Two decades as a solo indie Mac dev

11 snips

Jun 10, 2022

Jesse Grosjean, a seasoned indie Mac developer since 2004, shares insights from his journey creating apps like WriteRoom and TaskPaper. He discusses the evolution of his products and the philosophy of usability driving his designs. Jesse reveals the intricacies of navigating the App Store and his evolving pricing strategies amidst market changes. He compares handwritten vs tool-generated Markdown for improved readability and reflects on the unique challenges faced by solo developers in maintaining a distinct identity in the crowded Mac app landscape.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Books

Transcript

Episode notes

ANECDOTE

Speed Matters

Bike prioritizes speed, a feature often neglected in modern software.
Users appreciate Bike's fast opening, scrolling, and overall performance.

ANECDOTE

Rust Project and Bike's Origin

Jesse's previous Rust text editor project, although featuring advanced algorithms, remained unfinished.
Bike was a simpler alternative focusing on core functionality.

INSIGHT

Markdown Portability

Markdown's portability is challenged by inconsistent rendering across text editors.
Handwritten Markdown is more portable than tool-generated Markdown.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

This week Jesse Grosjean joins us to talk about his career as a solo indie Mac dev. Since 2004 Jesse has been building Mac apps under the company name Hog Bay Software producing hits such as WriteRoom, Taskpaper, and now Bike. We talk through the evolution of his apps, how he considers new features and improvements, why he chose and continues to choose the Mac platform, his business model and pricing for his apps, and what it takes to build his business around macOS and the driving force of the App Store.

Join the discussion

Changelog++ members get a bonus 10 minutes at the end of this episode and zero ads. Join today!

Sponsors:

Honeycomb – Guess less, know more. When production is running slow, it’s hard to know where problems originate: is it your application code, users, or the underlying systems? With Honeycomb you get a fast, unified, and clear understanding of the one thing driving your business: production. Join the swarm and try Honeycomb free today at honeycomb.io/changelog
Retool – The low-code platform for developers to build internal tools — Some of the best teams out there trust Retool…Brex, Coinbase, Plaid, Doordash, LegalGenius, Amazon, Allbirds, Peloton, and so many more – the developers at these teams trust Retool as the platform to build their internal tools. Try it free at retool.com/changelog
Sentry – Working code means happy customers. That’s exactly why teams choose Sentry. From error tracking to performance monitoring, Sentry helps teams see what actually matters, resolve problems quicker, and learn continuously about their applications - from the frontend to the backend. Use the code CHANGELOG and get the team plan free for three months.
MongoDB – An integrated suite of cloud database and services — They have a FREE forever tier, so you can prove to yourself and to your team that they have everything you need. Check it out today at mongodb.com/changelog

Featuring:

Jesse Grosjean – Website, GitHub, X
Adam Stacoviak – Website, GitHub, LinkedIn, Mastodon, X
Jerod Santo – Website, GitHub, LinkedIn, Mastodon, X

Show Notes:

Editor’s note: Technically Jesse has been doing Hog Bay Software for 18 years (since 2004). We rounded up to 20 years (2 decades) for the title’s sake.

Something missing or broken? PRs welcome!