Updated Jan 16, 2026

How To Create a Content Scheduling App

Table of Contents

Building a content scheduling app is easier than it seems. With tools like Adalo, you can design, test, and deploy an app across web, iOS, and Android platforms - all in one build. Here's how to get started:

Set Up a Database: Create collections for scheduled content, including fields like title, description, date, and status. Link content to users for personalized management.
Design User-Friendly Screens: Use Adalo’s drag-and-drop builder to create a dashboard (with a calendar view), a form for adding posts, and a detailed post screen for editing.
Add Scheduling & Notifications: Enable automated scheduling and integrate push notifications using third-party tools for reminders.
Test & Publish: Thoroughly test features like time zones and notifications. Then, publish your app on the web or app stores.

Adalo simplifies the process with pre-made templates, built-in logic, and a unified build for all platforms. Whether you're a business, agency, or creator, this guide helps you create an app that organizes content efficiently and avoids missed deadlines.

4-Step Process to Build a Content Scheduling App with Adalo

Step 1: Build Your Content Database

Your content database is where all your posts and scheduling details are stored. In Adalo, this database is organized into Collections (essentially tables), Properties (data fields), and Records (individual entries). You can find and manage this database by clicking the red Database icon in the left toolbar of the Adalo Builder.

Create Your Data Collections

Begin by setting up a collection named "Content Posts" to house all your scheduled content. To do this, click the Database icon and add a new collection. Then, include these key properties for scheduling and organization:

Title (Text): The headline of your post.
Description (Text): The main content or body of the post.
Scheduled Date (Date & Time): The date and time the post is set to go live.
Status (True/False): A simple tracker to mark posts as drafts or ready to publish.

If your content includes visuals, add an Image property for header images. Keep in mind that Adalo has a 50MB file size limit for images.

Each Adalo app comes with a default Users collection for login and authentication. You can customize this collection by adding properties like Full Name or Profile Image. To connect your users with their posts, create a Relationship property in the Content Posts collection. This setup allows one user to manage multiple posts while ensuring each post belongs to a specific user. It also sets the stage for features like personalized notifications.

Once your collections are ready, make sure your date and time settings align with US standards.

Set Up US Date and Time Formats

Adalo uses UNIX timestamps to store dates internally, which ensures consistent scheduling logic. However, the way dates and times appear in your app is controlled at the component level. When you add a Date & Time property to your Content Posts collection, it will automatically capture both the date and time for each entry.

To display dates in a US-friendly format, follow these steps:

Start the week on Sunday.
Use 12-hour time for the Agenda View.
Format dates as MM/DD/YYYY.

To adjust how dates appear, click the pencil icon next to the date property and choose the MM/DD/YYYY format. This ensures your app’s presentation aligns with US conventions, making it easier for users to navigate.

Step 2: Design Your App Screens

It's time to bring your app's interface to life. Adalo’s drag-and-drop builder makes this process straightforward. You’ll be adding screens, placing components, and linking them to your data. The aim? A clean, user-friendly layout that lets people schedule, view, and manage their posts effortlessly. Once the screens are in place, you’ll connect the data to actionable elements.

Build the Main Screens

You’ll need three essential screens to start:

Dashboard: This will showcase your content calendar. Begin by clicking the "Add Screen" button in the left toolbar. From the Adalo Marketplace, install the Calendar component and drag it onto your canvas. Link it to your Content Posts collection and configure it to display the Scheduled Date as the start time. Include details like the Title and Status for each post. To make it visually intuitive, color-code entries - use gray for drafts and green for ready-to-publish posts. Don’t forget to apply US date and time settings for consistency.
Form Screen: This is where users will create new content. Drag a Form component onto a new screen and connect it to the Content Posts collection. Adalo will automatically generate input fields for Title, Description, Scheduled Date, and Status. You can enhance this by adding an Image Picker for header images and a multi-line text area for longer descriptions.
Post Details Screen: This screen allows users to view and edit individual posts. Use text components to display properties like Title, Description, and Scheduled Date. Add buttons for actions such as "Reschedule" or "Delete" to give users more control over their content.

Add Interactive Components

Make your app more dynamic by improving navigation and adding useful tools like search and filters.

On the dashboard, include a "Schedule New Post" button that links directly to the form screen. Use Adalo’s Actions tab to configure this: select the button, add a "Navigate to Screen" action, and choose the form screen.
To provide quick access to post details, configure each calendar entry so that clicking it takes users to the post details screen.
Add a Search Bar to your dashboard to let users quickly find posts by their Title. For better organization, set up filters for lists of upcoming posts. For example, you can filter posts by date range or status using Adalo's "Filter List" action.
Include Quick Action buttons under the calendar for common tasks like "View This Week" or "Show Drafts Only."

