The emotional rollercoaster continues as I make massive progress wiring in tons of new features, but it all came crashing down with one seemingly simple action: creating a second test profile on my phone. When you have a product that is data-driven, you have to make sure that the data is user-specific. I learned the hard way.

I am back on track after what felt like weeks of suffering.  I now have leaderboards, badges, stats and block summaries. All made possible by my little friend, the widget. But with widgets, come more files to keep track of and the project has ballooned up to 34 files. It is a little concerning but not nearly as concerning as the persistent eye twitch I am developing from staring at screens all day.

I might have broken ChatGPT 4.0 and I am not entirely sure 3.0 mini high will be able to shoulder the load, but we're going to give it the old college try. One thing that is working is the Texas Method, which was not nearly as challenging to build as I had anticipated. The workout footers are still broken, but it seems like things are moving in the right direction again.

I am back in the gym and testing a product! The app is great, but it's definitely missing one key feature - the leaderboards. So after carefully planning my attack, I decided to jump in and start building. Unfortunately, things went sideways as they often do and I was unable to make the leaderboards happen, but I think I figured out why chatbots get dumb after extended runs of being absolutely brilliant. 

Phase One is complete and it's a huge relief to have all the lifts, workouts and blocks plugged into functioning tables. All calculations, footers, best scores, and workout logging are working as expected. Now it's time for Phase Two, which is integrating Firebase. Like every other big step in this journey, Firebase was a challenge, but I am already pleasantly surprised by its capabilities. 

I've been making real progress on The Lift League app but I had to figure out how to make the app understand the differences in training cadence between individual training blocks. A typical bodybuilding body split program does not follow the same pattern as a 5x5. But so far so good!

Optimism can be dangerous at times, but I have made a lot of progress on the app since embarking on this journey. It is beginning to resemble an actual product. I have even begun planning the next phase, beyond the workout logging; the community aspect. 

In this episode, I cautiously outline the current functionality of the app and spend some time outlining my ideas of how to incorporate a few aspects of social media while improving others.

I got my ass kicked attempting to implement databases for the first time using SQlite. I think the most interesting part of the process might have been the ChatGPT glitch that allowed me to see how it was rationalizing my questions and coming up with answers it thought I would like. And of course, as soon as I realized what was happening, I started asking it questions about how it works. The answers were somewhat alarming.

I have to admit, I'm impressed. As I journey further into the build process of The Lift League app, I have found AI to be incredibly helpful. I'm still in the early stages, but the guidance I get from my little AI helper has been invaluable. In this episode, I cover the build progress and my current challenges. I also spend a good chunk of time discussing some caregiving duties. It always amazes me just how much can sneak by the professionals.

Welp, I got screwed by Google and I bet a lot of other people did too. But it had to happen because AI is changing the internet at an alarming rate. For the most part, I think that's a good thing but I'm not entirely sure AI is as smart as we think it is. Tune in and follow along as I dive head-first into app development with almost no experience.