A lot has changed since the last blog post, and there are a lot of features in the pipe for future releases. ToGODer has become a lot more powerful, adding inter-chat memory, a new frontend, a revamped default prompt, and 5-, 15-, and 30-minute check-in prompts. Let’s dive in quickly to see how it’s going, and what my experiences are testing these new features.
Why the need for change?
The first feedback I have received was that the interface could use some improvement. I built it out quickly using hacks and gimmicks, and the development was a test of my programming skill too. There was no compile step, so no compile checking, which meant that all programming was done essentially in the dark. Only by testing could you see if there were any bugs. It was a way to get started quickly, and the chat interface was finished in about three days. It was a great way to go quick and break things, but it couldn’t scale to different architectures. This is why, when I decided to make a mobile app (for secret reasons), I decided to go for React Native, which is a mature library for cross-platform development, and which could double as a cross-platform app as well as a website entry point to chat with our spiritual guide.
The good
First of all, we’ve got a new design. It’s still a simple chat app, but React Native comes with a dark mode. So there’s that. When you first start the app, we guide you into the ToGODer experience immediately by starting off a new conversation where ToGODer takes the initiative, and it has a clean look with a simple layout. I’m still experimenting with this, but it’s functional for now.
The great
ToGODer now has a basic memory functionality. It can remember what you’re doing, and if you ask it to check in on you daily, it will follow up with questions about what you did yesterday and come back on decisions made to finetune the process of your personal growth. Also this is an experimental feature, and I already have found some annoyances, where it takes longer to respond now, as it first has to update your memory before responding to your query. It would be better to do those in parallel, but I thought this blog post was more important for now that fidgeting with the details. Please try it out, and please send me feedback I can work with. In the future, ToGODer will be able to gather feedback by itself, but for now it still has to be collected manually.
My experience is that I have now acquired super powers, having an assistant like this. In the above image, it suggested me to start cooking, write the blog post while the paella was on the fire, and then finish off the rest after the blog post was ready. It is just something small, but has improved my productivity greatly. It is like having an accountability partner who helps me organise my thoughts and structure my day. If I’m struggling it suggest people I could phone, and if it’s all going well, it goes deeper with me on what we could keep and what we could shed to keep the state high.
Last but not least
There is a new feature of daily, weekly, monthly check-ins (or whenever you would like to). It is structured by how much time you would like to spend on the check-in. It is a prompt where ToGODer takes the initiative again, and asks about your day, your goals, your state of mind. I have recently quit smoking, and it has been with me all the time, suggesting a new way to structure my day (take extra breaks to care for myself), to suggest to be extra in touch with those around me to not try to quit by myself, and to get help from a professional quitting agency to make sure there’s a plan to also quit the nicotine patches. It has been a great experience, and I’m really feeling like I’ve got super powers with this assistant now.
In the pipe
There are very exciting features coming in the near future, although I’m planning to release them in a closed alpha and beta stage before publishing publicly. Apple requires a thorough check of the application before allowing something on the app store, and I want to be fully confident that the app will be worthwhile when I publish. In the past, I could publish the website at the same time as the backend, but with mobile apps floating around, there will be tighter requirements on my code being backwards compatible. For this reason I am waiting until I am more confident the API won’t change much, except for adding new features.
Concluding
I hope you guys would try the new app, I won’t lie when I’m saying it feels like having super powers. It’s an AI assistant and guide who has enriched my life loads since these last updates. And the future is looking bright. I would love your input, but I must say I can live with me being the only user. As long as I’m having a good time, that’s all that matters for me.
Till next time
Tane out
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