As a designer, I’ve always wanted to push my work beyond just a Figma screen and into something more tangible. Play has been a game changer in that process letting me prototype, refine, and even ship features straight to Xcode.
This case study covers how I used Play to build Bloom, a lightweight motivational quotes app all with minimal code.
Bloom: A Simple App With Daily Motivation
Bloom started as a simple idea, a quiet, thoughtful app that offers just a few encouraging words each morning. No noise, no distractions. Just three short motivational quotes, freshly generated each day to help users start off on a positive note.
It’s designed to feel personal and supportive, like a gentle nudge from a friend.
Dynamic features without coding
One of Bloom’s core features is that it delivers three new quotes daily and Play made that easy to implement without code.
Using Play’s array logic, I set up a system where quotes are pulled dynamically. No backend, no API, just clean logic inside the tool.
Extending Play with code
While Play covers a lot, some things still need a little help from code. I wanted users to be able to change the app icon to match their mood, something not yet natively supported in Play.
So I created a custom variable in Play, then linked it to a small Swift function that triggers the icon change in Xcode. With just a few lines of vibe code, I unlocked a native iOS feature without stepping out of my design workflow.
Final thoughts
This project reminded me how much power designers can have when the tools are flexible. Play helped me turn a concept into a working app complete with dynamic content, micro-interactions, and even native functionality.
It’s not about becoming a developer. It’s about being able to build ideas that feel complete. With tools like Play, the gap between design and product keeps getting smaller.