What this project unlocked

For more than ten years, I’ve had the same ambition:

to build my own app and publish it in the App Store.

I always had ideas. Too many, actually. But the threshold to act was high. Turning an idea into a real product felt like a long, fragmented journey, design first, development later, marketing at the end. So I kept telling myself: later. Someday.

That changed when I realized how much AI had lowered the barrier between imagination and execution.

Around the same time, I came across research about the impact of daylight exposure on wellbeing, sleep, and overall health. The guideline is surprisingly simple: about 20 minutes of daylight per day.

Yet while we obsessively track steps, heart rate, and sleep, daylight isn’t tracked at all.

That gap sparked the core question behind Daylight:

If daylight is so fundamental to our health, why don’t we treat it like any other measurable habit?

Seven weeks later, that question turned into a real product.

Letting tools remove the friction

Daylight became both a product experiment and a personal proof point: could I finally bring an idea fully to life?

AI and modern tooling made that possible, not by replacing thinking, but by accelerating it.

ChatGPT as business coach, mentor, and co-founder

ChatGPT played a central role throughout the process. I used it to explore the problem space, challenge assumptions, and sharpen the value proposition. It acted like a constantly available sparring partner: helping me reason about positioning, motivation, habit formation, and whether the idea was genuinely useful or just interesting.

Figma to shape the idea, not just the interface

Figma was where the concept took visual form early on. I explored flows, feedback states, and how something as abstract as “daylight” could feel tangible and motivating. The goal wasn’t polish, but clarity: using design to make the idea feel real and distinct before writing a single line of code.

Cursor AI as a building companion

With Cursor AI, building stopped being a handoff and became part of the creative process. I could explore implementation alongside design decisions, iterate quickly, and stay close to the product’s intent. It removed much of the friction that had previously kept ideas stuck in my head.

Xcode as the native iOS foundation

I chose to build Daylight natively using Xcode, focusing on an iPhone app that works together with the Apple Watch. By ensuring the watch isn’t covered, the app can estimate how much time you spend in daylight or sunlight, turning something invisible into a measurable signal.

Framer for the marketing story

Framer was used to create the marketing page in parallel with the product. Writing and designing the landing page forced me to clearly articulate the “why” behind Daylight: why it exists, who it’s for, and what problem it actually solves—especially on dark days when you work from home.

What changed after shipping

The result is Daylight: an iOS app that tracks how much time you spend in daylight using your Apple Watch and nudges you when you’re falling short.

On darker days, the app can send a simple notification: "You haven't reached your daily daylight goal yet, get some sunshine ☀️"

Beyond hitting your daily goal, consistent daylight exposure helps regulate your circadian rhythm and the app could also notify you when you've reached your daylight limit for the day.

But the real outcome goes beyond the app itself.

• I shipped my first app to the App Store after more than a decade of postponing

• I validated a workflow where AI acts as a thinking partner, not a shortcut

• I turned a vague interest in health research into a concrete, usable product

• I proved to myself how much is now possible when the barrier to building drops

Daylight is a small product, but a meaningful one, for users, and for me.

It represents a shift from having ideas to bringing ideas to life.