My everyday devices are mostly Apple products and just recently realized that I barely use any software built by independent devs (or small companies). Most of what I consistently use falls in one of the following categories:
- Shipped with the OS (XCode, Notes, Reminders, etc)
- Open source (Atom editor, Docker, OSS frameworks, etc)
- Big tech (Chrome, Slack, Zoom, G suite, etc)
Note: There will be some overlap in the above
In my case I'm a happy customer of Better Touch Tool which "allows you to customize various input devices on your Mac".
So, do you pay for any indie software?
(I'm referring to any product like licensed tools, SaaS, mobile apps or anything in between for that matter)
Latest comments (21)
gifox: It's so easy to record a few seconds of screen and plop it into slack or wherever and it just works and loops and is as small as a gif can get. I had a hacky pipeline for this, but nowhere near as seamless, and I was pretty happy to buy a polished version.
tripmode: A bandwidth meter! When there isn't a pandemic going on, I work on a lot of different networks, including tethered to my phone. Sometimes I want to be sure I'm not accidentally downloading gigs of docker images or system updates or whatever. You can monitor and set limits, even per app!
better touch tool: There's a lot here, and it can be kinda overwhelming. I use it for three distinct purposes.
krisp: I remember the day I bought it. It was supposed to be a no-meeting heads down coding day. I biked to a coffee shop with a huge windy patio and a coloured slat art installation that rattles with the wind. And I forgot my headphones. And then an urgent call came up. I downloaded the trial. I kept the volume low and talked kinda quiet. There was hardly anyone else nearby, but still, trying to minimize my breach of etiquette. The call was fine. I experimented at the end turning it off and back on and everyone was shocked at the difference.
I pay for Alfred on my Mac - saves me a bunch of time here and there with tasks I do all the time.
I pay for Magnet for Mac and I'm satisfied.
I pay for indie software and I give donations to free software quite often. I believe paying for things I use and that help me make money.
I pay for indie games. Also for a couple of services.
I convinced my company that TablePlus was a worthwhile purchase because of the problems with Sequel Pro and MySQL Workbench, so though technically I don't pay for it, we do.
Honestly, for my cases, there's not much software that doesn't already have a free equivalent that's better than the proprietary ones.
Oh, the last thing I paid for was by using the "buy me a coffee thing" for someone who made a dark skin for Google Play Music.
i hope your coworkers appreciate TablePlus! Such wonderful software.
It's pretty good. What my boss appreciates most is being able to "lock" connections so you can't commit changes to databases on other people's servers without unlocking them first.
We end up being given accounts on legacy live systems that have most permissions, so that could be a Bad Thing unless we were to set up local replica databases and use them instead. This means we can quickly log into someone else's host and do a bit of forensics.
I pay for bear, an extremely fast lightweight note taking app. You can replace your apple notes with it.
Do Indie games count? I usually much more prefer Indie games rather than AAA titles.
Absolutely! I consider myself a retired gamer, so wish I had time to go back and enjoy many titles I hadn't had the chance to try.
I wonder if WinRar's devs are really as strapped for cash as their incessant prompts make them seem...?
I do. Like for Little Snitch 4, 1Password, iA Writer, Fantastical, Magnet. LanguageTool and probably many more.
I just want to support developers. I know their struggle because I am one of them :).
I feel guilty to say no
I understand the feeling but also don't think you should tbh. In the end there's no need to support products you don't use just for the sake of it.
Keeping this in perspective though, as many of us dream to make a living from a project of our own, I was curious about how other colleagues rely on more indie alternatives :)
I’ve paid for Magnet, Gifox, Dark Noise, Carrot Weather, Be Focused Pro, and probably a dozen more. Im quite willing to pay for a quality app, as a developer I know how much time and effort it takes to make good software so I want to support those efforts when I can.
Paid for 2 apps, Paste and Magnet, to make my life easier.
Recently I bought Alfred, It just changed the way I work on mac, you can do pretty much anything with few keyboard buttons.
Magnet really caught my attention, thanks for sharing Ishan!
I do, if I find it useful. I'm an indie developer, too, and I want to support my fellow developers.
That's pretty interesting! And you're right, donations are a great way to give back to plenty of projects out there too.
I remember having some bitcoin fractions at some point and donating with them at least 4 or 5 years ago... I hope they cashed them in at a good price :)
If I have money, yes;
If I have no money, no.
^^