I used to have a microwave with a +30 seconds button. There were other buttons for setting time, but I only ever pressed +30 seconds. It wasn’t the most accurate interface, but it was simple to understand, and required no thought.

That microwave button inspired the first version of Remind Me Faster in 2015 (‘Remind Me’): +1h, +6h, +24h.

The speed of setting a reminder was more important than the precision, so these buttons did the job. Open, type, tap tap, save. It solved a problem well enough to build a small audience who had the same itch to scratch. I also didn’t know how to build apps before this and the microwave buttons were mercifully easy to build.

Speed became a defining characteristic of the app, later enshrined in the name itself with the “Faster” suffix. Where the app was weak was precision - it wasn’t always easy (or possible) to set the exact time you wanted. The features added in the years since have all attempted to chip away at the question: “How can I improve the precision, without sacrificing speed?”. This effort resulted in the full date picker, customisable preset times, natural language input, and a ‘Date only’ mode, among others.

You can look at a screenshot of v7 today and see the resemblance to v1. The core is still there. It held up. And I still use it myself every day.

But microwave buttons do have their limitations. They’re wonderful in their simplicity, but they introduce a ceiling to the precision. Furthermore, the ‘date only’ mode was conceived of and added later, and the full date picker is an escape hatch for when microwave buttons don’t hit the mark. Both of these feel slower.

So 11 years later I’m reconsidering this core concept. Truthfully, I’ve been reconsidering this for years. I’d like to answer "How can I improve the precision, without sacrificing speed?” not with an additional feature, but with a fresh approach.