Where it began
Heartbeat Hero began as my Swift Student Challenge project for 2024. It was selected as one of 50 Distinguished Winners (https://developer.apple.com/swif…) and I got to experience an incredible week at Apple over WWDC24, including demoing the app to Tim Cook himself, but I never shipped the prototype. Over the last year I rebuilt it for a full public release, improving the overall experience and redesigned the app for iOS 26.
Why I built it
A few weeks before that original build, my uncle – a firefighter – told me how he saved someone’s life with CPR. It made me realise most people want to help but have never practised or have the confidence to, as at the time I myself had no idea how to perform CPR. Heartbeat Hero aims to change that with an easy, memorable, interactive, and accessible way to learn the essentials, feel correct rhythm and depth, and rehearse the emergency call.
Heartbeat Hero also won 1st place in the 2025 Shipaton Peace Prize, you can read more about the submission, including more technical details here: https://devpost.com/software/hea…
Heartbeat Hero is also incredibly accessible for all users. Accessibility and feedback are multi-modal and built into the app from the ground up: haptics, voice guidance and torch pulses for hearing accessibility, plus VoiceOver labels across the UI. In addition, I also engineered a ‘focus’ mode for the learning sections of the app to allow users who have ADHD, Dyslexia, or other reading difficulties to easily complete and comprehend the theory of CPR. By focusing on one small section at a time, and eliminating all other distractions, the Focus mode makes it much easier to learn the theory – even allowing the app to read out the sections and auto-progress if the user requires.
If anyone has any questions at all whether it be about my experience at Apple, Shipaton, or the app itself feel free to ask and I’ll be happy to answer!
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