How to make a countdown & checklist app for a wedding, move or exam — in one evening
Days left, tasks by week, who owns what. A step-by-step guide for people who have never built anything — including the exact words to type.
Leanfinit · 7 min read
A wedding, a move, a final exam, a visa interview: a date is fixed, a long list of things has to happen before it, and two or three people share the work. Search the app store and you get wedding apps that are really photographer marketplaces, and moving apps that are really ads for movers. The tool you need is smaller than any of them: a countdown, a list by week, and a way to see what is overdue. This guide shows how to describe exactly that in plain words and have it on your phone tonight. No code, no account for the app, nothing to publish.
Before you start: decide the 3 things only you know
- 1The dateOne date, with a time if it matters (“5 December, keys handed over at 10:00”). Everything counts down to this.
- 2Who is involvedThe names that can own a task. Two people is typical: “Ana / Marek / both”. Use real first names — you will read them every day.
- 3Your buckets of timeWeeks are the right unit for a 2–4 month project. For an exam in 10 days, use days instead. Pick one unit and stay with it.
Why this matters: an app that asks for “milestones, categories, priorities and tags” is an app you will stop opening in week 2. A list by week with an owner is the smallest structure that still removes arguments about who was supposed to do what.
The 3 screens — and why not a fourth
- 1CountdownThe number of days left, big enough to read from across the kitchen. Under it, a progress line: 14 of 38 tasks done. Nothing else on this screen.
- 2Tasks by weekEvery task with its week, its owner and a done tick. Grouped by week so “Week 6” reads like a page of a planner.
- 3This weekOnly what is due this week — overdue items first, in red. This is the screen you actually open each morning.
People ask for a calendar view, a budget tab and vendor contacts. Leave them out on the first evening. Each extra screen adds a place where information can be wrong. If you still miss the budget in two weeks, add it then with one sentence (see “Changing it later”).
Step 1 — Describe it in plain words
A good description has three parts: what you record, what you want to see, and one or two rules. Below is a full example for a move. Replace the date, the names and the first few tasks with yours; keep the structure.
“A countdown and checklist for our move on 5 December. Screen 1: days left, big, and “done X of Y tasks”. Screen 2: tasks grouped by week; each task has a name, a week number, an owner (Ana, Marek or both) and a done tick. Screen 3: “This week” — tasks due this week, with overdue ones first in red. Rule: a task is overdue if its week has passed and it is not done. Start with these tasks: Week 1 — give notice to landlord (Marek), book van (Ana). Week 2 — change address at bank (Marek), cancel internet (both). Week 7 — pack books (both). Works offline.”
Notice what is not in there: no colours, no fonts, no “modern design”. Describe behaviour, not looks. The look comes from the app; the behaviour has to come from you, because only you know that Marek handles the bank.
Step 2 — Use it for 2 minutes before you judge it
Open it on your phone and do three real things: tick a task, add a new one for week 3, and change an owner. If any of those takes more than two taps, that is the first thing to fix. Do not evaluate the app by looking at it — evaluate it by using it. Most people find the countdown number is too small and the task list is too long on one screen; both are one-sentence fixes.
Step 3 — Put in the real list (the part people skip)
An empty checklist app is a decoration. Spend twenty minutes entering the whole list now, while the two of you are in the same room. A practical order: start from the date and walk backwards. What must be true the day before? The week before? The month before? For a move, the backwards walk usually produces 30–40 tasks; for a wedding 50–80; for an exam 15–25 study blocks.
| Phase | Examples | Usual owner |
|---|---|---|
| Month before | Give notice, book van, order boxes, tell the landlord about the final inspection | one person |
| Two weeks before | Change address: bank, employer, doctor, subscriptions; cancel or move internet | split by account |
| Final week | Pack by room, label boxes, defrost freezer, photograph meter readings | both |
| The day | Keys, meter photos, final inspection, first-night box | both |
Changing it later
In week 3 something will be missing. That is normal. Describe the change the way you would tell a friend: “Add a budget line to each task: estimated and paid. Show the total paid on the countdown screen.” The app changes; your tasks stay. There is nothing to reinstall and nobody to ask.
- Describe
- Enter the real list
- Use daily
- Change in one sentence
Common mistakes
What it costs and where the data lives
Nothing is published, so there is no developer account and no store fee. The tasks live on your phone, work without a signal and can be shared as a plain text summary. When the date has passed, delete the app. It did its job for ninety days — which is exactly how long it was supposed to live.
Describe your own app →
Takes a few sentences. Private, yours.