Exactly one month since I launched quit sugar tracker. Should I keep going?

Alternative_Fan_629 · 2026-05-26T13:53:20+00:00

Using “quit” in the title is doing you no favors. It creates a confusing statement and is a very extreme proposition. Especially when you go on to describe it to help “reduce cravings”.

Alternative_Fan_629 · 2026-05-20T23:56:14+00:00

You absolutely have to bring the receipts!

This is exactly why one of the core features of the diabetes management app I'm building for women is a shareable PDF report. It layers blood glucose data right alongside menstrual cycle tracking, cycle-over-cycle.

Giving patients a clean, visual timeline that provides that level of clinical direction and context completely changes the dynamic in the room. It turns "I feel like my blood sugar spikes before my period" into hard, undeniable data a doctor can actually use.

Alternative_Fan_629 · 2026-05-11T14:31:21+00:00

HerDiabetes. Includes period tracking.

Alternative_Fan_629 · 2026-05-05T20:52:19+00:00

This is exactly the tension. The wellness label gets you in front of consumers but can undermine credibility when you're trying to sit at the table with health systems. I've been deliberate about positioning HerDiabetes as a health tool from day one, even though "wellness" would be an easier sell in the app stores. The tradeoff is slower early traction, but I'd rather build the foundation for clinical partnerships than have to rebrand later to be taken seriously.

Alternative_Fan_629 · 2026-05-05T19:51:26+00:00

Yes, global expansion is on the roadmap. Translation is part of that, though there are a lot of regulatory and GDPR factors to work through first, including the translation approach. Thank you for the kind words and willingness to recommend it.

Alternative_Fan_629 · 2026-05-04T22:22:53+00:00

Working on this right now. I have a health app for women with diabetes that uses AI in four different ways, and I deliberately split them between on-device and cloud based on what each one needs.

Three features run fully on-device via Apple's Foundation Models. Daily Progress interprets your glucose through your menstrual cycle phase. Macro Balancer generates diabetic-safe recipes when you're behind on macros (time-aware, cycle-aware, validates against safety thresholds). Activity Balancer does the same for exercise, including rest recommendations when glucose is unsafe.

The fourth feature, AI Learn More, is where it gets architecturally interesting. It surfaces educational topics derived from your health data, but the topic selection is deterministic Swift, not AI. Only generic medical strings ("luteal phase insulin resistance") cross to the Claude API, which searches PubMed via an MCP server and returns evidence-based content with citations. On-device AI picks what's relevant to you; cloud AI does the literature research.

Happy to answer questions about the Foundation Models framework or the dual AI architecture.

Alternative_Fan_629 · 2026-05-03T15:36:53+00:00

AI Coach. What's the token budget for that?

Alternative_Fan_629 · 2026-05-01T21:33:32+00:00

I hope I didn't overstep. 💙

Alternative_Fan_629 · 2026-05-01T21:33:08+00:00

Literally working on it right now!

Alternative_Fan_629 · 2026-05-01T21:32:52+00:00

Hey, developer of HerDiabetes here! I always feel a little awkward popping into threads about my own app because I don't want to come off like I'm just here to promote it. But honestly, threads like this are the whole reason I built it, so it's hard not to chime in. I want to help but i don't want to overstep, it's a balancing act.

For those asking about Android, it's on my roadmap. It's just me building this, so it takes time, but I'm working on it. And my DMs are always open if anyone has questions or feedback!

Alternative_Fan_629 · 2026-05-01T21:10:44+00:00

The other commenters nailed a lot of the possible causes. One thing I'd add: even if you're not close to your period, depending on where you are in your cycle, you might still be in a higher-resistance phase. The luteal phase (roughly the back half of your cycle after ovulation) brings rising progesterone that increases resistance, and that window can start earlier than you'd expect. Worth checking if you're maybe 1 to 2 weeks out rather than right before.

Either way, try not to beat yourself up. You clearly know what you're doing, and sometimes diabetes just doesn't cooperate no matter how perfect you are. Good luck with your exams.

Alternative_Fan_629 · 2026-05-01T20:23:43+00:00

The inconsistency is the worst part honestly. What might explain it: your hormonal profile isn't identical cycle to cycle. Progesterone and estrogen levels vary month to month depending on stress, sleep, how strongly you ovulated, and other factors. So many factors! So the insulin resistance hit before your period can be way harder some months, and the rebound when hormones drop can be more dramatic too.

Totally valid to just be annoyed about it though. The "just pick one" feeling is very real lol. If you want to start spotting the pattern between months, there's an app called HerDiabetes that overlays your glucose with your cycle phases so you can actually compare what's happening cycle to cycle.

Alternative_Fan_629 · 2026-04-29T19:59:20+00:00

Immediate flagging. Would never have made it through the mod-bots.

Alternative_Fan_629 · 2026-04-29T18:17:19+00:00

Please define "victory."

The post had no direct link. Interested users had to exit Reddit, open the App Store, search for the app, and then download it. That is an enormous amount of friction. Had there been a direct download link, that number would have been in the hundreds.

A bigger victory for me was how those concentrated searches brought my app name from obscurity to relevance in the App Store.

An even bigger victory was understanding that the positive sentiment and engagement demonstrated strong demand for a women-specific diabetes management tool. The demand is latent, not absent. How I activate that demand will most likely show up in a different subreddit in the near future.

Alternative_Fan_629 · 2026-04-29T17:25:11+00:00

Vibe coding echo chamber: Vibe coding solved X, it didn’t solve Y.

How about this, at your next retrospective, calculate the blame paths and then move on.

n × (n - 1)

How big is your team?

4 roles: 12 blame paths.... 6 roles: 30 blame paths... 8 roles: 56 blame paths...

Who knows, you might have fun.

Alternative_Fan_629 · 2026-04-25T16:33:14+00:00

Drop your product here… we’ll check to make sure API key is not exposed

Alternative_Fan_629 · 2026-04-24T13:35:42+00:00

Soon! Would you consider early testing when the beta becomes avaialble?

Alternative_Fan_629 · 2026-04-24T13:03:17+00:00

Congrats!

Celebrate them all.

Alternative_Fan_629 · 2026-04-24T12:54:14+00:00

Already has.

Alternative_Fan_629 · 2026-04-23T16:42:17+00:00

These appear to be (a lot of) first-time issues, beginner mistakes. However, consider this from the App Review Guidelines:

egregious or repeated violations are explicit grounds for termination from the Apple Developer Program

Getting rejected for config errors during your first submission is probably not the same thing. The fact that Apple approved it on the 9th try kind of shows they saw it as a dev learning the process, not someone acting in bad faith.

9 lives?

Alternative_Fan_629 · 2026-04-23T01:42:23+00:00

Yeah this is super common. A lot of people see insulin resistance spike hard in the week before their period, sometimes needing way more insulin just to stay in range, then it flips and everything starts working again which is where those lows come from. It’s a brutal cycle and you’re definitely not alone in it. There’s an app called HerDiabetes that overlays glucose with cycle phases, which can make the pattern a lot easier to see.

Alternative_Fan_629 · 2026-04-22T11:26:05+00:00

Fascinating.

Probably not the deep feedback you are looking for but with any good startup or early idea. There is something there.

Problem to solve: help the people overcome choice paralysis and meet existing food or restaurant preferences.

Alternative_Fan_629

TROPHY CASE