BrainFish v1.2.0 - Apple Reminders Integration

BrainFish v1.2.0 - Reminders Sync Release

🎉 Major New Feature: Apple Reminders Integration

Two-way sync between BrainFish tasks and Apple Reminders, allowing you to manage your ADHD tasks across all your Apple devices.

What's New?

BrainFish now optionally syncs with Apple Reminders, creating a dedicated "BrainFish" list that stays in sync with your swimming fish tasks.

✨ Key Features

📱 Two-Way Sync

• BrainFish → Reminders: Tasks created in BrainFish automatically appear in your Reminders app
• Reminders → BrainFish: Reminders added to the "BrainFish" list appear as swimming fish
• Real-time Updates: Changes sync automatically with smart debouncing (1.5s delay)
• Conflict Resolution: Timestamp-based conflict resolution ensures the latest changes win

🔄 Intelligent Sync Behavior

• Dedicated List: Creates a "BrainFish" list in Reminders (doesn't clutter your other lists)
• Selective Sync: Only syncs incomplete tasks (completed tasks stay local)
• Deletion Tracking: Remembers when you delete a reminder so it doesn't recreate it
• Optional: Completely opt-in via Settings → Fish tab

🎯 Settings & Controls

• Enable/Disable Toggle: Turn sync on/off anytime in Settings
• Permission Request: Proper macOS permission dialog on first enable
• Status Indicators: Clear console logging for sync operations

🔧 Technical Details

Architecture

• ReminderService: Handles all EventKit (Reminders) operations
• SyncEngine: Two-way sync with debouncing and conflict resolution
• Sandboxed: Proper app sandboxing with calendar entitlements

Smart Features

• Debounced Sync: 1.5-second delay to batch multiple changes
• Change Detection: Listens to EventKit database changes for instant updates
• UUID Linking: Each reminder stores task UUID for reliable matching
• Deletion Memory: Tracks deleted reminders to prevent recreation

Sync Behavior Details

• New Tasks: Automatically create reminders when created in BrainFish
• Task Updates: Changes to title, notes, or due date sync both ways
• Task Completion: Marking complete in either app syncs to the other
• Reminder Deletion: Deleting from Reminders removes the link but keeps the fish task
• Task Deletion: Deleting a fish task also deletes its reminder

📝 Changes from v1.1.0

Added

• Complete Apple Reminders integration with EventKit
• Two-way sync engine with conflict resolution
• "Sync with Apple Reminders" toggle in Fish settings
• Dedicated "BrainFish" reminder list creation
• Calendar entitlement for sandboxed Reminders access
• Deletion tracking to prevent unwanted reminder recreation
• Permission request flow with Info.plist usage description

Technical Changes

• Extended Task model with EventKit properties:
  • notes: String? - Task notes/description
  • dueDate: Date? - Task due date
  • isCompleted: Bool - Completion status
  • reminderID: String? - Link to EKReminder
  • lastModified: Date - For conflict resolution
  • reminderDeleted: Bool - Deletion tracking
• New files:
  • ReminderService.swift - EventKit operations wrapper
  • SyncEngine.swift - Two-way sync logic
• Updated BrainFish.entitlements with calendar access
• Updated Info.plist with NSRemindersFullAccessUsageDescription

Fixed

• Sync only targets BrainFish list (not all reminder lists)
• Deleted reminders no longer recreate automatically
• Proper main actor isolation for EventKit operations

🚀 Getting Started

1. Update to v1.2.0
2. Enable Sync:
   • Open Settings → Fish tab
   • Toggle "Sync with Apple Reminders" ON
   • Grant permission when prompted
3. Check Reminders App: You'll see a new "BrainFish" list
4. Start Syncing: Your fish tasks and reminders stay in sync!

💡 Tips

• Sync is completely optional - turn it on only if you want it
• The "BrainFish" list is dedicated - your other reminder lists aren't affected
• Delete reminders from the BrainFish list to unlink them from fish tasks
• Deleted reminders won't recreate automatically
• Turn off sync to pause synchronization (doesn't delete anything)

🐛 Known Issues

None currently reported for this release.

🙏 Credits

Developed with assistance from Claude Code (Anthropic)

---

Full Changelog: v1.1.0...v1.2.0

Initial pre-release version - experimental!

Highly Experimental!

This is my first test release. I literally just got my Apple Developer account approved, and decided this is one of the things I have to test and make sure it works.

Known issues

• I know dragging & dropping of tasks is not currently working and I will probably fix this in the next release.

What does work

• For now you can add tasks, delete tasks, edit tasks, and activate Pomodoro mode.

Pomodoro Mode

How Pomodoro mode works:

• All tasks are assigned the default timer of 120 minutes (you can change this in Settings)
• Only one fish is shown at a time, and the timer starts counting down
• When the timer hits 0, the next fish is shown
• When all fish run out of time, the entire thing resets

Let me know what you think about this methodology. Will gladly improve this! But for now this works for me.

Fish names

Don't make it too long, it's better to use some key word or term to remind you. It also forces your brain to think about it, which brings you into context. For example instead of Install FuseFlow for Bob just use FuseFlow.

Too many fish?!

Don't create too many fish as this defeats the purpose. The idea is to only focus on things you think you can achieve by the end of the day.