Bespoke Apps, Offline by Design

Remember when you could buy an app? You paid for it, the code was done, and all the features were there.

I hate subscriptions.

I hate feature unlocks.

I hate ad-supported models.

If you're not paying for the product, you are the product.

“Free” apps aren't free. Somebody is paying for the work that went into them, and when it isn't you, it's an advertiser buying your attention or a data broker buying your habits. You're not the customer. You're what's being sold.

So my apps cost money. Not much — a nominal price, just like the old days. Effort isn't free, and I'd rather put an honest price on it than hide the bill in your data. You pay for the app, and that's the whole deal: it's the only way I make anything from it.

I also build apps that work offline, on purpose. Not as a checkbox feature — it's the whole design brief. If an app doesn't need the internet to do its job, it doesn't get to ask for it. An app that never goes online has nothing to phone home with.

But let's be honest, these are tiny little apps that do one thing, and do it well enough that I enjoy using them. A small price feels about right for that.

AI helps build a lot of this — code, copy, this site (Though I had to manually add the em dash...to make it sound more AI written)

Using AI is not a bad thing. It's the reason one person can ship real apps instead of just ideas for them. It doesn't change the deal: what ships is still offline-first and private by default, because that's the actual design brief, regardless of who or what wrote which line.

So everything here is built the other way: no accounts (I just don't want to deal with them), no analytics SDKs (I don't care about analytics from your use), no ad networks (JUST PAY FOR THE APP).

What's below is what I've built so far. I hope you get some use out of it. If so, drop me a message: