Hi everyone,
I’m Gracie, a business analyst based in Australia. For the past three years, I’ve been working on mobile app projects. Most of my background is in IT—decades of experience, mostly with large vendor-delivered systems like ERPs. The mobile projects were my first time working on something built from the ground up, across both major mobile platforms, with a middleware/backend component too.
I started learning iOS to get a better understanding of mobile architecture and the development process—and to communicate more effectively with the developers on my team. A nice bonus: I now understand some of the jargon they like to throw around!
I’ve been on this learning journey for about six months. It’s been a slow and steady pace, juggling work demands, energy levels, and all the outdoor things I love—like mountain biking, hiking, and off-road 4WDing.
I’d love to have an app in the App Store one day. Honestly, I never thought I’d get this far! I’m not sure exactly what the app will be yet, but I have an idea brewing—something to help me keep track of the places I’ve been, good spots for different activities, and notes or tips for when I return. I’d also like to log my mountain bike and 4WD setup details for various terrains and locations. There are plenty of camping or outdoor activity apps out there, but none quite suit me—especially since I often go to “unofficial” or remote spots, and I’m not really into the whole social-sharing thing.
If all goes to plan, I’ll make some progress on the capstone project and share an update here soon!
Ok, I’ve worked through the next videos in my course and spent the day brainstorming ideas and have come up with an MVP. Its a little different from my first ideas.
The App - StoryChop: a gentle, distraction-free writing app designed for people who want to capture memories, stories, and reflections—without pressure or complexity. A personal story space, built for clarity, comfort, and quiet reflection.
Each day, the app will offer a thoughtful prompt to spark a short piece of writing, which is saved privately on the user’s device. The user can revisit, edit, tag, and export entries whenever they want. For MVP - no account is required.
StoryChop MVP Feature List
| Feature |
Description |
| Daily/on-demand prompt |
Tap to reveal a thoughtful writing prompt and begin a new entry |
| Writing + auto-save |
Write responses that are saved automatically on the device |
| Entry list & edit |
View, edit, or delete previous entries |
| Tagging |
Tag entries by theme (e.g., Family, Travel, Childhood) |
| Preloaded prompt library |
Curated collection of prompts organized by themes |
| Font size options |
Adjustable text size for easy readability |
| Minimal, calm interface |
Clean design with low visual noise and simple navigation |
| App lock |
Face ID or passcode protection for privacy |
| Export entries |
Export all or selected entries as plain text or PDF |
| Use app without login |
Users can start writing without needing to sign in |
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The tools in Chris’s videos have changed a lot and the free account versions are no longer very useful. AppFollow doesn’t appear to provide the list of key words and MobileAction did not want my personal email address. So thank goodness for ChatGPT which came up with some results - I wish there was a way to validate these, but they’re a start.
Suggested Keywords for StoryChop
“Memory journal app”
- Relevance: Directly pertains to users seeking a platform to document personal memories.
- Traffic Score: Approximately 25
- Difficulty Score: Approximately 28
- Rationale: This keyword captures users interested in preserving memories, which aligns with StoryChop’s core functionality.
“Life story prompts”
- Relevance: Targets users looking for guided prompts to write their life stories.
- Traffic Score: Approximately 22
- Difficulty Score: Approximately 26
- Rationale: This keyword is specific to users seeking structured assistance in writing, matching StoryChop’s feature of providing daily prompts.
WIP Title and subtitle
- Title: “StoryChop: Memory Journal App”
- Subtitle: “Daily Life Story Prompts for Personal Reflection”
Have you had a look at the Application Cursor? It’s an AI code editor and I have used it to great effect.
It’s definitely worth a look. I know Chris Ching has been using it for some time and I have got some great results from it with an application that I am tinkering with. The great thing about it is that you run it on your Mac and it works beside Xcode so you open the App in Xcode and then open the same App in Cursor. Ask cursor what you want to achieve… be very descriptive as in a conversational manner… and you might be surprised at how well it works.
Thanks Chris, I’ve just been casually using ChatGPT which has really speeded up my learning. I see Chris has a workshop for Cursor and Claude AI - I will give it a go
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Tested key words in the app store, and no app has a title or subtitle “Life story prompts” - so the plan (for now) is to use this as part of the app title.
Here’s my first attempt at a wireframe. Pretty basic - I’m still learning Figma.
Feedback, thoughts welcome
