Novelties — Daily Micro-Disruptions for Mindful Awareness

"In a world obsessed with speed, optimization, and over-productivity, we've lost our ability to be present."

Novelties is an iOS app designed to help you break free from automatic thought patterns and reconnect with your surroundings. By delivering brief, randomized micro-activities each day, it gently disrupts your cognitive autopilot and invites presence, curiosity, and reflection.

What It Does

• Sends one short, randomized novelty prompt per day
• Encourages awareness of textures, sounds, scents, movement, and balance
• Includes a brief reflection question at the end of each activity
• Activities are never longer than 5 minutes
• Saves completed prompts and insights in your private Inner Archive

Screenshots

Screenshots coming soon.

How It Works

Each activity is generated using a combination of:

• Random color palettes (from a curated set of 44 colors)
• Random task durations (max 5 minutes)
• Random novelty prompts
• Random reflection prompts
• Disruptive and unusual interactions

These elements stimulate your brain's salience network, which plays a key role in noticing and responding to both internal and external stimuli — helping you wake up from routine.

Why Use Novelties?

• Introduces structured pauses in your fast-paced day
• Enhances present-moment awareness without needing formal meditation
• Encourages cognitive flexibility and sensory exploration
• Helps you snap out of habitual thinking and reconnect with reality

Tech Stack

• Language: Swift
• UI Framework: SwiftUI
• Platform: iOS 16+
• Architecture: MVVM
• Persistence: Local JSON storage
• Extensions: WidgetKit (Timer widget)

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Xcode 15+
• iOS 16+ deployment target

Installation

git clone https://github.com/Wobbly1212/Novelties-ios-application.git
cd Novelties-ios-application
open Novelty.xcodeproj

Build and run on a simulator or physical device from Xcode.

Project Structure

Novelties-ios-application/
├── Novelty/
│   ├── App/            # App entry point
│   ├── Models/         # Data models
│   ├── Views/          # SwiftUI views
│   ├── ViewModel/      # Business logic
│   ├── Resources/      # JSON data & fonts
│   └── Assets.xcassets # Images & colors
├── Timer/              # Widget extension
└── privacypolicy.html  # App Store privacy policy

Developed By

Teamballati at the Apple Developer Academy.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.