Systemic - Personal Habit & Goal Tracking

Overview

Systemic is a local-first iOS productivity app inspired by Atomic Habits. It focuses on small, repeatable actions and reduces friction with automatic tracking.

It combines daily check-ins, goal hierarchies, reflections, and a notes system, with widgets for quick progress. Auto-tracking supports HealthKit, Screen Time, Calendar, and Location sources, with iCloud sync planned.

Key Features

Auto-Tracking & Smart Completions

Systemic includes an extensible auto-tracking engine that can complete habits using real-world signals:

• HealthKit metrics (steps, exercise minutes, etc.)
• Screen Time usage thresholds
• Calendar events (habit tied to a scheduled block)
• Location presence (e.g., gym check-ins)

Auto-tracking is configured per habit, and the UI surfaces live progress toward thresholds so users can still see why a habit was marked complete.

Daily Habit Tracking

The Today tab serves as the daily command center:

• Morning check-in - Track your mood, energy level, and daily intentions
• Habit dashboard - Track completion with visual progress indicators
• Evening reflection - Capture mood and reflection notes
• Activity stats - View streaks, completion rates, and patterns

Today View

01 / 02

Goal Management

Goals are organized hierarchically within life areas:

• Life areas - Health, Learning, Work, Creative, Relationships, Finance
• Goal templates - Pre-built objectives to get started quickly
• Subgoals - Break large goals into manageable pieces
• Habit linking - Connect daily habits to larger goals
• Progress tracking - Status indicators (working, almost there, complete)

Goals by Area

01 / 02

Brain - Notes & Reflections

The Brain tab captures thoughts that emerge during the day:

• Multiple note types - Notes, reflections, insights, important links
• Tag organization - Flexible categorization
• Pinned notes - Quick access to active references
• Context linking - Connect notes to relevant habits and goals

Theming & Customization

Five carefully designed color themes with full light/dark mode support:

• Ember, Ocean, Forest, Aurora, Sand
• Consistent color system across all views
• Observable theme provider for reactive updates

Home Screen Widgets

Quick access to habits without opening the app:

• Daily Progress - See completion at a glance
• Habit Checkoff - Mark habits complete from the widget (App Intents)
• Lock Screen widgets - iOS 16+ support

Technical Architecture

System Overview

Data Layer

Systemic uses GRDB for local-first persistence plus SQLiteData to keep database access strongly-typed and composable.

@Table
struct HabitEntry: Identifiable, Equatable {
    let id: UUID
    var date: Date = Date()
    var isCompleted: Bool = false
    var notes: String?
    var completedAt: Date?
    var isAutoCompleted: Bool = false
    var autoTrackValue: Double?

    // Foreign key
    var habitID: Habit.ID
}

@FetchAll(HabitEntry.lastDays(30)) private var habitEntries: [HabitEntry]

extension HabitEntry {
    nonisolated static func lastDays(_ count: Int) -> Where<HabitEntry> {
        let calendar = Calendar.current
        let today = calendar.startOfDay(for: Date())
        guard let startDate = calendar.date(byAdding: .day, value: -(count - 1), to: today) else {
            return Self.where { _ in false }
        }
        let start = calendar.startOfDay(for: startDate)
        return Self.where { $0.date >= start && $0.date <= today }
    }
}

This pattern creates an easy-to-test SQL layer which can be immediately referenced in the UI. It also supports adding custom queries to reduce fetched data.

Data Model:

Dependency Injection

The app uses swift-dependencies for clean testability:

@Dependency(\.dataSourceRegistry) private var registry
@Dependency(\.defaultDatabase) private var database

/// Check all auto-tracked habits and create entries as needed
func processAutoTrackedHabits() async {
    let habits = try await database.read { db in
        try Habit.autoTracked.where(\.isActive).fetchAll(db)
    }

    logger.debug("Processing \(habits.count) auto-tracked habits")

    for habit in habits {
        await processHabit(habit)
    }
}

Navigation

Systemic uses Swift Navigation for state-driven routing, keeping flow changes predictable and easy to test.

Service Layer

Domain-specific services encapsulate business logic:

• DatabaseService - All GRDB operations
• AutoCompletionService - Unified auto-tracking and completion logic
• HealthKitClient - Health data access and authorization
• GamificationService - Streaks and achievements
• WidgetDataManager - Widget/App Intent data synchronization

Project Structure

Design Decisions

SQLite over CloudKit

Chose local SQLite for:

• Simplicity - No sync conflicts or server costs
• Offline-first - Works without network
• Privacy - Data stays on device
• Performance - Fast queries for analytics

Observable Theme System

Centralized theme provider enables reactive color updates:

@Observable
class ThemeProvider {
    var current: Theme = .ember
    var colorScheme: ColorScheme = .dark

    var primary: Color { current.primary(for: colorScheme) }
    var background: Color { current.background(for: colorScheme) }
}

Challenges & Solutions

What I Learned

• Local-first persistence with SQLiteData + GRDB
• Widget-first UX with WidgetKit + App Intents
• Dependency injection with swift-dependencies
• Auto-tracking architecture across multiple data sources
• Behavior design grounded in habit psychology

Roadmap

Future Enhancements

• Live Activities - Lock screen progress at a glance
• iCloud sync - Cross-device continuity
• Apple Watch app - Quick habit completion from wrist
• Shortcuts integration - Automate habit tracking
• Data export - CSV/JSON backup
• Insights AI - Pattern detection and suggestions

Related Blog Posts