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Root
The Inspiration Behind Root
Starting Root with no actual coding background, I learned you don’t have to be a native-programmer to ship something amazing for you and others. Breaking big ideas down into small, concrete steps (like Root does for goals) is the only way forward. Ai has allowed me to expand my reach, it's the companies who build products around it to allow others to build dreams and reach for their potentials.
I built Root because I was tired of quitting goals. I SUCKED! You know the feeling, start strong, fade fast, disappoint yourself. Again, and again. My success rate was well below 30%. Just because I was making goals, didn't mean I knew how to strategically think about how to accomplish them successfully.
What Root Does
Root is a social-goal-setting app that helps people break down big goals into smaller, manageable milestones. A personal coach that helps you stay on track, but also lets you connect with friends to see how they're doing with their goals too.
Key features:
~ Create goals and break them into bite-sized milestones you can actually complete
~ Keep some goals private (just for you) and make others public (to share with friends)
~ Follow friends and see their progress, like their achievements, and get motivated by their success
~ Get Gemini AI-powered suggestions for milestones when you're stuck on how to break down a big goal
~ Track your streak of daily progress and see stats on what you've accomplished
Get Root and see what it can do for your goals in life.
How I Built Root
With no programming background, but over 10 years around the industry, I’ve picked up tons about how apps work. That experience helped me think deeper about building something complex with lots of moving parts.
The main tool & model I used was Windsurf & Sonnet 4 to communicate with the AI as I built Root. I talk a lot, but really understanding how my app works is key to its success, and ultimately, mine too.
I started with the basics, sketching out screens (whiteboard, paper, etc) and figuring out what people would actually want to do in the app. Instead of trying to build everything at once, I broke it down into phases.
The foundation came first, I set up the core structure, feeling out the flow, friction. I built it so some data stays on your phone (for privacy) while other stuff gets stored in the cloud so you can access it anywhere.
Then I tackled the social features. This was probably the trickiest part. I had to figure out how to let people follow each other, see each other's goals, and interact with them through likes and comments.
The AI milestone generation was a fun and rewarding challenge. As this is one the core features I wanted to use the best, I connected Root to Google's AI Gemini so when someone types in a goal like "lose 20 pounds in six months" the app can suggest specific milestones like "drink 8 glasses of water daily" or "take a 20-minute walk."
For the premium features, I integrated the awesome RevenueCat SDK, so people can upgrade to get extra features like more RootAi generations, etc. This involved learning how to handle payments, manage subscriptions, and create paywall flows that don't feel pushy.
Throughout the whole process, I built it screen by screen, testing each piece as I went. When something broke (which happened a lot), I'd debug it step by step, learning how and why it broke so I'm able to align myself with the Ai to be able to work with and through it. The hardest part was making sure all the different pieces talked to each other properly, like making sure when someone completes a goal, it updates everywhere it needs to update.
Root's Challenges I Ran Into
As someone who has no coding knowledge, the challenges piled up, daily.
~ The "white screen problem" - Sometimes when you tapped on things, you'd just get a blank screen instead of seeing the content. Took forever to figure out it was a timing issue with how data loaded.
~ Likes that wouldn't stick - People could tap the like button and it would fill up, but then unfill itself. The like was actually saved, but the app thought something went wrong.
~ Goals showing up in the wrong places - Completed goals kept appearing on the main screen when they should have disappeared, and categories would show up empty even when they had goals.
~ Sign-up flow getting interrupted - New users would sign up successfully but then get kicked back to the beginning instead of finishing the welcome process. Turns out, don't have too many processes at once.
~ Data not refreshing properly - When you'd pull down to refresh the main screen, sometimes it would just get stuck or show old information.
~ Friends system complexity - Making it so people could follow each other and see each other's goals involved way more database setup than expected. This hit me like a truck, relentless resilience.
~ Making everything work together - The hardest part was when one small change would break something completely different across the app. This was the most painful thing. Things that were working, being broken by things that were new, yet lacked no connection. Felt like a ghost troll.
Root's Accomplishments That I'm Proud Of
~ Built a fully functional social network from scratch - Created a complete follow system where people can connect with friends, see their goals, and interact with their progress. Creating an entire social ecosystem inside Root.
~ Integrated AI to actually help users - Connected Google's Gemini to generate personalized milestone road maps, making the app genuinely useful when people are stuck on how to break down their goals, actually solving a real problem we're unaware of when completing goals.
~ Solved the dual storage challenge - Figured out how to seamlessly manage both private goals (stored locally on the phone) and public goals (stored in the cloud) so users get privacy when they want it and sharing when they need it, all without thinking about it.
~ Created an investment onboarding experience with network effects - Built a complete sign-up flow, username creation with real-time availability checking, network effect with inviting a friend to help with goals, and a guided welcome process that actually gets people into the app and using it right away.
~ Made the app feel instant and responsive - Implemented optimistic updates and smart data loading so when people tap buttons or refresh content, everything feels immediate even though there's complex stuff happening in the background.
What I learned
The biggest thing I learned is that building an app is really about solving hundreds of small problems (some that take days/weeks) that all add up to something that feels simple and smooth for the person using it. It's not easy, I wanted to quit and build a simpler app, but I always refused, stuck with it, and built a great app I use, and 100's of others have so far.
~ Never quitting - Even with all the friction and doubt that crept in every single day, I feel proud. Being able to say I built what I wanted, how I wanted, completely native. As a prompt-engineer (name still in the works), it’s wild to realize I really can create almost anything. The universe is a giant creative battlefield that rewards action, and I’m just playing my part, both for myself and for others.
What's next for Root
~ Team Goals is going to be a lot of fun for Root users. Invite users into a single goal you all can achieve together. Public or private.
~ Achievements will let users show off badges. Motivating the users journey, and a little bragging rights.
~ Notifications. Users can customize their experience with uniquely timed notifications.
~ A lot of little Root improvements.
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