Overview
Every parent knows the daily loop: "Did you brush your teeth? Make your bed? Read?", repeated ten times a day. Habit Rabbit turns that nagging into a simple game the whole family plays together. Parents set the habits they care about, kids complete them and prove it, and the points kids earn turn into real pocket money, set and paid by the parent. It's live on the App Store and Google Play, on both iOS and Android, in English and Arabic with full right-to-left layouts.
The Challenge
Building a rewards app for families means designing for two very different users at once, adding real money to the mix, and doing it in a way that's safe for children, all while shipping to two app stores.
- Two roles that share the same data but need completely different experiences: parents who run the show, and kids who get a simple, playful view of their own progress.
- Real money, handled responsibly: the app must never process a payment itself: it only keeps score, and the parent hands over their own pocket money.
- Kid-safe by design: no ads, no tracking, minimal data.
- One system spanning three products (parent/kid mobile app, backend, and a web admin + marketing site), kept perfectly in sync, plus store subscriptions on both platforms.
How I Solved It
Habit Rabbit is three connected products built as one system: a React Native / Expo mobile app for parents and kids, a NestJS + PostgreSQL backend that acts as the brain, and a Next.js web admin dashboard and marketing site. Changes sync live, so an approval or a new habit appears instantly across devices.
The core loop is deliberately simple: a parent assigns habits from a catalog (or creates their own), the child completes one and snaps a quick photo/video as proof, the parent reviews and approves, and approved habits credit points. Points convert to real money at a parent-set rate, and cash-out uses a QR code the parent scans to pay in person. The app keeps the score, never the money. Billing runs entirely through Apple and Google's official in-app purchases (a 7-day free trial, then a family subscription; kids join free), so there are no ads and no data selling. Notifications are real-time push plus an in-app feed that deep-links straight to the relevant screen.
Key Features
- Habit catalog + custom habits across five growth areas (chores, social, cognitive, self-esteem, health), each with schedules, point values, and photo/video proof.
- Review & approve: parents confirm real effort before points are credited.
- Points → real money at a parent-set conversion rate, with a QR "scan to pay" cash-out.
- Ranks & streaks: kids climb from Baby Bunny to Legend Rabbit as they stay consistent across all five areas.
- Gifts: parents send bonus points with a personal note; a "virtual card" wallet screen shows each child's balance.
- Smart notifications: real-time push + an in-app feed that deep-links to the right screen.
- Kid-safe & bilingual: no ads, no tracking, minimal data; full English/Arabic with RTL and light/dark themes.
Results & Impact
Habit Rabbit is a real, shipping product on both major app stores, solo-built end to end: product, design system, both mobile apps, backend, admin panel, billing, and the store launches. It spans three platforms and three tailored roles (parent, child, admin), a polished app built from a rich component library, a full backend over a relational database, and a solid suite of backend tests guarding the logic. Most importantly, it reframes a daily source of friction between parents and kids into something they do together, building routine and motivation without the constant reminders.