Finally, test your app using the Preview button in the top toolbar. This lets you see how it performs across platforms like iOS, Android, and the web. Adjust spacing, button sizes, and other design elements to ensure it’s responsive and works seamlessly on all devices.

Step 3: Add Scheduling and Notifications

To make your app more dynamic, it should handle content scheduling automatically and notify users about upcoming posts. This involves linking form submissions to your Content Posts collection and setting up notifications. Here's how you can configure these features directly in your Adalo app.

Connect Scheduling Actions

Start by setting up the Submit button to create a new record in the Content Posts collection. This will allow you to map fields like Title, Description, Scheduled Date, and Status. To configure this:

Select the Submit button and open the Actions tab.
Add a Create action, choosing the Content Posts collection.
Adalo will automatically map the form fields to the database properties you defined earlier in Step 1.

For accurate scheduling and to prevent overlapping posts, create a Time Slots helper collection. Populate it with entries like 9:00 AM, 9:30 AM, and so on. Add a Buffer Time property (in minutes) to manage spacing between scheduled posts. This setup ensures users can select specific times from a dropdown menu instead of manually typing dates. Additionally, include a Time Zone property in the Users collection to display scheduled content in local time.

Configure Push Notifications

Once scheduling is set up, the next step is to enable notifications. Push notifications only work if your app is installed as a native iOS, Android, or PWA build - they won't function in web preview mode. Users must also be logged in and grant notification permissions when prompted.

Since Adalo's built-in actions trigger instantly, you can't schedule notifications directly for a future time. To address this, use a third-party service like Adastacks. Here's how:

Add a Custom Action (Method: POST) and use the webhook URL provided by the third-party service.
Pass parameters such as app_id, api_key, recipient email, notification title, body, and scheduled_datetime from your form.

Important: Set the Magic Text for the scheduled date to "No Formatting" to ensure the notification sends correctly. You can target specific users by their User ID or Email Address in the notification request. For native iOS and Android apps, you can also define a Target Screen - this could be the post details screen or the main dashboard that opens when a user taps the notification.

A few things to keep in mind:

Users must have been active in the app within the last two weeks to receive notifications.
The user scheduling the post won't receive a notification for their own action. Notifications are meant for other users or can be managed through the scheduling service for future reminders.

Step 4: Test and Publish Your App

Before launching your app, it’s crucial to ensure everything works smoothly and deploy it across platforms. This step ensures your app not only functions as expected but also reaches your target audience effectively.

Test Your Scheduling Features

Begin by creating multiple test accounts to mimic different user scenarios. Walk through the entire user journey, testing various booking scenarios to ensure notifications and scheduling features work seamlessly on all devices.

Use the Preview button to check how your app looks and performs on iPhone, Android, and desktop views. Dive deeper into your scheduling and notification setup to confirm everything is running smoothly. For instance, test time zone adjustments by scheduling posts across different regions. Push the limits by testing edge cases like scheduling overlapping posts, booking at the start or end of availability windows, and verifying buffer time settings.

Double-check that notifications are consistent across devices. Keep in mind that push notifications only work on native iOS, Android, or PWA builds. To test synchronization, create an event on your phone and immediately check if it reflects on your desktop version. This ensures real-time cloud sync is functioning as it should. For external feedback, use the Share button in Adalo to generate a test link, allowing users without Adalo accounts to try the app and provide unbiased insights.

Once you’re confident in your app’s functionality, move on to deployment.

Deploy to App Stores and Web

After rigorous testing, it’s time to publish your app. For web deployment, set your app’s URL or custom subdomain in the Adalo "Publish" panel. Adalo also offers a manual publishing feature, letting you make updates without affecting your live app until you’re ready to roll out changes.

For the Apple App Store, you’ll need a $99/year developer license, a Bundle ID (no spaces), an app-specific password, and a display name capped at 30 characters. If you’re publishing as a business, be prepared to obtain a DUNS number, which can take up to 14 days for approval. Apple typically approves apps within 48 hours. Before submitting, make sure you have high-quality assets ready, including an app icon, 4–5 screenshots for each device type, a detailed description (up to 4,000 characters), and a privacy policy URL.

For Google Play Store publishing, sign up for a developer account through the Google Play Console with a one-time fee of $25. The approval process is usually quicker than Apple’s, ranging from a few hours to a couple of weeks. Ensure the app is stable to avoid any issues.

