Native iOS features

Build an iPhone app with reminders and notifications

Borel builds iPhone apps that remind people at the right moment. Describe when a reminder should arrive, every morning at eight, every two hours, or the day before something, and Borel writes it in Swift with Apple's UserNotifications. The iPhone schedules each reminder itself, so it arrives on the lock screen right on time.

Ideas

What you can build with reminders and notifications

A few apps people make with it. Describe yours in your own words.

  • A water reminder

    Pick how often, and it reminds you to drink through the day.

  • A plant watering app

    Each plant reminds you on its own schedule.

  • A habit nudge

    A gentle reminder each evening to tick off today's habits.

  • A study timer

    A notification when a session ends and when the break is over.

  • A bin day reminder

    A nudge the evening before the bins go out, every week.

Try it

A prompt to start from

Copy it, or start with it and change it to fit your idea.

The prompt
“A water reminder: I pick how often, and it reminds me to drink until bedtime.”

From words to your iPhone

Three steps, no code

  • 1

    Describe it

    Say what the app does in plain words, or start from the prompt above. No code, and no Mac.

  • 2

    Watch it build

    Borel writes the Swift, compiles it with Xcode on its own Mac and opens it in the iOS Simulator, streamed into your browser.

  • 3

    Put it on your iPhone

    Borel Companion installs it over a cable the first time, then over Wi-Fi, and while it runs it puts each new version on by itself.

How Borel handles it

Written in Swift, with Apple's own frameworks

What Borel takes care of for you, so the feature works the way iPhone owners expect.

  • Scheduled on the phone

    The app sets each reminder on the iPhone, by time of day or after a while, so it arrives even when the app is closed.

  • Asked at the right moment

    The app asks to send notifications when someone turns reminders on, never the moment it first opens.

  • Clear when they're off

    If notifications are turned off in Settings, the app says so, so nobody wonders why a reminder never came.

Reminders arrive on your iPhone's lock screen once Borel Companion puts the app on it. While you build, the rest of the app runs in the iOS Simulator in your browser.

Your Apple ID

Works with a free Apple ID

Yes. Borel Companion puts the app on your own iPhone with a free Apple ID, which keeps up to 3 of your apps there, and Companion renews them every 7 days for you.

Frequently asked questions

No. The iPhone schedules each one itself, so they arrive on time with no connection at all.

Yes: every day at a set time, on chosen weekdays, or every few hours, whatever your app needs.

Yes. iOS always asks once, and the app asks when someone turns its reminders on.

Yes. They arrive with the iPhone's notification sound and show on the lock screen, like any other app's.

Yes. Ask in the chat, or choose Notifications from Device in the chat's + menu.

Build your app with reminders and notifications

Start from the prompt above, change it to fit your idea, and Borel builds it while you watch.