Now

This is my "now page" inspired by Derek Sivers' idea that we should all have a simple page answering "What are you focused on right now?" Think of it as what you'd tell a friend you hadn't seen in a year.

No algorithms, no character limits, no social media noise. Just an honest snapshot of where I am right now, updated whenever something significant changes. Check out nownownow.com if you want to see what others are up to.

The Journey So Far

It amazes me just how much time passes when you're focused and settled into a pattern. It's been over 4 months since I wrote my original now page, and as I'm sure is the same for most people, much has changed since!

At the end of August 2025, my last day as a Software Development Manager / Software Developer for a global company arrived. It was a sad day, I'll admit. I really enjoyed working alongside the rest of the team in the UK and USA, and the company treated me well. But the original reasons for handing in my notice 4 months prior remained the same. And so, the day came and passed.

It's been roughly 7 weeks since that day (at time of writing), and yet it only feels like a few weeks ago I left. I originally intended to take some time off from everything—building and learning. That lasted all of 30 minutes! I dove straight in, head first, with no concerns.

Three Apps in Seven Weeks

Kanodo (The Flagship)

Before I left in August, I'd started building a native Kanban app for macOS ("Kanodo", a play on Kanban and Todo). I spent the first few weeks after leaving trying to finish it off. I was almost there when it dawned on me that I had no idea how many hours I'd actually spent on it. Sure, I could guesstimate based on the number of days, but I wanted accuracy.

Chronode (The Time Tracker)

I looked around the App Store for something that could track my time automatically. Could I find something that did what I wanted? No. I was after a small app that could track session durations by app and by identified project. From what I could see, you either had to install plugins to the software you wanted tracked, or you had to manually click buttons to start and stop timers. Who has time for that?

So I built my own in around 3 weeks, which resulted in "Chronode". Unlike typical time trackers, Chronode watches what you're actually working on without manual timers or plugins. It detects projects automatically and just works.

Then came the curveball. I had completely finished building Chronode and was preparing for release on the App Store, only to discover you can't distribute non-sandboxed apps there. Chronode needs system-level access to track what you're working on. It fundamentally can't be sandboxed. If I'd known this upfront, I might not have bothered building it.

But I'd already invested 3 weeks, so I pivoted to self-publishing. That meant learning payment processing, building a license generation system, creating a custom API for license verification/activation/deactivation, and retrofitting the entire app to use it all. What was "done" suddenly needed another couple of weeks of work I hadn't planned for.

AudiBar (The Quick Win)

During the development of Chronode, I was listening to some DJ mixes using the Apple Music app. But I found Apple Music was creating random directories in my iCloud Drive with nothing in them, creating a mess of my iCloud. All I wanted was something that could sit in my menu bar and just allow me to drag and drop audio files to it to start playing, with a little ticker showing what was playing.

Sprinkle in some playlist support with shuffle and the usual auto-play features. I didn't want an app to be open and cluttering up my dock. I wanted something simple, tucked away, accessible when needed, with the usual features of an audio player.

Could I find something? No. Either the app had more features than I needed, was an actual app that had a dock icon open, or just wasn't simple to use. So I spent 7 days building my own, and voilà, AudiBar was born.

AudiBar launched in the App Store today. My first shipped product.

But getting it there wasn't just about the code. To distribute in the EU, you need to publicly provide an address and phone number (EU legislation). I wasn't about to plaster my home address and personal mobile all over the internet, so that meant buying a cheap £30 flip phone from Amazon for a secondary number and paying £120/year for a virtual office address. Apple needed verification of the virtual office agreement before approval. Small but necessary expenses that add up when you're bootstrapping.

The Current State of Play

In a nutshell, I've spent the last 7 weeks building 3 macOS apps:

• AudiBar - Published in the App Store
• Chronode - Ready for self-publishing (coming soon)
• Kanodo - The big one. Still finishing it off

Kanodo is by far the most complex of the three. Think Trello meets macOS native, with offline-first architecture, iCloud sync, and none of the subscription nonsense. It's been the biggest technical challenge (Core Data, drag-and-drop, mini-boards within cards, comprehensive filtering) but also the most rewarding. It's the kind of tool I've wanted to use for years.

My goal is to have all 3 apps complete and published, each with their own website, by the end of 2025. This gives me around 10 weeks to complete (at time of writing). Optimistic? Maybe. But I'm committed, and momentum is a hell of a thing.

What I've Learned

Building three production apps in seven weeks has been intense. I went from being an employed developer to shipping actual products with payment systems, iCloud integration, and real users. The learning curve was steeper than expected, but there's something incredibly satisfying about seeing your name in the App Store.

The biggest surprise? How much you don't need. No venture capital, no team, no fancy office. Just focus, a willingness to learn, and the ability to ship things that solve real problems. Even if those problems are your own.

The biggest lesson? The technical challenges are rarely the hardest part. Discovering Chronode couldn't be sandboxed after it was built, navigating EU compliance requirements for AudiBar, building entire payment and licensing systems from scratch. These weren't coding problems, they were "running a business" problems. Problems I didn't even know existed until I hit them face-first.

I've got a comfortable runway. Enough saved to do this for 6-9 months, possibly longer with some contract work sprinkled in. The goal isn't to get rich; it's to build sustainable products that generate enough to keep building. If these three apps can collectively bring in a few thousand a month, I can keep doing this indefinitely. That's the target.

Other Things

To finish off, here are some other things I'm doing right now which I may mention in future blog posts:

• Started collecting and reading Clive Barker's Hellraiser graphic works (Damn expensive!!). I've always been a Hellraiser movie fan (first 4 films anyway). I enjoy the lore behind it all, and I know the graphic novels give a lot more context. So I started getting into them.

• Recently got back into Tarantula Husbandry with a Brazilian White Knee Juvenile (8-10cm). I was asked to give it a name. I don't normally give such inverts names! But I believe the UK standard name for a large black thing running across your carpet with 8 legs is always christened "Fred". So it has a name: "Fred Senior".

I'll try to update this every month or two, but let's be honest - sometimes I'll forget or get too deep in the code. If you want more frequent updates, check the blog on the start page where I post more regularly. This page gets refreshed when something big happens or when I suddenly remember it exists.

If you're thinking about making a similar leap or already have, drop me a line . Always happy to compare notes.