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2025 — iOS App

Phocal

Designing a clutter-free reminder app that balances simplicity with context

www.phoc.al

My Role

Product Strategy

User Research

Product Design

SwiftUI Development

What is Phocal?

Phocal is a visual reminder app for iOS, designed to make remembering effortless. Whether it’s a restaurant you spotted on a walk or an unforgettable bottle of wine from a friend’s dinner party, Phocal helps you capture the moment. By combining photos with location and time-based reminders, it offers the simplest, most intuitive way to ensure the things you care about are never forgotten.

The Problem

Modern smartphones make capturing information easy, but finding it later is another story. Through observation and secondary research, several issues emerged:

Overloaded Photo Galleries

Important images (e.g., a restaurant menu, a product in a shop) get buried among thousands of unrelated personal photos.

Context-Free Notes

Text notes lack visual cues and are often mixed with unrelated lists or reminders, making them difficult to scan.

Fragmented Workflow

Users frequently switch between apps (photos, notes, maps, reminders) to piece together the information they need.

The Solution

Phocal addresses these pain points by combining visual recall, lightweight organization, and contextual metadata into one streamlined experience. The product is designed to do just enough, and nothing more, to ensure users can save and find what they need quickly.

The Feed

A chronological, searchable view of every item saved. Large visuals allow quick scanning, reducing reliance on memory.

Collections

Organize items into named groups for faster retrieval. Examples: “Restaurants to Try,” “Gifts,” “Travel Ideas,” “Recipes.”

Location Tagging

Automatically or manually add a location to each item to remember exactly where it was encountered.

Smart Reminders

Optional time-based or location-based notifications prompt users when they’re most likely to take action.

Key Design Principles

Phocal was designed around clarity and speed, stripping away unnecessary features to keep the experience lightweight and purpose-driven.

Minimal Navigation

A three-action bottom bar (Settings, Add, Collections) keeps navigation focused. The two separate pages are simply popover sheets, which never takes you far from your feed.

Thumb-Friendly Interactions

With increasing phone sizes, one-handed use was prioritized. All critical actions are within thumb reach, while detail and add screens appear as popovers, allowing quick dismissal with a downward swipe.

No Distraction Design

The interface intentionally avoids unnecessary social, gamification, or discovery features. Phocal is a personal tool, not a time sink.

The Build

Phocal was built from the ground up in SwiftUI to deliver a modern, native iOS experience, while giving me full control over design and development.

Native by Design

Built with SwiftUI for seamless integration with iOS, ensuring smooth performance and a familiar, system-consistent feel.

Liquid Glass Interface

Incorporated iOS 26’s liquid glass effect to elevate the visual design with a modern, polished aesthetic consistent with the future of iOS native styling.

End-to-End Craft

By handling both design and development, I was able to ensure the final product aligned tightly with the original vision.

The Outcome

Phocal provides a frictionless and visually rich way to remember what matters. By stripping away unnecessary features and focusing on visual recall, contextual tagging, and lightweight organization, the app bridges the gap between a cluttered photo library and a disconnected notes app.