Boy's Shorts

I’ve updated nearly every one of my apps. This involved getting the projects to build and submitting a binary to Apple, Setapp or prepare it for direct sales. Most I hadn’t really touched in two years.

Now they’re all compatible with macOS 13.0 Ventura and ready to receive actual updates.

I just submitted the first two app updates in well over a year. Both are for Petrify. One for the Mac App Store and one for Setapp. Hope they get approved soon. 🤞

Tried Netlify CMS to create a flow that allows me to easily add a new post here.

Configured everything and it looked pretty cool. Then I discovered the admin theme is not responsive and overriding the CSS is not straightforward.

Took another stab at personalizing forestry.io instead. That was worth the effort. It’s pretty nice.

Only things missing:

• Automatic filename generation.
• A native app to add and edit posts.

I’ve been bootstrapping my indie app business by selling stuff through ‘Dutch Craigslist’ after the apps I had before stopped generating a sustainable income. That’s been well over a year now.

Most of the things I’m putting up for sale are from my game collection. Getting rid of it has put an ever growing smile on my face and I’d like to share why.

I’ve had most of the items for years, even decades. They were stored neatly in a closet at my parent’s place and I hadn’t looked at most of it in about as much time. We’re talking a wide range of video game consoles, hundreds of games and a pile of accessories. I think it was an impressive set.

There came a moment a few years back when I decided that I had to clear out the stuff I had at my parent’s. That’s when I moved my collection the first time. I think it filled my car to the absolute brim with moving boxes. There were even two stacked on top of each other on the front passenger seat.

Realization

I just noticed that I feel bad when I type the word collection. It took moving a few more times to realize it wasn’t healthy to keep everything around, let alone expand it.

There are many downsides to keeping any sort of collection:

• It takes up space, maybe even a room in your house.
• If you don’t have the space, you’ll put it in boxes never to enjoy.
• You need to keep it safe, make sure not to damage it.
• You should probably insure it, which costs money and reduces your potential ROI.
• Some of it is valuable, but most of it will never recoup its cost.
• You’re taking on a burden that’s hard to get rid of.

It really is hard to free yourself from something that you spent lots of time and money on. You can’t just give it away, can you? I know what everything is worth and I’d love to get some of my investment back. One or two items might even have emotional value attached.

Thus began the lengthy process of cataloging what I had, taking pictures and putting it up for sale. Usually I have over a hundred ads going. An ad is valid for four weeks. You can extend this period three times, then you have to recreate the ad. Most items don’t sell within twelve weeks…

I need the money I make from this, but it takes a lot of time and I despise doing it.

Alternatives

I should point out that I still like old video games and have a lot of nostalgia for especially the SEGA Mega Drive era. This brings me to the alternatives that I use.

When Analogue came out with the Super Nt, I got rid of my SNES. I did the same with my Mega Drive when they announced the Mega Sg. Both are superior in every way to their original counterparts and smaller. I replaced the original controllers with wireless alternatives from Krikzz and 8BitDo, making them easier to store.

To play my games I switched to SD card based cartridges and ODEs, storing only the games on them that I enjoy. The originals I keep in a small box out of the way. Instead of holding on to every Street Fighter game for the SEGA Saturn, I only store the one that I actually play anyway.

If the FPGA based MiSTer becomes more accessible, I might switch to that. The goal is to come as close to the original hardware as possible, while using the least amount of space. Analogue’s Pocket fits that description too.

For modern platforms I get most games digitally, preferably on sale. I sell every physical copy immediately after finishing it. Gaming has gone mainstream and it’s my prediction that everything after the original Xbox will be cheap and easy to get forever.

Conclusion

I’m happy that I can convert a hobby I once had into runway for a company that I love building.

That said, the advice I’d give to my past self would be to not hold on to old stuff. If it’s worth revisiting, people will find a way to bring it into the future.

The Timeless Beta release was covered by ifun.de and mentioned on Jamie McHale’s solomentalhealth.com. 🥳

It’s hard to describe how good this kind of coverage feels. You can enjoy using an app you’ve built, but only when it reaches other people do you experience a sense of accomplishment.

The extra attention has increased downloads by a lot, which is good. I also got some more feedback, which is great.

At some point I will need to implement a form of monetization though. With most other apps it feels natural to lock some features behind an in-app purchase, or limit use after a set period of time.

Timeless tries to alter your behavior, limiting features might stop that from happening, reducing the chance of someone actually purchasing the app to zero.

On the other hand, making the app paid-upfront prevents someone from experiencing first hand the sense of freedom the app promotes. I would have to sell the app purely on its story and experiences from others. That’s tough.

I’m leaning towards pro features with an in-app purchase. I could add advanced scheduling, make the clock that appears when idle a paid option, allow more fine grained segment control with the pro package. If you have suggestions, I’m all ears.