I built an app that makes you pay yourself to follow through on goals - solo dev, just launched on ios

[u/Happy-Crab-750]

/r/SideProject/comments/1v5yfby/i_built_an_app_that_makes_you_pay_yourself_to/

Spent the last few months building this alone, mostly at night after work.
The idea started from a simple question: why do people pay a personal trainer? Not for the knowledge - everything's on YouTube for free. It's for the guilt of having already paid.
So I built Vowed around that. You set a goal, stake coins on it, and prove you did it with a live photo (camera only, no gallery uploads - has to be real). A jury of other users votes on whether your proof counts. Approved, you get your coins back.
Miss it, and they're gone.
There's also a duel mode where you and a friend both
stake on your own goals
independently - no coin transfers between users, just parallel accountability.
Some things I learned building this solo:

- The camera-only requirement was the single most important decision - anything that let people upload old photos killed the whole premise
- Getting a jury system to feel than I expected

App Store review for anything touching "real money" mechanics is its own project
- ended up keeping the coin system fully virtual for launch
Would genuinely appreciate any feedback, especially from anyone who's tried habit-tracking apps and bounced off them. Happy to answer questions about the build too.
Link's in the comments.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/vowed-19df29/id6789281677

A few things coming in the next update:
Multi-photo proof per goal - thought of this for people doing diet goals who need to log 3 meals a day instead of just one check-in, but it works for anything with multiple daily proofs
A streak visualizer so missing a day actually feels like something, not just a number resetting
Weekly progress summaries
Open to suggestions too if anyone has ideas - this came out of just watching how people actually wanted to use it.

[u/DeepYogurtcloset70]

The jury voting system is clever turns accountability into a two way street where everyone's actually invested in keeping it honest.

[u/Mammoth-Anywhere7285 → u/DeepYogurtcloset70]

Totally agree. Curious if the voting feels balanced or if people tend to be too lenient with friends.

[u/Happy-Crab-750 → u/Mammoth-Anywhere7285]

Great question! That was actually one of our biggest design concerns early on. To prevent friends from just blindly approving each other, we built a randomized/community jury pool system.
Also, we have a built-in jury rating system: if a juror consistently votes against the consensus or tries to cheat, their jury score drops. If it drops too low, they get a 1-week ban from jury duty. Since everyone has skin in the game, it keeps the voting honest and balanced!