Project · StormForge 2026 · SFU Surge cohort

Respite

A native iOS digital wellness app — built entirely in Swift with a team of four mentor-guided developers — that uses on-device signals to nudge people toward calmer, more deliberate phone use.

Swift
Xcode
Liquid Glass
Screen Time
HealthKit
WeatherKit
Live Activities

The cohort

Respite was the four-month build I shipped inside the StormForge 2026 Cohort at SFU Surge — mentor-guided product work selected from a competitive applicant pool. Our team of four owned design, engineering, and delivery end-to-end, with weekly reviews from industry mentors.

What it does

Respite is a context-aware digital wellness companion. Rather than blocking apps with a wall of red, it reads in-the-moment signals — your screen time today, recent activity, even the weather outside — and suggests small acts of respite: a walk, a stretch, a breath, a few minutes off-grid.

The intent is to replace willpower-driven app blockers with something gentler and more honest about how people actually relate to their phones.

What I built

Core iOS application logic in Swift — view models, state management, and the rules engine that turns sensor inputs into actionable suggestions.
Liquid Glass UI components built in Xcode — translucent cards, depth-aware blurs, and motion that respects prefers-reduced-motion.
Screen Time integration to surface app usage without leaving the sandbox.
HealthKit for active-energy and step context — used to time nudges around real movement.
WeatherKit to bias outdoor suggestions against current conditions.
Live Activities for glanceable session feedback on the Lock Screen and Dynamic Island.

What I learned

Shipping inside Apple’s permissions model — how to ask once, well.
Designing UI that looks composed at 60 fps and stays readable on a Lock Screen widget.
Working in a small team with mentors — feedback loops, scope discipline, when to say no.

Status

Shipped at the April 2026 cohort demo. StormForge has wrapped — this case study covers the build as delivered.