No 1. | November 2023 | Indie Developer Projects Insight
Released on Tuesday December 5th in 2023 by Simon Braun
Hello dear reader :)
This is the first edition of my monthly newsletter and I’m very happy that I did follow my guts to just do it. I wanted to do this for a very long time, but this time I will click send—I promise. (Well, otherwise you couldn’t read it right now.)
Follow me on my journey as an indie developer, software nerd and product enthusiast. Regular content of the newsletter will be my finding of the month, learn more about my products and updates, as well as how everything is going for me. The projects insight newsletter is free!
And now on to my first newsletter, enjoy!
FOTM – Finding of the month
This little gem just crossed right in front of me on Mastodon and I have to say this little RunCat has a new home. It is very adorable and of course not only cats can run down your menu bar. Displaying how hard your mac is working never was cuter. – Thank you Takuto Nakamura!
RunCat (Opens in a new window) | macOS | Freemium → Download (Opens in a new window)
Firstly an introduction to the way this newsletter should be read. I decided to color code some information to keep the format and information compact:
Following markers are used in this insight: UPCOMING, NEW, UP, DOWN, REMOVED
DISCLAIMER: Affiliate links are highlighted with an *
I. Basic Insights – Free
VALUES AND UNIVERSAL SELLING POINTS
I’m always working on the wording of my values and USPs. I find it important to check on my values and search for value creation that possibly makes my software special and attractive for potential customers. My current tagline:
No advertising, no registration, no tracking of personal data and no investors – just an authentic person who loves making software.
RELEASED PROJECTS
APP | Auricula | 2.1.2 | Since 2014
Auricula is an interval ear trainer to practice your sense of hearing and to learn the skill to identify intervals.
Available for iOS, iPadOS and macOS, supports 9 languages: German, English, French, Brazilian Portuguese, Korean, Spanish, Italian as well as traditional and simplified Chinese
Website (Opens in a new window) | AppStore (Opens in a new window)
I just released an update a week ago to fix links and minor bugs, made the app ready for the black friday sales.
APP | Filmlog | 2.1.1 → 3.0.0 | Since 2013
Filmlog is a first-class private movie tracker and best in class iPhone and iPad app since 2013.
Available for iOS and iPadOS, supports 15 languages: Arabic, German, English, French, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, traditional and simplified Chinese as well as Turkish
Website (Opens in a new window) | AppStore (Opens in a new window)
I just released an update three weeks ago to fix links and minor bugs, having a huge update in the pipeline makes maintenance always more difficult. Right now code cannot be shared anymore between the AppStore release and the upcoming major release verison. – But of course did also join the black friday insanity with a Filmlog sale.
ALPHA/BETA PROJECTS
APP | Next Size | 1.0.0 | Planned release for January 2024
Next Size is an app for kids clothing to forecast your children clothing sizes.
Available for iOS, supports 4 languages: German, English, French, and Spanish.
Website not available yet | Testflight (Opens in a new window)
Gathering feedback from the public Testflight for now. Improving and planning for the launch in January.
PROTOTYPE PROJECTS
WEBSITE | puinte.org | Since 2022
Puinte.org (Opens in a new window) is a website for a community financed effort to create better software for the general public: privacy-friendly, open-source, fully reusable and financed in solidarity.
Available for Web, supports 1 language: German.
Website (Opens in a new window)
Love the idea of a technology that is community financed, but just cannot pull it off right now. So incremental improvements are planned until the idea is ready for a launch!
WEBSITE | infolge.org | Since 2015
Infolge.org (Opens in a new window) is a web service for following current affairs, comparing points of view and forming a differentiated opinion.
Available for Web, supports 1 language: German.
Website (Opens in a new window)
Infolge.org (Opens in a new window) did start as my diploma project and I still could not let it go. But if I can buy me some more time in the future, I would love to give it a spin as a working prototype with daily published new data.
TOOLS AND SERVICES I USE
In this section you will get an overview of tools and services. I use them to develop and keep my projects up and running.
Hosting and E-Mail hosting Mittwald
DomainsDomain Offensive (Opens in a new window)*
IDEXcode (Opens in a new window)
GitGithub (Opens in a new window) and Git Tower (Opens in a new window)*
TexteditorSublime Text (Opens in a new window)
SFTP ClientFileZilla (Opens in a new window)
Local WebserverMAMP (Opens in a new window)/WorldWideWeb (Opens in a new window)
IAP Framework RevenueCat (Opens in a new window) – not in use yet (will be part of Filmlog 3.0.0)
AnalyticsTelemetryDeck (Opens in a new window)*
ASOappfigures (Opens in a new window)
Calendar Fantastical
Mail AppleMail
NotesStandard Notes (Opens in a new window)
TodoThings (Opens in a new window)
Online StorageTresorit (Opens in a new window)
DocumentationNotion (Opens in a new window)
Bookmarkspinboard.in (Opens in a new window)
CalculatorSoulver (Opens in a new window)
DiskmanagementDaisyDisk (Opens in a new window)
MessengerSignal (Opens in a new window)
PasswordmanagerBitwarden (Opens in a new window)
SecurityLittle Snitch (Opens in a new window)
TranslationICanLocalize (Opens in a new window)*, Deepl (Opens in a new window) (web), dict.cc (Opens in a new window) (iOS)
DesignAffinity Designer (Opens in a new window) (still use version 1), Sketch (Opens in a new window), Figma (Opens in a new window)
CompressionImageOptim (Opens in a new window)
MusicDoppler (Opens in a new window)
PodcastsCastro (Opens in a new window) (iOS – Is it dying? What do you do?)
NewsNetNewsWire (Opens in a new window) (iOS)
MastodonIvory (Opens in a new window) (iOS)
Do you have a tool or service suggestion for me? Let me know: feedback@simonbraun.eu (Opens in a new window)
SOCIAL MEDIA & PR
I prefer my own website with blog and Mastodon … it is what it is.
Official Websitewebsite (Opens in a new window) / blog (Opens in a new window) / RSS (Opens in a new window)
NewsletterIndie Developer Projects Insight (Opens in a new window)
Mastodonindie developer (Opens in a new window) (english), personal (Opens in a new window) (german), Filmlog (Opens in a new window)
Instagramindie developer (Opens in a new window) (english), personal (Opens in a new window) (german)
Linkedin Link (Opens in a new window)
ProducthuntAuricula (Opens in a new window)
SUPPORTERS CHECKLIST
I have to thank you dear reader for your interest in my newsletter. If you are interested in supporting me further please check out the following list:
recommend this newsletter and my apps to your friends
download and test my apps
rate my apps and write reviews on the AppStore
follow my on any social you like
upvote on Producthunt
Thank you for reading my newsletter! Until next month and stay safe, Simon
If you want to become a testimonial for the newsletter or if you have questions, suggestions or critique, please write me: feedback@simonbraun.eu (Opens in a new window)
Simon Braun – Website (Opens in a new window) / Mastodon (Opens in a new window)
Want to start your own Newsletter? I recommend to give Steady a try (Opens in a new window)!
