Inspiration
The world is stressful enough. At the very least, meeting our goals should feel comfortable, kind, and productive.
We wanted to create something gentler: a private corner that helps people notice their digital habits without judgment, celebrate small wins, and turn overwhelming thoughts into manageable next steps.
What it does
MochiCorner tracks foreground app time locally, organizes it into meaningful categories, and gives users gentle limits instead of harsh notifications.
Users can:
- Plan small steps and carry incomplete tasks forward
- Keep a private notebook-style journal
- Record their Mood, tiny win, and current soundtrack
- Grow a flower garden through reflections, breaks, and completed steps
- Browse past days through a Memory Garden and calendar
- Generate warm daily Mochi chronicles
- Turn a messy thought into a few practical next steps with Gemini
- Keep Mochi running in the background as a clickable desktop companion
How we built it
We built MochiCorner as a native macOS app in SwiftUI, using AppKit where macOS-specific behavior matters.
Foreground application activity is stored locally in the user’s Application Support folder. The diary, tasks, Mood entries, garden progress, calendar history, and chronicles remain local to the Mac.
Gemini powers structured features such as daily chronicles and gentle task shaping.
Challenges we ran into
Learning Swift! Neither of us had used Swift before, so there was a learning curve. AI helped us get up to speed, and we found Swift surprisingly readable, almost like pseudocode.
Choosing the right features. We wanted Mochi to feel like a supportive companion, not another demanding productivity app. Finding the balance between useful and fun was trickier than expected.
Making the UI responsive and cozy! Creating a warm, inviting interface that worked well across different macOS window sizes took some experimenting.
Keeping Mochi around in the background. Making Mochi stay on the desktop independently of the dashboard introduced challenges with macOS window management.
Working with Apple's developer APIs. Accessing and tracking app activity on macOS was more complicated than expected, especially figuring out what data was available.
Making AI suggestions genuinely useful. We wanted suggestions to be relevant and actionable without interrupting the user's workflow or adding AI just for the sake of it.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
Built a fully local productivity companion that helps users understand their screen time and develop healthier habits.
Made productivity feel guilt-free. We designed the experience around intentional screen use, encouragement, and progress rather than pressure.
Brought Mochi to life! We created a CUTE desktop companion that stays in the background and can reopen the dashboard whenever needed.
Created a garden that grows with you! We turned real productivity progress into a fun, rewarding visual experience.
The best part was that people actually wanted to use it! When we demoed Mochi to our friends, they were excited to try it themselves.
What we learned
We learned that productivity isn't just about tracking screen time, but helping people use it more intentionally. Building Mochi taught us how small design choices, like excluding idle time, letting users correct activity categories, and rewarding breaks and completed tasks, can make productivity feel encouraging rather than judgmental.
Technically, we learned to combine SwiftUI and AppKit to build a persistent macOS companion, track app activity, and integrate Gemini while keeping personal journals and activity history private.
What's next for MochiCorner
User accounts and authentication: Let users securely sign in and keep their Mochi experience personal.
Cloud sync: Move beyond local storage to securely sync progress, journals, and gardens across devices.
Cross-device continuity: Make it easy to switch between Macs without losing progress or starting over.
A mobile Mochi companion! Bring Mochi to iOS so users can check in on their garden, track goals, and stay connected with their little buddy on the go.
