Personal Software Is Becoming a Trend(xuanwo.io) |
Personal Software Is Becoming a Trend(xuanwo.io) |
It's offline-first but syncs reliably, uses the exact interpretation and display of markdown I like, searches and sorts the way I like, integrates with AI only in the ways I want it to (specific search capabilities, summarizing), uses on-device dictation via whisper so speech-to-text works when I'm away from a data connection, tracks location... I could go on and on since I add a new feature every month or so from a note (inside the app!) where I keep track of little things I wish it had.
But most importantly nothing ever gets added to it that I don't want... ever. No one else ever updates the terms of service, the UI layout, the retention period, the formatting, the shortcuts... there isn't some subscription I have to keep track of, or "pro" modes, or popups telling me about new features I should check out.
And since I have access to the backing db I can do all kinds of fun stuff with the data-- I've been playing way more with local LLMs lately with it.
I think it's healthy to remember that not everything has to be a startup or a public github repo.
How do you manage sync? Mine is a WebApp so I use indexedDB, and that's nice so that it works on my computer browser, but I don't want multiple tab synchronization on my phone and it's tricky to handle. I've built something that works, but I'd love to explore other designs.
You said React Native, so there might be a regular app sort of data store to disk.
It's also likely my most used app both on my phone and desktop. I absolutely love it.
Personal apps are the best!
Often the IDE tooling for certain languages doesn't work for me. It's too bloated or slow. I write my own tools instead. They're fast and tailored to my workflow. Custom debuggers, analyzers, etc.
I often need to perform certain tasks... sometimes they don't warrant any kind of automation. However I'll often write snippets of code in a literate `org-mode` file as I work and write down what I was doing/why, etc. Occasionally these will get tangled into a proper script that becomes the automation.
I grew up in an era when computers only came with a manual and a bare bones operating system. Writing your own tools was part of the experience from that time which stuck with me.
:v
For any decent programmer, writing reusable small applications has always been a thing. Nothing new.
Right now you can just ask for what you need and bring it into existence with a prompt. What a time to be alive.
Let’s hope software complexity doesn’t catch up to this trend.
I'm a prolific FOSS contributor, but a few years ago I switched to a very time-intensive day job and we had our first kid, and my FOSS contributions have waned a fair bit as a result. I still need to do tech stuff outside work to have an extra creative hobby outlet, so I've been doing HW/SW DIY projects like [1] and [2] that don't put me into the critical path of anyone. They're fun, and I open source them, but I'm permanently stressed and a bit guilt-ridden that compared to my previous spare-time output they're not really of much use for anyone else. My "personal software" dies alone at home, whereas previously it was used by millions.
I'm working on a DIY toy robot now[3], and I'm trying to find a middle ground there by launching a new project with a library, tools and tester GUI to control serial servo motors by various vendors that the robot is the dogfood-test for. I'm hoping this is the solution: Build "personal software", but clearly pull out the parts that are usable for everyone into a module that you put in a little extra effort to make it more available for general consumption.
E.g. with the e-ink newspaper, I should look into making the display driver code I wrote into a lib as well I guess ...
1 = https://github.com/eikehein/hyelicht
2 = https://imgur.com/a/diy-automatic-e-ink-newspaper-using-rust...
It's a culture I've subconsciously adopted, and I appreciate the author's intent to shrug it off.