It’s rare for commercial software developers, such as myself, to get to use the software we write. We rely on our users to report problems or suggest new features for the applications we develop.

It’s also difficult to try out new technologies or methodologies without having a “real” application to build or experiment on.

Just lately in my life, the days seem to rush by. So much so that important dates come and go without me even realising it. Important dates such as my car MOT’s renewal date!

Therefore when I read about a PHP development framework (Laravel) that looked so interesting I just had to try it out, I came up with the idea of an application where you tell it all the dates that are important to you, and it will send you e-mail or SMS text messages when those dates are coming up.

And so… Simply Remind Me was born.

Simply Remind Me is a free e-mail and simple SMS text message reminder service.

It proved its potential usefulness when (half-way through the development) in January 2017, I realised I had completely forgotten about my car MOT being due for renewal. It was 2 weeks late when I did get the MOT renewed. Thankfully it passed!

I developed Simply Remind Me for my own use, however I also believe it will be useful for others. I have launched it as a web-based application that anyone can sign up to and use (a “Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)” application.)

It is free to use for e-mail reminders, however you will need to buy text message credits for SMS reminders. Unfortunately these do cost me money to send them.

Simply Remind Me is also my playground to try out new and cool stuff I don’t always get the opportunity to in my day job. Things like:

  • logging in with social media networks – something which Laravel makes fantastically easy. As a result, Simply Remind Me allows you to register and login quickly with your Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Github account
  • API-first development – the web application uses the same core API that mobile apps or other developers’ integrations can make use of
  • mobile apps – I’d love to learn how to build mobile, native iOS and Android applications, but I’ve yet to find a suitable project. Simply Remind Me may just give me that opportunity

It may not be useful for everyone, but why not try it out for yourself and see?

Visit simplyremind.me to read more about it, and register for a free account.