Chronicling Your Pet's Imperial Life: 'Reign of Pet' Launches on iOS
Reflections on pet care and the ritual of daily life while building 'Reign of Pet' — not just a pet activity tracker, but a joyful royal court drama for every beloved companion.
After a period of careful thought and refinement, “Reign of Pet” is finally live on the App Store.
As a devoted 鏟屎官 (poop scooper, a playful term for a pet parent) constantly dealing with the many little chores of pet care, I’ve been looking for a way to make the humdrum routine of feeding and cleaning feel more delightful and more ritualistic. There are plenty of practical pet‑tracking apps out there, but they tend to skew serious and data‑heavy, missing that spark of joy you’d want while logging daily life.
That’s exactly what inspired “Reign of Pet”: to crown your furry liege and keep a record of their courtly life.
Why “Reign of Pet”?
In real ancient courts, every detail of an emperor’s daily routine—from meals to attire—was meticulously documented in the 起居注 (diary of daily life). If we transplant that logic to our furry children at home, scooping litter and serving meals become not tedious chores but important 御前記事 (imperial records).
Inside the app, I built an engaging recording and analysis engine around this courtly narrative style:
- 御前記事 (Imperial Diary): Log meals, baths, grooming, and more — one‑tap recording for over 30 daily actions, each generating a context‑aware classical Chinese description.
- 詔書頒佈 (Edict Issuance): Turn major milestones (like weaning or neutering) into an “imperial edict” in KaiTi type, shareable as a long image with a single tap.
- 國情寶庫 (National Archive): A detailed inventory system for supplies (cat food, litter, etc.) that deducts stock automatically, paired with a five‑axis radar chart for a clear “national status” of your pet’s well‑being.
Development Insights
The core challenge during development was making complex logging effortless and smooth. I chose to fully embrace Swift and SwiftUI, and built the local storage engine with SwiftData. This ensures top performance on iOS devices, keeps all “court secrets” securely stored on‑device, and uses iCloud to sync seamlessly across devices.
Turning everyday interactions into a classical, narrative‑style “record of life” also gave me a deeper appreciation for how product experience and narrative text can reinforce each other.
Download and Experience
You can search for “Reign of Pet” directly on the App Store, or scan the QR code in the poster above to download.
(All core diary and tracking features are free, require no registration, and work offline.)
I hope this little app, with its touch of ritual and humor, brings a bit more romance and laughter to the poop‑scooping daily routine of every pet lover in today’s busy world.