Appspiration

PROBLEM STATEMENT While working on my Laptop, I realized that I often get distracted and switch to non-work related apps or browser tabs, which causes a context switch. I wanted to keep track of how many times and how often this happens. I know there are sophisticated apps that can track this at a granular level, even noting which app is used and for how long, but that wasn't my intention. I simply wanted to track how many times I switch context, so I decided to build an App for my Laptop using Gemini. I started by creating a new folder and launching the Gemini CLI . Compared to my earlier post , this time I was able to save all the actual prompts, thanks to a simple project that saves conversations locally . THE APP (~10 MINUTES) > create a simple mac app for personal use which I can use to track how many times in a day I switch context away from my focussed work. It should be something which runs in the status bar or system tray and I can click on it whenever I feel I have ...

I n my  previous post , I briefly mentioned what led me to quit my full-time salaried job with Motorola and jump into the world of entrepreneurship. The year is 2013 and I was starting off as a Solopreneur. I was skilled in developing Android apps as well as the technologies required to build a backend (server). But to grow the business, more had to be done. This is what I ended up doing, step by step: iOS Apps with no skills By this time, iOS was already a force to reckon with. So expanding the Apps to the iOS platform was the next logical step. For that I initially outsourced the App-work to a consultancy from Pune. After that relationship gracefully ended, I got a freelancer from Romania whom I found via freelancer.com . Interestingly, I was his first client on that website! I believed in his work even though he had no prior experience or reviews to show on that website. Hiring full-time engineers A year and a half later, I started hiring full-time Android and iOS engineer...

Quick story of how I took that first baby step towards building my App business (MyChessApps.com & FollowChess.com). For this, lets rewind to the year 2007. I was posted in the US from my first job. I was already 4 years into the job as a Java Software Engineer. Back then, the  Symbian  OS platform was very popular. This was much before Android & iOS gained popularity. Being a chess afficionado, I used to learn chess and participate in chess tournaments. Learning was mostly via software on the laptop. However, when it came to mobile, there was hardly anything. I owned a Nokia Symbian S60 device and could find only on good chess app called Chess Genius. But it was mostly for playing vs the AI whereas my need was of an app or tool to help in my learning process (i.e. solve chess puzzles and view games of past chess masters) Seeing this void and trusting in my tech skills, the idea to develop something on my own popped into my head! This is when I started exploring ...