Never Miss a Thing: Notifications, Timers & Smart Calendar Sync
This week we shipped a massive notification system overhaul, brought timers to Mind Your Now, made voice mode work beautifully on Android, and added smart calendar placement for shared tasks. Plus a bunch of critical bug fixes that make everything more reliable.
🔔 A Notification System Built for Real Life
We completely rebuilt our notification infrastructure from the ground up. This isn't just "we added push notifications" - it's a comprehensive system designed to help you actually remember things without being annoying.
Notification Inbox
Your notifications finally have a home. The new Notification Inbox shows:
- All your notifications in one place - task reminders, timer completions, habit nudges
- Filter by type - See only what matters right now
- Read/unread status - Clear visual indicators so you know what's new
- Quick actions - Mark as read, take action, or dismiss right from the inbox
Timer & Alarm System
This is the big one. You can now create:
Countdown Timers
- "Set a 30 minute timer for the ham"
- "I need 45 minutes for this report"
- Perfect for cooking, focus sessions, or any time-boxed activity
Alarms
- "Remind me at 3pm to call mom"
- "Set an alarm for the dentist at 2pm"
- Time-based reminders that fire exactly when you need them
AI-Created Timers
- Kaia can proactively create timers when she sees you need them
- "I noticed your meeting is in 30 minutes - want me to set a prep timer?"
- Smart suggestions based on your tasks and calendar
Full Timer Controls
- Pause/Resume - Life interrupted? Pause and pick up later
- Snooze - Need a few more minutes? Snooze with configurable duration
- Multiple concurrent timers - Run 10+ named timers simultaneously
- Sync across devices - Start a timer on your phone, see it on web
⚙️ Notification Preferences: You're In Control
With great notifications comes great configurability. The new Notification Preferences page lets you customize exactly what reaches you:
Toggle Everything
- Task Reminders - Due dates and scheduling notifications
- Habit Reminders - Daily habits and streak protection alerts
- Chore Reminders - Household chore assignments
- Timer/Alarm Alerts - When your timers complete
- AI Nudges - Proactive suggestions from Kaia
- Daily Briefing - Morning summary notification
- Weekly Summary - Weekly progress email
Restore Defaults
Tweaked too much and want to start over? One-click Restore Defaults brings everything back to sensible settings.
🎙️ Voice Mode: Now Amazing on Android Too
Our voice mode was already great on iOS. Now it's just as good on Android.
What's New
Android TTS Support
- Amazon Polly voices now work perfectly on Android devices
- Same 30+ voice options you know from iOS
- Clear, natural-sounding speech on both platforms
Better Speech Detection
- 2-second silence timeout automatically stops listening
- No more awkwardly waiting for the system to figure out you're done talking
- Debounce protection prevents the speech recognition crash on iOS
Mobile-First Design
- Full-width voice interface on mobile for immersive experience
- Larger mic button that's easy to tap
- Clear visual feedback when Kaia is speaking (green pulsing indicator)
- Tap the mic to interrupt and start talking anytime
The "Talk Naturally" Experience
- Open voice mode
- Say what you need
- Stop talking - Kaia automatically detects you're done
- Listen to her response (in the voice you chose!)
- Tap mic to interrupt if you want to jump in
It feels like a real conversation now, not a press-and-hold walkie-talkie.
📅 Smart Calendar Sync for Shared Tasks
When you share tasks with household members, the calendar events now go to the right place automatically.
Three-Level Calendar Hierarchy
We implemented a smart fallback system:
- Task-specific calendar (highest priority) - If you set a specific calendar for a task, it goes there
- Household default calendar - New! Set a family/household calendar as the default for shared tasks
- Member's primary calendar (fallback) - If nothing else is set, uses each member's primary calendar
Household Default Calendar Setting
Household owners can now set a default calendar for all shared tasks:
- Go to Settings → Household
- Select Default Shared Task Calendar
- Choose from your connected Google or Microsoft calendars
- All shared tasks without a specific calendar will use this
Why This Matters
Before: Shared task events went... somewhere. Maybe your work calendar. Maybe a random one.
After: Family chores go to the family calendar. Team tasks go to the team calendar. Everything lands where it makes sense.
🐛 Critical Bug Fixes
We squashed some important bugs this week:
Voice AI Token Overflow (MIN-272)
The Problem: Voice chat would crash immediately for users with busy calendars. The system was sending ALL calendar events (sometimes 200K+ tokens worth) to the AI.
The Fix: Proper date filtering, result limits (max 100 events), and smart attendee exclusion. Voice chat now works reliably for everyone.
Microsoft Calendar Timezone Bug (MIN-273)
The Problem: Microsoft calendar events showed wrong times - morning meetings appearing as evening events.
The Fix: Microsoft returns times in local timezone without the timezone suffix. We were treating them as UTC. Now we handle this correctly.
React Infinite Loop (MIN-274)
The Problem: Voice chat would sometimes freeze with a "Maximum update depth exceeded" error due to a React 19 + Radix UI incompatibility.
The Fix: Stabilized callback references in our dialog components to prevent the re-render loop.
🏗️ Infrastructure Update
We're in the process of migrating our infrastructure to DigitalOcean for better reliability and performance. This means:
- More uptime - Enterprise-grade hosting
- Faster responses - Optimized network paths
- Better scalability - Room to grow as Mind Your Now expands
The migration is in progress and you shouldn't notice any disruption.
📝 Documentation Updates
All these features come with comprehensive documentation:
- Notification System PRD - Full technical specification for the notification infrastructure
- Timer API Reference - How timers work under the hood
- Calendar Hierarchy Guide - Understanding shared task calendar placement
🎯 What This Means For You
The Forgetful Chef
- Set multiple named kitchen timers: "Ham" (30 min), "Potatoes" (45 min), "Check bread" (20 min)
- Get notified when each one completes
- Never burn dinner again
The Busy Parent
- Medication reminders that actually remind you
- School pickup alarms
- Kaia proactively suggests: "Soccer practice is at 4pm - want a reminder to leave at 3:30?"
The Household Manager
- Shared chores appear on the family calendar automatically
- Each member sees tasks on their preferred calendar
- Notification preferences let everyone customize their experience
The Mobile-First User
- Voice mode works beautifully on Android now
- Full notification inbox on mobile
- Timers sync across all your devices
✨ Try It Now
All these features are live in your Mind Your Now account:
- Check the Notification Inbox - Look for the bell icon
- Create a Timer - Ask Kaia "Set a 10 minute timer" or use the timer UI
- Configure Preferences - Settings → Notifications
- Try Voice Mode - Open Kaia and tap the mic (especially if you're on Android!)
- Set Household Calendar - Settings → Household → Default Calendar
💙 Feedback Welcome
This notification system is foundational - we're building a lot more on top of it. Features like:
- Escalating reminders for critical items
- Quiet hours configuration
- Email fallback for missed notifications
- AI-generated daily briefings
Have ideas? Let us know what notification features would help you most!
The Mind Your Now Team
P.S. - If you were having issues with voice chat on Android before, give it another try. It's a completely different experience now.
P.P.S. - The timer system is voice-enabled. Try saying "Hey Kaia, start a 25 minute focus timer" and watch the magic happen.