This is a submission for the Built with Google Gemini: Writing Challenge
What I Built with Google Gemini
Over the past month, I built Stepzy, a lightweight iOS app designed to help people stay consistent with their daily movement. The goal was simple: create a clean, fast, distraction‑free step tracker that motivates users without overwhelming them.
Most step‑tracking apps are either too bloated or too boring. I wanted something minimal but encouraging, something that makes you want to hit your daily goal.
How Google Gemini Helped
Google Gemini became a core part of my development workflow:
- SwiftUI scaffolding: I used Gemini to generate initial UI components, layout ideas, and simple animations.
- Debugging HealthKit logic: When step queries or permissions behaved unexpectedly, Gemini helped me reason through the logic and edge cases.
- Copywriting & UX: The tagline “Track Steps. Stay Motivated.” came from an iteration with Gemini, along with some microcopy for empty states.
- Feature ideation: I explored habit‑building frameworks with Gemini and used those insights to shape Stepzy’s streak system and motivational nudges.
Even though Stepzy is a native iOS app (not deployed on Cloud Run), Gemini acted like a teammate throughout the entire build.
Try Stepzy
Explore features, insights, and updates on our official website:
👉 Website: https://stepzy.suvysoft.com/
TestFlight Access
Want to try Stepzy before release?
📩 Email us at apps@suvysoft.com to request TestFlight access.
What I Learned
Technical Lessons
- Faster SwiftUI prototyping: Gemini helped me quickly explore different layouts and component structures without getting stuck on boilerplate.
- Better reasoning about HealthKit: It was useful for thinking through how step counts update, how to handle permissions, and how to avoid double‑counting.
- Architecture conversations: Asking Gemini to “think like a senior iOS engineer” led to useful suggestions around separating concerns and keeping views lean.
Soft Skills & Workflow Lessons
- Prompting is a real skill: The clearer my questions, the better the answers. Vague prompts led to vague code.
- AI accelerates, but doesn’t replace judgment: I still had to review every line, test on device, and decide what actually shipped.
- Iteration over perfection: Using Gemini made it easier to try multiple approaches quickly instead of over‑planning.
Unexpected Lessons
- Gemini sometimes suggested non‑existent APIs or mixed UIKit and SwiftUI patterns.
- It occasionally leaned on outdated patterns for state management.
- Those mistakes forced me to double‑check everything, which ironically made me more intentional and careful as a developer.
Google Gemini Feedback
What Worked Well
- Great for scaffolding: Generating SwiftUI views, basic models, and simple helpers was fast and surprisingly solid.
- Strong at debugging logic: When I described a bug in detail, Gemini often helped narrow down the root cause or suggest better logging.
- Helpful product thinking: It contributed ideas around streaks, gentle nudges, and how to keep the app motivating without being noisy.
- Multi‑step reasoning: When I framed problems as multi‑step (“first do X, then consider Y, then Z”), the responses were more structured and useful.
Where I Hit Friction
- Hallucinated APIs and frameworks: I had to verify everything against Apple’s docs or Xcode’s autocomplete.
- Verbosity: Sometimes I had to explicitly ask for “short, focused answers” to avoid walls of text.
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Inconsistent best practices: Not all suggestions aligned with modern SwiftUI patterns, especially around
@State,@ObservedObject, and navigation. - Context drift: Long conversations occasionally lost focus, so I’d start fresh threads for new subproblems.
Looking Forward
For future versions of Stepzy, I’d love to:
- Add AI‑generated weekly summaries of your movement.
- Experiment with on‑device personalization using smaller models.
- Explore a watchOS companion app to make step tracking even more seamless.
Building Stepzy with Google Gemini reminded me that AI isn’t here to replace builders - it’s here to amplify us. It helped me move faster, think more broadly, and ship a real app that I’m proud of.
If you read this and end up building your own Gemini‑powered project, I’d love to see it.
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