Habit Ledger Devlog: Building a Quantified Self Tracking App
Context: quantified-self brainrot (affectionate)
I’ve been part of the quantified self “track everything” world for over a decade, and I genuinely love tracking data about myself. Over time I’ve relied on a bunch of tools–ActivityWatch for computer history, sleep trackers like Sleep as Android (and currently Fitbit), plus habit/exercise/event tracking (reading, meditation, workouts, etc.).
The problem: exports that make me want to walk into the ocean
For a long time, I used an app called “Keep Track.” Then I finally bit the bullet and tried to export my data… and the exports were horribly horribly formatted. JSON, CSV, text–doesn’t matter: it’s a mess.
Why that’s unacceptable (for me)
I need clean data that can go straight into my metrics dashboard and be parsed cleanly over time–tens of thousands of datapoints, not “eh close enough.” Also: I needed habit entry to be stupid easy, because if it’s not frictionless, I won’t keep up with it.
The solution: Habit Ledger
So I built Habit Ledger–a very simple app (not on the App Store; just a personal APK).
What it does:
- Makes it easy to track + export the habits/activities I log manually.
- Adds customizable home screen widgets for each activity, so logging becomes quick-tap muscle memory.
- Stores entries in a simple database, then outputs a reformatted export that can go straight into my system without me writing a bunch of brittle cleanup scripts.
Current state
It’s intentionally minimal: quick entry, clean export, done. “It’s really that simple.”