Todo app prompt — copy, paste, build

Generic prompts produce generic apps. "Build me a todo app" returns a list view with checkboxes, no projects, no reminders, no quick capture — the kind of prototype that loses to Apple Reminders by lunchtime.

This prompt is opinionated on the parts that actually decide whether a todo app gets used. Today-grouped-by-project means the app answers "what should I do right now" without filtering. Quick capture from anywhere means tasks get added before the user forgets — the difference between an app that lives on the home screen and one that gets buried in a folder.

Push reminders are the second-most-important feature. The first time a reminder fires for a task the user added in a 10-second quick-capture, the app earns its place. Without reminders, the todo list turns into a graveyard of stale items.

The completion celebration is the polish that separates "an app I tolerate" from "an app I open." Cheap dopamine on completion is one of the best-documented retention mechanics in productivity apps; it costs an afternoon to wire and doubles week-2 retention in user testing.

Three traps that turn a strong todo brief into a forgettable app.

Asking for too many fields. Founders pile on tags, contexts, energy levels, locations, time-of-day filters, and seven priority tiers in the first prompt. The result is a creation form that takes 30 seconds to fill out — and a user who stops using the app after day three. Start with title + project + due date + priority. Add fields later only after you have evidence users want them.

Skipping reminders to "ship faster." Reminders are not a v2 feature; they are the feature that makes the app real. A todo app without reminders is a notes app with checkboxes. Wire Expo Notifications in the first generation pass.

Building a custom date picker. Founders sink three days into a wheel-pickers-and-natural-language hybrid and ship a buggy mess. Use the platform date picker (DateTimePicker on iOS, the Material picker on Android, the input[type=date] fallback on web) and natural-language parsing only as an additive shortcut. The Pro variant of this prompt does exactly that.

Three knobs that turn this generic todo prompt into a differentiated product.

Pick a personality for the empty state and the celebration. A neutral "no tasks today" is forgettable; a brand-shaped voice ("Inbox zero. Cup of tea?") is what gets a screenshot tweet. Add a paragraph to your prompt describing the tone — sarcastic, supportive, minimal, playful — and AppGenie will weave it through the empty states, the completion animation, and the notification copy.

Decide on the core list shape. The Lite variant is one project, flat. The Pro variant adds projects, subtasks, recurring tasks, and natural-language dates. Most founders should start with the Lite shape and add structure when users ask for it; complexity is rarely the moat.

Choose a sync story before you generate. AsyncStorage on-device only (the default) is fine for a single-user app. If you want cross-device sync, add "with Supabase auth and a shared tasks table per user" to the prompt — AppGenie wires the schema, RLS policies, and the sign-in flow in the first build.