[elevenapril]

Hey HN,

I built this app for a friend who has ADHD.

The backstory: She was struggling to stick to her daily routine, so I asked her, "Why don't you just use the system alarms?"

Her reaction was immediate: "Don't talk to me about system alarms."

She explained that alarms are too startling and stressful. She doesn't want a loud noise screaming at her; she just needs to know how much time is left until her next task (e.g., "15 mins until stand-up") without doing mental math every time she looks at the clock.

What I built:

Since I couldn't find an existing app that did exactly this (simple, non-intrusive, strictly visual), I built DuePal.

It does one thing: It puts a live countdown to your set "points in time" (9:00, 12:00, 17:00) right on the Dynamic Island and Lock Screen.

It creates "passive awareness" of time passing.

No startling sounds, just a visual nudge.

It handles repeating schedules (because setting timers manually every day is a pain).

It's a tiny utility, but it stopped my friend from being late without spiking her cortisol levels. I thought others here might find it useful too.

Happy to answer any questions about the Live Activities implementation!

[delichon]

That passive awareness of time passing would require me to look at the phone frequently, which I prefer to avoid. A gentle chime when the alarm is approaching would be better. I'd rather have something that fixes the overly alarming system alarm, e.g. by letting me select the audio file and starting it quiet and gentle. That would also be useful across apps, including oodles of timers and time boxers. But I don't know if phone OSes allow this kind of customization.

[elevenapril]

I hear you. It sounds like you have a good internal clock! For people with severe time blindness (like the friend I built this for), the problem is the opposite: time disappears completely. If she doesn't look, she assumes she has hours left when she only has minutes. The visual countdown acts as a prosthetic for that missing sense of time. But yes, if you don't struggle with that specific issue, checking the phone would definitely be annoying. A custom fade-in alarm sounds like a great idea for a different app.

[delichon]

I do have that problem, which is why I appreciate the warning chimes of my Pomodoro app. But I prefer my warnings to be in the audio mode, especially because I don't have to remember to pick up the phone to see what I'm forgetting.

[elevenapril]

It’s funny how different brains work. For her, any sound feels like an interruption or a 'demand' from the phone. She prefers the visual cue because it lets her check the time on her terms, rather than the phone interrupting her flow. But you're right—for 'eyes-free' awareness, you really can't beat audio.