Becklist

Becklist is an execution-first reminders app that shows one task at a time, uses AI Plan Mode to break big goals into clear next steps, and offers smart custom snooze notifications that adapt to you.

Comment

Inspiration

Every to-do app I tried made me feel worse, not better. You open one and there's 47 things staring back at you like a disappointed parent. Creators especially have it rough - one minute you're editing a video, next you're chasing invoices, then you remember you never bought groceries. The list grows faster than you can check things off, and eventually you just... stop opening the app.

I wanted something that shows you one thing. That's it. Do the thing, move on.

What it does

Becklist shows you a single task (I call them "moments") at a time. No scrolling, no priority matrices, no color-coded anxiety. Just: here's the thing. Do the thing.

The magic trick is AI Plan Mode - tell it "plan a birthday party" and it breaks that down into actual steps for you. Nobody else does this. Every app lets you add tasks, but nobody helps you figure out what the tasks should be.

How we built it

  • React Native + Expo for the app (one codebase, ship fast, sleep occasionally)
  • Zustand for state management because Redux gave us trust issues
  • AsyncStorage for local-first persistence - your data never leaves your phone
  • Google Gemini API powering AI Plan Mode
  • RevenueCat handling subscriptions so we didn't have to build a billing system from scratch
  • Landing page is a single HTML file with vanilla CSS and JS. No frameworks. No build step. Just vibes.

Challenges we ran into

Getting AI to return useful step breakdowns instead of generic fluff was harder than expected. "Plan a wedding" shouldn't return "Step 1: Plan the wedding." I went through a lot of prompt iterations to get structured, actionable output.

Also, making a to-do app that intentionally hides most of your to-dos is a weird UX problem. Every instinct says "show the user everything!" but the whole point is showing less.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

The app genuinely changes how you feel about your tasks. That sounds dramatic for a to-do app, but when you open it and see one thing instead of a wall of obligations, the relief is real.

AI Plan Mode actually works well. Like, surprisingly well. Watching it turn "launch my podcast" into a real checklist is still satisfying every time.

What we learned

Less is genuinely more. I kept wanting to add features and had to keep reminding myself that the whole point is simplicity. The hardest design decisions were about what to remove, not what to add.

Also learned that RevenueCat saves you about three weeks of wanting to throw your laptop out the window dealing with App Store receipt validation.

What's next for Becklist

  • Widgets - see your current moment on your home screen without opening the app
  • Shared moments - collaborate on plans with other people (carefully, because we don't want to become Jira)
  • Smarter AI - learning from your patterns to suggest better time estimates and scheduling
  • Android & Web - it's built using Expo, so they're ready, just need a developer account to process things further

Built With

Share this project:

Updates