrive even with the app closed. The reminder lines live in a Remote Config "sarcasm pack" with a Halloween edition, so they change without a release.
A 60-second break shows the right stretch from the CMS, and it only counts in Analytics if you finish it. A notification center, backed by three Cloud Code functions, keeps every reminder and shows an unread badge. Three real bugs get fixed along the way.
Real lines from the app: "Stand up. The chair will survive without you." "Boo. It's just your posture. Terrifying."
In This Episode
- Reminders are local notifications scheduled inside your hours at your interval, and they arrive even with the app closed
- A debug trigger that fires a reminder in 5 seconds instead of waiting 45 minutes
- The sarcasm pack in Remote Config: every line a reminder can say, plus a Halloween pack. No rebuild, no release, no store review.
- The 60-second break: the exercise image from the CMS, a countdown ring and a "Survived" button
- Bug: "Couldn't load the break", fixed with a test so it can't come back
- Analytics: break started vs break completed (a break only counts if you finish it)
- A notification center backed by 3 Cloud Code functions. The app never touches the database directly.
- An unread badge on the bell, and one last bug when you open a reminder from the phone's tray
Chapters
- 0:00 Today: the app starts talking to you
- 0:36 Quick tour of the app so far
- 1:18 Exercises live in the cloud
- 1:33 Real reminders on your schedule
- 2:51 Clean install test
- 3:33 The sarcasm pack in Remote Config
- 4:11 The 60-second break
- 5:57 Bug: "Couldn't load the break"
- 6:42 Analytics: started vs completed
- 6:59 The notification center
- 8:00 An unread badge on the bell
- 9:26 Inside the AppAmbit dashboard
- 10:41 Last bug: tapping from the phone's tray
- 12:04 Recap and what's next
More in the Series
- Previous: Day 2: I Built Per-User Onboarding and Settings With Cloud Code
- Next: Day 4: If you Ignore 3 Reminders This App Roasts You
Links
Frequently Asked Questions
Q How do reminders reach me with the app closed?
They are local notifications scheduled on the phone, inside your active hours and at your interval. The schedule is rebuilt when you log in or change your settings.
Q Where does the reminder text come from?
From the sarcasm pack in AppAmbit Remote Config. The app keeps a cached copy so it also works offline. A change shows up on the app's next launch, with no release.
Q What counts as a completed break?
Only finishing the 60-second timer. Analytics tracks break_started and break_completed separately.
Q How does the notification center get its data?
From a notifications table that the app can only reach through three Cloud Code functions: log, get and mark as read. Each one checks the user's token first.
Q How do you test without waiting 45 minutes?
A debug trigger in settings fires a reminder in 5 seconds.
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