Mission: Give everyone a gentle, visual reminder that life is finite. Why? So we can spend our weeks on what actually matters.
Why I Built It (in a Single Weekend)
I first stumbled upon the life‑weeks visualisation thanks to creators like Tim Urban (Life Weeks article is really worth to read) and several indie makers who open‑sourced their own takes. The idea instantly clicked. I just set myself a weekend challenge to build a version with my own twists and sharpen my skills along the way.
During that Friday‑night hack session, I asked:
If I can see my entire lifespan laid out as a grid of weeks, will it change how I spend Monday?
Forty‑eight hours later, the first prototype of Lifetime Ahead was live. Let’s dive into what I achieved and what more can be done!
How Lifetime Ahead Works
| Feature | What It Does | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| Life‑expectancy grid | Calculates expected lifespan from your age, gender and region (using the latest WHO tables) and renders a grid where each square = one week. Lived weeks are shaded; future weeks remain blank. | A single glance shows the big picture. No more „someday” illusions. |
| Motivational quote | On every app launch, a random, motivational quote about time, purpose or creativity appears. | A light nudge to reflect, rather than doom‑scroll. |
| Weekly notification | A gentle push every Sunday summarises how many weeks you’ve lived and how many may remain. | Keeps mortality top‑of‑mind without (or with 🤔) anxiety overload. |
| Widgets | • Full‑grid widget puts the entire lifetime mosaic on your home screen. • Percentage widget shows the % of life already lived. | Perspective is always within reach, no need to open the app. |
Simplicity first—no social feeds, no goal‑cramming. Lifetime Ahead is deliberately focused on reflection, not productivity‑porn.
The Philosophy Behind the Pixels
- Memento vivere – remembering that life ends is ultimately about living more fully now.
- Design for the decade – zooming out prevents busywork and helps surface long‑term projects (write the book, learn a language, nurture friendships).
- Small prompts, big impact – a weekly ping is enough; constant alerts create numbness.
Technical approach
Figma Project
To validate the concept visually, I sketched the entire interface in Figma, iterating on layout, colour, and typography before writing a single line of code.
Implementation in SwiftUI
The application is built entirely in SwiftUI. To keep the codebase lean and maintainable, I deliberately skipped heavyweight architectural patterns. Each screen is a self‑contained view, while a few lightweight managers handle calculations and JSON decoding.
AI‑assisted Development
Generative‑AI tools accelerated every stage of the build – from sourcing demographic life‑expectancy tables and generating JSON assets to scaffolding utility functions and unit tests.
Final Thoughts
Lifetime Ahead started out as a fun weekend experiment, but building it made me pause and rethink how I spend my own weeks. Visualising a lifetime on a single screen is a surprisingly powerful nudge to focus on what truly matters.
If the idea resonates with you, you can download Lifetime Ahead on the App Store today and see what reflections it sparks for you.
