Dino Hatch
In developmentA kids' timer and wake-up alarm where every countdown ends with an egg hatching.
- Year
- 2026
- Role
- Concept, design and development
- Stack
- iOSSwiftUIiCloud syncNo backend
The problem
Timers and alarms are a daily negotiation with young children — brushing teeth, screen time, getting out of bed. Most kids' apps that solve this come with accounts, ads, tracking and a purchase button within easy reach of a four-year-old.
The approach
Build the whole thing without a backend. No accounts, no analytics, no ads. The only data stored is the child's general age, unlock progress and timer settings — kept on the device and optionally synced through the family's own private iCloud. Settings, data deletion and the optional tip jar all sit behind a parental gate.
The reward loop
Every completed countdown or on-time wake-up hatches a dinosaur. Each of the thirty species carries real facts: era, diet, length, estimated weight, where its fossils were found, and a press-and-hold x-ray view of the skeleton underneath. The reward teaches something instead of just buzzing.
The outcome
A small, self-contained app that does one thing well, costs nothing to run, and can be handed to a child without a single thing to worry about.