Vibe Coding a Health Check-in App: Trae vs Cursor for Android Development
The author documents building a health check-in Android app using Vibe Coding with Trae and Cursor, comparing tool effectiveness, overcoming compilation issues, and reflecting on AI-assisted development's future impact on app creation.
Project Motivation
The author wanted to develop an Android app to track daily health habits—exercise, diet, sleep, and mindset—to improve blood pressure and weight. This personal need became a test case for Vibe Coding , the prevailing AI-assisted coding approach.
Development Environment
Trae – initial code generation
Android Studio – primary IDE
Cursor – used to fix compilation errors
Key Conclusions
Trae generates functional code quickly but fails to compile. The author switched to Cursor to resolve compilation issues.
Cursor excels at iterative compilation fixing. It runs compilation, captures errors, feeds them to the agent, and modifies code repeatedly. However, Cursor is expensive and the author has not purchased a paid plan.
Natural language programming throughout. Both Trae and Android Studio provide agents; when one tool cannot handle a task, the author switches to another.
Future Outlook
The author believes app forms will evolve, citing the concept of JIT (Just-in-Time) Apps as a possible future direction. Reference: JIT APP technology prediction (https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?__biz=MzI3NDYwMDM4MQ==&mid=2247484673&idx=1&sn=555070de46f693a74e895eb5eba2da88&scene=21#wechat_redirect).
Open Source Repository
Code available at: https://github.com/zhaojunmin/HealthCard/
Prompt Evolution & Requirements
Initial Requirements
Main screen with four circular check-in buttons: Healthy Exercise , Healthy Diet , Healthy Sleep , Healthy Mindset .
Each tap records a check-in to a local database.
Architecture & Tech Stack
Architecture: MVVM pattern.
Language & UI: Kotlin + Jetpack Compose .
Minimum SDK: API 30 (Android 11) and above.
Dependencies: Only Android SDK and AndroidX libraries ; no third-party libraries.
Additional Features Added via Prompts
Limit to one check-in per day per category.
Historical check-in record viewing.
Screenshots
App screenshots illustrating the main interface and history view:
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