The Story
Serenity Stops began as a learning project at the Apple Developer Academy in Naples, where I was exploring three key concepts:
Natural Language Processing – Computer's ability to understand emotions through text.
Persistence & Data Handling – Efficiently storing user entries over time.
App Deconstruction – Learning from existing apps to build something unique.
I took inspiration from two apps, Dot, for its intelligent journaling and emotional memory, and Apple Maps, for its seamless location interactions. What started as an exploration of technology quickly turned into something much more personal, a way to map emotions and memories to places.
Serenity Stops became my first-ever solo app, built entirely from scratch. For years, I struggled with imposter syndrome, doubting my ability to build a full app on my own. But with Serenity Stops, I proved to myself that I could.
I first presented it at the Academy, gathered feedback from mentors and peers, and then refined it over the holidays. By the end of the break, I had something I was truly proud of an app that wasn’t just functional but meaningful. So, I took the leap and published it on the App Store.
Serenity Stops allows users to capture their emotions and memories tied to specific locations. The experience begins with a map interface where users can tap on any place that holds significance for them. Whether it is a familiar café, a quiet park, or a city they are visiting for the first time, the app provides a space to reflect on the feelings associated with that location.
Once a place is selected, users can journal their thoughts and emotions. Instead of being a traditional journaling app, Serenity Stops goes a step further by using Apple’s Natural Language framework to analyze the sentiment behind each entry. It determines whether the user’s mood at that location is joyful, content, neutral, or melancholic and visually represents it on the map.
Beyond individual entries, the app also provides insights into the user’s overall emotional trends. By using SwiftCharts, Serenity Stops organizes and tracks journaling history, offering statistics such as the most frequently recorded mood and a timeline of mood shifts over time. This allows users to reflect on patterns in their experiences and how different places influence their well-being.
