From one prompt to a signed, open-source app running on my POCO M8 in a handful of iterations. Here's what worked, what broke, and what I'd tell anyone building their next app with an AI.

I've always liked the iPhone's Dynamic Island. It's a small black pill around the camera that comes alive when something is happening: music, a call, a timer, a delivery on its way. My phone is a POCO M8 running HyperOS, and it has a perfectly good punch-hole camera doing nothing.

So one Monday I typed this into Claude:

"I want to create an app named Dynamic Island for my Android phone POCO M8 which can deliver the same experience as the iPhone Dynamic Island or what Android Pixel phones provide. Research the features it should carry, best of iPhone and Android, and make it a useful tool for users to get a glimpse of running processes or a message someone wants to preview."

By the end of the day I had a signed, open-source app installed on my phone, with a GitHub repo, a website, and this story.…