the project

Azkari / Dhikr

One remembrance, every so often, on whichever screen you are at.

A remembrance reminder that has followed me onto every platform I use: a VS Code extension, a macOS app, a Windows tray app, a standalone Apple Watch app, and a Wear OS watch face companion. Each one is native, offline, and deliberately tiny.

the facts

Role: Solo: five platforms
Year: 2023 to 2026
Status: Shipped
Category: Desktop

Built with

JavaScript
Swift
SwiftUI
Kotlin
C#
WPF
VS Code API
WatchKit
UserNotifications

Where to find it

VS Code Marketplace Google Play Source Visit the site

overview

What it is, and why it exists.

This started as a VS Code extension: a small notification during a coding session, dismissible with a keystroke, gone by itself after six seconds. It is the most-starred thing I have written, which says something about how many developers wanted exactly that and nothing more.

Since then it has gone everywhere I work: a macOS app, a Windows tray app in C# and WPF with zero NuGet dependencies, a standalone watchOS app that needs no iPhone companion, and a Wear OS version. The Windows build even ships a self-test flag that prints PASS/FAIL for its own logic.

The design constraint is the same on all five: it must never become an app you have to manage. Interval, list, and nothing else.

problems

Challenges

A reminder that interrupts stops being used

the problem

The whole value is frequency, but anything that steals focus while you are typing gets uninstalled within a day. A native system toast is too intrusive and stacks up in notification history.

what I did

Each platform interrupts as little as it can: a frameless transparent popup that fades in over all windows without taking focus or blocking clicks on desktop, a wrist tap on the watch, an editor notification in VS Code. It auto-dismisses, so ignoring it is a valid response.

Battery on a watch is the whole product

the problem

A watch app that fires reminders all day and costs noticeable battery gets removed regardless of how good the reminders are. Extended runtime sessions and complications were the obvious route and the wrong one.

what I did

The watchOS build uses only system-scheduled local notifications plus opportunistic background refresh: no workout sessions, no complication, no network at all. Reminders survive a reboot and an app update without the user doing anything.

Five platforms is five times the maintenance

the problem

Writing the same tiny app five times in five languages is how side projects die. Every dependency upgrade multiplies by five.

what I did

Each build depends on almost nothing. The Windows version has zero NuGet packages: tray via in-box WinForms, JSON via System.Text.Json, startup via the registry, chime via SystemSounds. Nothing to upgrade means nothing to break.

after

Results

Published on the VS Code Marketplace and Google Play.
Five native builds: VS Code, macOS, Windows, watchOS, Wear OS.
Fully offline everywhere; no accounts, no analytics, no data collected.

screens

A few screens.

Next project

assoli.site

My previous portfolio: one animated page, driven by a command menu.

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