Hey everyone! We re the team behind Pinnacle, and tomorrow we are finally launching on Product Hunt.
We started this journey because most 'high performance' tools are just trackers digital chores that tell you what happened to your body, but don't help you understand your mind. We wanted to build a system that helps you maintain focus, resilience, and energy when the stakes are high.
What we've been building: We ve moved beyond simple chatbots to create an AI agent that uses built-in iPhone sensors like HRV (Heart Rate Variability) and voice-based reflection to turn mental signals into actionable clarity. No 'workslop,' just science-backed tools for situational execution.
We would love your support and feedback when we hit the feed tomorrow
Blockem Profiles
Nice launch! Tools that focus on improving real workplace interactions are always interesting to see. I’m curious how the AI balances providing guidance while still keeping conversations natural and unobtrusive.
Pinnacle
@angelaaa That insight is spot on. The hardest part of building the system was finding that balance: guiding users toward the right tools while respecting their original intent, all without making the interaction feel force-fitted.
Do let us know what you think about the level of "push" vs "pull" once you try the system!
@angelaaa @rishab_mehra Built biometric features before. Pinnacle's phone-as-brain-coach approach makes sense, but individual variance is where it gets tricky... what registers as stress on one person is just noise for another. Getting baselines right before any nudging is what separates helpful from annoying.
Pinnacle
@angelaaa @piroune_balachandran 100% agree here. Our system focuses entirely on relative improvement - measuring progress from your unique starting point. Both physiological indicators like HRV and psychological indictors like emotional state are deeply personal. We calibrate to your baseline to ensure our guidance meets you exactly where you are.
Do try the product and let us know what you thought about this aspect of the system!
Pinnacle
@angelaaa @rishab_mehra @piroune_balachandran thanks for the insightful comment, very valid. The individualised assessments from the HRV in a quantitative dimension are coupled with the reflective insights through voice. The combination of these provides a performance score making the system robust and also linking physiological responses directly to psychological process. Baseline changes over time capture by 'performance score' have been shown to be stable and provide insight into stress responses within the particular context of the user and more importantly how users are adapting improving performance. Please do let us know how you find Pinnacle, and thanks again for the insight.
Hacking with Swift
This looks great! Does it have a fairly easy ramp up where you can try a small thing for a while and feel its impact before trying more?
Pinnacle
@twostraws Hi Paul, absolutely!
We have gone through many iterations of the product with varying challenge levels for users. At the end what we realized is that we need to meet the user where they're at and that's what the current system is optimized around.
Let us know what you think once you try the onboarding.
Pinnacle
@twostraws Spot on, Paul. That 'ramp up' was actually a big design challenge. We spent a lot of time thinking about 'meaningful friction'—ensuring the first time you use Pinnacle, you get a win in around 60 seconds without being overwhelmed by the AI logic.
Would love to hear your thoughts on how the app feels once you're in; we're obsessing over making it feel as intuitive and lightweight as possible! 🚀
Pinnacle
@twostraws Thanks Paul. The onboarding was a crucial part of getting the UX right, and the chat interface we landed on gave us the power & flexibility to fully explore the space & its opportunities. It was also great fun to build!
Pinnacle
@twostraws This is where we believe the real sweet spot is with Pinnacle. What we’re aiming to achieve is the optimal challenge point for each user at any given moment in their journey. In practice, this means helping users establish meaningful daily practices and progressing at a pace that is manageable and sustainable as they work towards their goals. The system continuously calibrates based on user inputs and engagement with practices, allowing it to deliver the right level of challenge and support over time.
Turning a phone into a brain performance coach is a cool idea.
Are the exercises based on neuroscience research or more behavioral training?
Would love to know how the progress tracking works.
Pinnacle
@aroido Great question! It’s a mix of both:
We use science-backed exercises (breathwork, microbreaks) to regulate your nervous system.
The AI creates targeted action plans and helps build routines to apply your learnings in your day to day life
For tracking, we have a proprietary performance score, which is tracked alongside your wearable data (sleep, HRV, etc.) for a holistic view. We are also launching a feature soon to track your attention just using your iPhone - imagine meditating and knowing how well you did during the session!
Would love to hear your feedback once you've had a chance to dive in.
@rishab_mehra Thanks for the detailed explanation!
The combination of physiological signals like HRV with behavioral routines sounds powerful.
Curious — how personalized does the performance score become over time? Does the system adapt as it learns more about the user’s patterns?
@joel_jackson1 Congrats on the launch! The angle of using sensors already on your iPhone (no wearable required) is a winner for me. Curious: how are you handling the calibration challenge? iPhone camera-based HRV readings can vary a lot based on placement, lighting, and stillness. What does your accuracy benchmark look like ?
Pinnacle
@jerrybyday I agree, computer vision inherently has these challenge. We have a calibration pipelines built for each computer vision system to try to minimize the friction for users.
For HRV specifically, finger placement on camera is crucial and we guide users through this, as we detect the failure points. Lighting is less of a challenge here, since we can use the iPhone flash. In terms of benchmarks, we have been able to achieve over 90% accuracy (when the user is in a stable position) compared to a Polar Band strapped to your chest.
We have a separate computer vision system for attention tracking launching in a few weeks. The calibration question is much more complicated for that system, and we have a patent pending for it! Let's discuss this in depth when we unveil this feature.
Hope you enjoy the system.
Been using Pinnacle for a few months and it's one of the few (if not only) products which has a demonstrable impact on focus 😀
Big fan and hope many more people improve their lives through this launch!
Pinnacle
@eeshita_pande thanks Eeshita - always great to hear when the system brings real impact! Do try this new system - it's a big upgrade from the previous beta!
Pinnacle
@eeshita_pande Thank you Eeshita – we really do aim to make a meaningful difference in people's lives, so this is great to hear.
Pinnacle
@eeshita_pande hi Eeshita hope you're well and thanks for your feedback! Great to hear that the system is helping you with your focus! Do try out the new app to experience the new features, we hope you like it.
Interesting concept. Turning a phone into a tool that helps people understand their mental state throughout the day sounds powerful. I like the idea of combining biometrics with simple, actionable insights instead of just raw data. Which iPhone sensors does Pinnacle rely on to interpret emotional state and focus levels?
Pinnacle
Trufflow
Why do only the iPhone users get the good stuff?! 😭
Any thoughts on how Pinnacle can help deal with phone addiction?
Pinnacle
@lienchueh We hear you! While we’re starting on iOS to nail the high-fidelity experience, Android is definitely on the future roadmap.
Regarding phone addiction: It sounds counterintuitive for an app designer to say, but we actually built features to help you put the phone down. We have routines specifically for sleep that focus on reducing blue light exposure and reminders to step away from all screens.
We believe a performance coach should help you master your environment, not just your device. Mastering the 'off-switch' is a core part of modern performance.
Pinnacle
@lienchueh We’d really love to make it cross platform. Right now we’re a small team and our computer vision models run fully on Apple’s Metal framework, so iPhone was the fastest way for us to ship something that actually works well. Expanding beyond iOS is definitely something we want to do, it’ll just take a bit of time, sorry!
Phone addiction is a tricky one - a lot of apps try to solve it tactically with screen-time limits or blocking, which can help but usually just treats the symptom. With Pinnacle we go deeper to find the root case. Through conversation you can set a goal like reducing phone use, reflect on what’s actually driving the habit (boredom, stress, avoidance, etc.), and then work with Pinnacle to address the root cause rather than just the behavior. That being said, do try a tactical solution like One Sec until Pinnacle comes to Android!