Make an app
Make a sleep log app for iPhone
A sleep log is a diary, not a sensor: each morning you note when you went to bed, when you woke and how rested you feel. Describe what you want to compare and Borel builds a native iPhone app that charts your nights against caffeine, screens or exercise, and nudges you at bedtime.
Updated
“A sleep diary: each morning I log bedtime, wake time, how many times I woke, and how rested I feel from 1 to 5, plus checkboxes for coffee after 2 pm, alcohol and exercise. Show a week of bars for hours slept and the average rest score with and without each checkbox.”
Screens
What a sleep log app needs
The screens Borel builds from the prompt above. Ask for more, fewer or different ones.
Morning log
Two time pickers, a 1 to 5 rest score and a few checkboxes, saved in one tap.
Week
Bars for hours slept each night, with a line for your target.
What helps
Average rest with and without coffee, alcohol or exercise the day before.
Bedtime
Your target bedtime and the reminder that goes with it.
Data
What it keeps
Borel writes these as Swift models. On the phone they work with no connection; in Borel's cloud they follow a signed-in person.
| What | Holds | Kept |
|---|---|---|
| Night | Bedtime, wake time, wake-ups, rest score | On the phone, with SwiftData |
| Factors | The checkboxes for the day before | On the phone, with the night |
| Target | Hours you aim for and your bedtime | On the phone |
Native iPhone features
What it can use on your iPhone
Written in Swift with Apple's own frameworks, so they work the way iPhone owners expect.
Make it yours
What to ask for next
Once the first version runs, ask for changes in the chat, in words like these.
- “Pre-fill bedtime with last night's, so I only change it when it's different.”
- “Add a notes line for dreams.”
- “Show a monthly average and how it compares to last month.”
How to make it
From a prompt to your iPhone and the App Store
- 1
Describe it
Paste the prompt on this page into Borel, or write your own in plain words. Borel plans the screens with you before it builds.
- 2
Try it in your browser
Borel writes the app in Swift and SwiftUI, builds it with Xcode on its own Mac and opens it in a live iPhone simulator in your browser, free.
- 3
Put it on your iPhone
With Pro, Borel Companion for Windows or Mac installs it on your own iPhone with your Apple ID: a cable the first time, then Wi-Fi.
- 4
Publish it when it's ready
Pro publishes to the App Store from the same project. Apple's Developer Program, $99 a year, is the one thing you pay Apple.
Log three real mornings on your iPhone before you change anything. Half-awake use is the real test: are the time pickers easy at 6 am, is the save button big enough, does the dark mode stay dark? Then ask Borel for whatever slowed you down.
Kept for yourself, a sleep diary needs nothing more than Companion. If you publish it, keep its words to what it does: a diary you fill in, making no medical claims.
Building starts free, with 5 free credits a day, up to 30 a month, and the simulator in your browser costs nothing. Pro, from $20 a month, adds installs on your own iPhone through Borel Companion and publishing to the App Store.
Before you start
Good to know
- It doesn't measure sleep or read it from the Health app or an Apple Watch; you enter each night yourself.
- There's no alarm clock: iOS keeps alarms to the Clock app.
Frequently asked questions
No. Borel's apps can't read Apple's sleep data, so this is a diary you fill in each morning, which also lets you note things a sensor can't.
Yes. With a few checkboxes per day, Borel can chart your average rest with and without each one.
Yes. A reminder scheduled on the iPhone arrives at the time you choose, every night or only on weekdays.
Yes. The log is saved on your iPhone, and Borel Companion keeps the app there with a free Apple ID while you're on Pro.
Make your sleep log app
Start from the prompt on this page, change it to fit your idea, and Borel builds it while you watch.