App · Web, iOS and Android

A group-challenge app and a website where every figure is sourced

Challenge Us was born from a two-person bet: a hundred push-ups a day. It became a group-challenge app where everyone logs their day and sees the others’ live. Around the challenges, it also tracks what matters day to day: a food diary with barcode scanning, a weight curve, a regular wellbeing check and routines to keep alone or with others. All with no ads, no public profile, and a website whose articles cite no figure without its source.

challengeus.app
challengeus.app home page: “Take on the challenge. Together.”, with app screenshots in phones.
FIG. 01 The presentation site, separate from the app.

The starting point

The starting need was simple: set a goal as a group, log your day and see everyone else’s live, without a complicated sign-up.

Participants soon wanted to track what they eat, their weight and how they feel too. The app became a wellbeing and routines companion, without losing what makes it motivating: you move forward together.

What we did

Challenges that fit everyone

A catalogue of templates (exercise, health, screens, money, home) or a custom challenge: a number, a unit and a rhythm, per day, per week or every X days. “Don’t exceed” challenges (screen time, sugar, alcohol) go from green to amber to red, and a deadline freezes the final ranking.

Logging in one tap

“Done”, +1, a set of push-ups, a timer or a number: each kind of challenge has its button. A forgotten day can be caught up from the calendar, and one entry counts in every challenge it belongs to.

Watching others progress live

Each participant’s bar, the time left before midnight, a calendar with one bar per person and an activity feed. Emoji reactions arrive as notifications, and an evening reminder only goes out if something is left to do.

A food diary with barcode scanning

Optional and private by default. Scan a product’s barcode with the camera, or search for a food: the data comes from the French Ciqual table (Anses) and Open Food Facts. The calorie goal is calculated with macros, and within a challenge you choose what others can see.

Wellbeing and routines

A weight curve with BMI and a private waist measurement, a wellbeing check every two weeks based on the WHO-5 questionnaire, fasting challenges and daily routines, alone or with others. Every health figure stays private and can be deleted.

Motivation without a social network

Trophies, duels, levels and ranks, a forfeit or reward chosen by the group. No followers or public profiles: you invite with a link or a code, a supporter (coach, physio, relative) can follow without being ranked, and a parent manages their children’s counters.

A frictionless start, three platforms

A first name is enough to start, with no email or password. Web, iPhone and Android share the same code and a real-time back end, and the rules are enforced by the server: the day is calculated in each person’s time zone, and the phone’s clock cannot be used to cheat.

A sourced content site

The challengeus.app website publishes articles on habits, nutrition and motivation. Every reference is reopened at the source with a verdict (solid, nuanced, weak, myth), and a human reviews before publication.

In pictures

challengeus.app
The Challenge Us blog home page, organised by section.
FIG. 02 The blog, organised by section, with no figure without its source.
A “100 push-ups a day” challenge screen: each participant’s progress for the day.
FIG. 03 Everyone’s day, live.
The app’s notification centre: other participants’ entries and completed days.
FIG. 04 Every entry notifies the others.
A challenge calendar: one bar per participant and per day.
FIG. 05 The calendar, one bar per participant.

App screenshots in demo mode: the first names and figures are made up.

What it changes

  • A group that motivates itself without switching messaging apps: the group’s WhatsApp, Telegram or Signal link goes into the challenge.
  • Food, weight and wellbeing are tracked in the same place as the challenges, with nothing made public.
  • Fixes ship the same day, without waiting for a store review.
  • Content that holds up to a demanding reader: the famous “1953 Yale study” on goals, for example, does not exist, and the site says so.

Timeline

  1. The start

    A bet between friends and a group-challenge app in the browser

  2. Next

    The food diary, barcode scanning, weight and wellbeing tracking

  3. Alongside

    The challengeus.app website, its sourced articles and help pages

  4. Coming up

    The iOS and Android versions on the stores

Under the hood

  • React Native
  • Expo
  • Supabase
  • Cloudflare Workers
  • Astro
  • Web Push
  • Claude Code

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