Building software that respects the user: A look at privacy-first indie development

Brent Vandy — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 15:27:17 +0000

As developers, we often get caught up in adding as many features and third-party analytics tools as possible to our applications. It is easy to just install another package or tracking script without thinking about the impact on the end user. But lately, I have been noticing a growing movement of developers actively pushing back against software bloat and intrusive data tracking.

I recently found a great example of this philosophy in practice. I came across an independent UK software development studio called Code and Sea that perfectly captures this minimalist approach. It is run by a solo developer building in public, and they are completely rejecting the modern trend of subscription rental fatigue in favor of tools that actually respect your focus and wallet.

Instead of packing their apps with telemetry and recurring fees, they focus purely on simple, intentional software. They have two main projects that highlight this technical approach:

Transcendence: A native iOS and iPadOS meditation timer. From an engineering standpoint, it is fascinating because it is built completely without background guided noise, intrusive push notifications, or required accounts. It is a masterclass in shipping only what is necessary.

Tidal Draft: A really clever workflow tool that pairs a Chrome Extension with a Figma Plugin. It parses live web elements and imports them into Figma as editable designs. Instead of a SaaS subscription, it runs on a simple pay-as-you-go model.

It is incredibly refreshing to see developers focusing on thoughtful software craftsmanship and a sustainable pace of work over hyper-growth. Building clean, purposeful software that lasts is a great technical goal for any tech startup or solo maker.

The beauty of zero telemetry software: A look at a truly local first meditation app

Brent Vandy — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 15:24:17 +0000

Modern consumer apps have a serious bloat problem. If you look at the health and wellness space specifically, a simple utility app will often bundle five different tracking SDKs, force an email sign up, and require a constant internet connection just to function.

I recently found a refreshing exception to this rule. It is a minimalist meditation timer called Transcendence and it is a masterclass in building software that actually respects the user.

While I did not build this app, checking out its feature set and privacy stance really made me appreciate the developer's approach to the architecture.

Here is why this local first approach caught my attention:

Strict Zero Telemetry
There is not a single analytics or advertising SDK in the app. No crash reporting tools sending metadata to third party servers. Everything happens strictly on the device. It proves that you do not actually need to harvest user data to build a highly functional utility.

Local Storage First
For daily habit tracking, the app logs streaks, session history, and personal notes. But instead of routing this through a backend database, all of this is written directly to local device storage. If a user opts for the premium tier, data syncs across devices using only their private iCloud account. The developer never sees a byte of it.

Mastering Background Execution
From an iOS development perspective, keeping a timer precise and firing audio chimes while the phone is locked and backgrounded is notoriously tricky. The OS aggressively kills background tasks to save battery. This app manages to handle background execution and interact perfectly with the hardware Silent switch without draining resources.

The Takeaway
It is nice to see software that does one thing exceptionally well and then simply gets out of the way. We as developers often default to spinning up a cloud database and adding analytics tracking before we even write the core logic.

Are any of you building local first applications right now? I would love to hear what stacks you are using to handle offline persistence.

DEV Community: Brent Vandy

Building software that respects the user: A look at privacy-first indie development

The beauty of zero telemetry software: A look at a truly local first meditation app