After your app is live, monitor its performance daily. Quickly address any problems to keep users engaged and avoid churn. With over 650 million weekly visitors to the Apple App Store and more than 70% of mobile users globally on Android devices, your scheduling app has the potential to reach a massive and diverse audience across platforms.

Conclusion

Creating a content scheduling app doesn’t have to be a lengthy or overly complicated process. By following the steps outlined - from setting up your database to deploying the app - you can build a fully functional product without needing months of development time or advanced technical expertise. Start by configuring your database with the correct US date and time formats, design user-friendly screens, set up scheduling actions and notifications, and thoroughly test your app before deployment. With this approach, you can deliver a production-ready app for web, iOS, and Android platforms.

Adalo simplifies this process with its single-build deployment, allowing you to create one version that works seamlessly across all platforms. You can quickly publish a web version to test your scheduling features and gather real-world user feedback, which is especially useful before navigating the more time-consuming approval processes of the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. Adalo’s platform is designed for efficiency and reliability, making it a great choice for developers at any level.

One of Adalo’s strengths is its built-in database, which manages everything from user profiles to appointment histories - no external configuration needed. This allows you to launch a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) in just weeks. Start with Adalo’s free tier, which includes unlimited test apps and up to 200 records per app. Once your app is ready for a broader audience, you can upgrade to the $45/month plan to publish on custom domains and app stores.

Post-launch, monitoring your app’s performance is essential. Adalo’s Analytics tab lets you track metrics like visitor activity, download numbers, and user locations. By releasing a web app version first, you can refine features and address user feedback before committing to a native mobile release.

With your app live and accessible across platforms, you’ll be equipped to help users - whether they’re social media managers, content creators, or marketing teams - streamline their content scheduling and improve their workflows efficiently.

FAQs

How can I make sure my app's notifications work on all devices?

To make sure your app's notifications function smoothly on iOS, Android, and web platforms, follow these steps:

Ask for notification permissions early: When users first sign in, prompt them to enable notifications. This step ensures their device is ready to receive alerts.
Confirm user eligibility: Notifications should only go to users who are logged in, have been active in the last 14 days, and have granted permission for notifications.
Set up event-based triggers: Use the “Trigger Notification” action in your app builder to send alerts tied to specific events, like scheduling a new post. This helps ensure notifications are sent to the right users across all platforms.
Test notifications thoroughly: Manually trigger notifications on iOS, Android, and web to check that they display properly and open the app when tapped.

If notifications aren’t working, check that the user has allowed notifications in their device settings and confirm they haven’t triggered the alert themselves (senders don’t receive their own notifications). By following these steps, you can ensure reliable notifications across all devices.

What should I consider when setting up a content database in Adalo?

When building a content-scheduling app in Adalo, the first step is to design a well-organized database. Start by creating collections for each type of content, such as "Posts" or "Campaigns", and use simple, singular names for clarity. Assign appropriate property types to your data - for example, use text fields for titles, date-time fields for scheduling, and image fields for thumbnails. To manage scheduling effectively, include both start and end dates, which can later be connected to calendar components.

Set up relationships between collections to link data. For instance, connect content to the user who created it or group items by categories or tags. These relationship fields allow you to display related data in lists and screens effortlessly. Don’t forget to configure permissions - for example, you might allow creators to edit their own posts while restricting others to view-only access. This keeps your app secure and functional.

If you have existing content, you can import it into Adalo using a CSV file to quickly populate your database. Use default values, like auto-filling the current date for new entries, to simplify workflows. By keeping your database structured with consistent names and clear relationships, you'll make tasks like filtering, sorting, and sending notifications much easier as your app takes shape.

How can I test my content scheduling app before publishing it?

Before submitting your app to the App Store or Google Play, it's crucial to test its functionality to ensure everything runs smoothly. Start by using the Preview feature in the Adalo editor. This allows you to test navigation, forms, and database actions directly on your computer. Then, take it a step further by downloading the Adalo Preview app on your iPhone or Android device. Scan the QR code from the editor to see exactly how the app will look and behave on a real device.

Focus on testing essential features like creating, editing, and deleting events. Double-check that dates and times display as intended (e.g., January 15, 2026, 12:00 PM). Don’t forget to test recurring events, calendar synchronization, and notifications to confirm they work as expected. For more in-depth testing, consider uploading your app to TestFlight for iOS or using the Internal testing track in Google Play Console for Android. These tools let you gather feedback from testers in a controlled environment. Address any issues that come up during testing and repeat the process until your app is polished and ready for launch.