Ravi Shankar

Apple Platforms Developer

Week 1: Foundation & Research

January 27 - February 2, 2025

📋 Week Summary

The first week of SleepTracker development focused on laying the foundation for a successful RevenueCat Shipathon 2025 project. This week was all about research, planning, and setting up the development environment for building an intelligent sleep tracking app with HealthKit integration.

Key Accomplishments

  • ✅ Project Setup: Repository creation and development environment configuration
  • ✅ HealthKit Research: Deep dive into sleep tracking capabilities and limitations
  • ✅ UI/UX Design: Initial design concepts and user flow planning
  • ✅ RevenueCat Planning: Subscription model design and integration strategy
  • ✅ Technical Architecture: Core app structure and data flow planning

🔬 Technical Achievements

HealthKit Research & Analysis

Spent significant time researching HealthKit’s sleep tracking capabilities:

// HealthKit Sleep Data Types
let sleepAnalysis = HKObjectType.categoryType(forIdentifier: .sleepAnalysis)!
let sleepChanges = HKObjectType.categoryType(forIdentifier: .sleepChanges)!
let sleepSchedule = HKObjectType.categoryType(forIdentifier: .sleepSchedule)!

Key Findings:

  • HealthKit provides HKCategoryValueSleepAnalysis with sleep stages
  • Sleep data includes: inBed, asleep, awake, deepSleep, lightSleep, REMSleep
  • Apple Watch Series 3+ provides more accurate sleep tracking
  • Background app refresh needed for continuous monitoring

Project Architecture Planning

Designed the core architecture for SleepTracker:

SleepTracker/
├── iOS App/
│   ├── Views/
│   │   ├── DashboardView
│   │   ├── SleepAnalysisView
│   │   ├── TrendsView
│   │   └── SettingsView
│   ├── Models/
│   │   ├── SleepData
│   │   ├── SleepAnalysis
│   │   └── UserPreferences
│   └── Services/
│       ├── HealthKitService
│       ├── SleepAnalysisService
│       └── RevenueCatService
├── Watch App/
│   ├── Views/
│   │   ├── SleepSummaryView
│   │   └── QuickStatsView
│   └── Services/
│       └── WatchHealthKitService
└── Shared/
    ├── Models/
    └── Utilities/

RevenueCat Integration Strategy

Planned the monetization approach:

Freemium Model:

  • Free Tier: Basic sleep tracking, 7-day history, simple insights
  • Premium Tier: Advanced analytics, unlimited history, personalized recommendations, Apple Watch complications

Subscription Plans:

  • Monthly: $4.99/month
  • Annual: $39.99/year (33% savings)
  • Lifetime: $99.99 (one-time purchase)

🎨 UI/UX Design Concepts

Design Philosophy

  • Minimalist: Clean, uncluttered interface focusing on sleep data
  • Dark Mode First: Optimized for night-time viewing
  • Accessibility: High contrast and readable typography
  • Intuitive: Easy-to-understand sleep metrics and insights

Key Screens Designed

  1. Dashboard: Overview of last night’s sleep and weekly trends
  2. Sleep Analysis: Detailed breakdown of sleep stages and quality
  3. Trends: Long-term sleep pattern visualization
  4. Settings: HealthKit permissions and app preferences

Color Palette

  • Primary: Deep Blue (#1a1a2e) - Represents night/sleep
  • Secondary: Soft Purple (#16213e) - Calming, restful
  • Accent: Warm Orange (#ff6b6b) - Energy and wakefulness
  • Background: Dark Gray (#0f0f23) - Easy on the eyes

🚧 Challenges Overcome

HealthKit Permission Complexity

Challenge: Understanding the complex permission system for accessing sleep data.

Solution: Created a comprehensive permission flow:

  1. Request HealthKit authorization
  2. Explain why each permission is needed
  3. Provide fallback options if permissions denied
  4. Graceful degradation for limited data access

Apple Watch Integration Planning

Challenge: Designing a meaningful Apple Watch experience that complements the iPhone app.

Solution: Focused on glanceable information:

  • Last night’s sleep score
  • Quick sleep duration
  • Sleep quality indicator
  • Smart complications for watch faces

RevenueCat Integration Complexity

Challenge: Planning the subscription flow without overcomplicating the user experience.

Solution: Designed a progressive disclosure approach:

  • Start with free features
  • Introduce premium benefits naturally
  • Non-intrusive upgrade prompts
  • Clear value proposition at each step

💰 RevenueCat Integration Progress

Subscription Model Design

  • Product Configuration: Defined subscription tiers and pricing
  • Paywall Design: Created mockups for upgrade prompts
  • Analytics Planning: Identified key metrics to track
  • A/B Testing Strategy: Planned experiments for optimization

Key Metrics to Track

  • Conversion Rate: Free to premium conversion
  • Retention: User engagement over time
  • Revenue: Monthly recurring revenue (MRR)
  • Churn: Subscription cancellation rate

🎯 Next Week Goals

Week 2 Objectives

  1. HealthKit Integration: Implement basic sleep data retrieval
  2. Core UI Implementation: Build main dashboard and sleep analysis views
  3. Apple Watch Companion: Create basic watch app structure
  4. Data Models: Implement sleep data models and processing
  5. Basic Analytics: Set up RevenueCat analytics integration

Technical Milestones

  • HealthKit service implementation
  • Core Data models for sleep tracking
  • Basic SwiftUI views for iOS app
  • WatchKit app structure
  • RevenueCat SDK integration

📸 Screenshots & Mockups

Initial Design Concepts

Dashboard Mockup
Dashboard Mockup
Sleep Analysis Mockup
Sleep Analysis Mockup
Apple Watch Mockup
Apple Watch Mockup

📊 Development Metrics

Week 1 Metrics

  • Research Hours: 20+ hours
  • Design Concepts: 5 key screens
  • Technical Documentation: 3 comprehensive guides
  • RevenueCat Planning: Complete subscription strategy
  • HealthKit Research: Full capability analysis

Code Progress

  • Repository Setup: ✅ Complete
  • Project Structure: ✅ Planned
  • HealthKit Integration: 🔄 Research complete
  • UI Implementation: 🔄 Design complete
  • RevenueCat Setup: 🔄 Planning complete

🔗 Resources & References

HealthKit Documentation

RevenueCat Resources

Design Inspiration

🎉 RevenueCat Shipathon Progress

Week 1 Shipathon Goals ✅

  • Register for RevenueCat Shipathon 2025
  • Define project scope and monetization strategy
  • Research HealthKit integration requirements
  • Plan subscription model and pricing
  • Set up development environment

Next Shipathon Milestones

  • Implement basic RevenueCat integration
  • Create paywall and subscription flow
  • Set up analytics and tracking
  • Begin A/B testing preparation

Week 1 Status: ✅ Foundation Complete
Next Update: Week 2 Progress

Follow the complete development journey: SleepTracker Progress