Why I Built BeastStreak

I’m 50-something, I’ve spent 30 years in enterprise security, and six months ago I decided to build an iPhone app.

No mobile development experience. No design background. No team. Just me, a problem I couldn’t solve, and the stubborn belief that somebody should build the thing I needed.

The problem wasn’t motivation

Here’s what nobody tells you about ADHD and habits: you don’t lack motivation. You lack a system that doesn’t punish you for being human.

I’ve tried every habit tracker. Streaks, Habitica, Productive, the Apple Fitness rings, paper journals, sticky notes on my bathroom mirror. I’ve tried them all. And here’s how every single one went:

1. Download the app
2. Spend 30 minutes setting it up (because apparently I need to decide my entire life philosophy before tracking whether I brushed my teeth)
3. Use it for 3-5 days
4. Miss one day
5. See the broken streak / red X / sad empty checkbox
6. Feel guilty
7. Never open it again

Sound familiar?

The guilt spiral is the killer. Not the missed day — the feeling about the missed day. That’s what makes you abandon the app. That’s what makes you abandon the habit. And honestly? That’s what most trackers are accidentally designed to do.

What I actually needed

I started writing down what I wanted. Not features — feelings.

I wanted to open an app in the morning and feel like I was playing something, not checking boxes on a homework assignment. I wanted points for brushing my teeth. Actual points. Because my brain doesn’t care about long-term health outcomes at 6:47 AM — it cares about the little number going up.

I wanted it to only show me what matters right now. Not my evening routine at 7 AM. Not tomorrow’s habits. Just this block. Morning stuff. Three taps. Done.

And when I miss a day? Nothing happens. Zero points. Not negative points, not a broken streak notification, not a passive-aggressive “you missed yesterday!” message. Just… zero. Tomorrow’s a clean reset. Move on.

That app didn’t exist. So I built it.

Why a Bigfoot?

OK this part needs explaining.

The mascot for BeastStreak is a photorealistic Sasquatch named “The Beast.” He lives in a cabin. He wears a hoodie. He drinks coffee from a handmade mug.

Why? Because The Beast is the version of you that shows up anyway. Messy hair, cabin that needs cleaning, not exactly put-together — but he’s there. He opened the app. He tapped “brushed teeth.” That’s the win.

The Beast isn’t aspirational in the Instagram way. He’s aspirational in the “I got out of bed and did one small thing” way. And for a lot of us, that’s the real achievement.

What I learned building it

I’m a security guy. CISSP certified since 2003. I’ve spent my career in identity governance, threat detection, field CTO roles. Building a consumer iOS app is about as far from my comfort zone as you can get.

But here’s what 30 years in tech actually taught me: ship something real, get feedback, iterate. Don’t overthink it. Don’t wait until it’s perfect. Perfect is the enemy of done — and done is the enemy of ADHD, so you really can’t afford to wait.

I built BeastStreak in Swift and SwiftUI. No cloud backend, no accounts, no analytics SDK phoning home with your data. Everything stays on your phone. Period. The security guy in me wouldn’t have it any other way.

What’s in it

Quick version:

• Time-blocked habits — Morning, Midday, Evening. Only the current block is expanded. Past blocks collapse. Future blocks hide. Your brain sees 3-4 things, not 30.
• Points for everything — Brushed teeth? +2. Took a walk? +5. Drank water? +1. Points go up. Dopamine happens.
• Urge control — This is the one nobody else builds. When an impulse hits, you log it in 10 seconds, pick a coping strategy from the playbook, and earn points for riding it out. The only habit tracker that addresses impulse control directly.
• No punishment — Missed habits = 0 points. Never negative. Broken streaks reframe as “New streak started!” because that’s what actually happened.
• Fasting tracker — 12hr, 14hr, 16hr tiers that level up automatically. No separate app needed.
• 100% private — No account. No login. No data leaves your phone. I built this for people who are tired of being the product.

What’s next

BeastStreak is on the App Store now. Free. No catch.

I’m building this in public because I think more people should see what it looks like when someone scratches their own itch. It’s messy. The code isn’t always pretty. But the app works, and it works for the exact kind of brain that every other tracker ignores.

If you’ve got ADHD — or if you’ve just failed at habit trackers before — give it a shot. Three taps. Four points. That’s the whole morning.

And if it doesn’t work for you? Delete it. No data to worry about. No account to cancel. No guilt.

The Beast would understand.