The latest articles on DEV Community by Hamza (@hamzapowerplayer). https://dev.to/hamzapowerplayer https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F4057714%2F5d5ffe98-5af1-4164-a934-a1789ab2e5c3.png https://dev.to/hamzapowerplayer en Hamza Sat, 01 Aug 2026 08:59:28 +0000 https://dev.to/hamzapowerplayer/i-lost-money-to-forgotten-subscriptions-so-i-built-an-offline-first-android-tracker-solo-no-24l3 https://dev.to/hamzapowerplayer/i-lost-money-to-forgotten-subscriptions-so-i-built-an-offline-first-android-tracker-solo-no-24l3 <p>Not going to open with a pitch — just want to share something I've been building on my own.</p> <h2> The problem </h2> <p>A few months back I checked my bank statement and found I was still being charged for two apps I'd completely forgotten about. Nothing huge, but it bugged me enough to go looking for a subscription tracker.</p> <p>Every option I found wanted one of three things: create an account, connect my bank, or sync everything to a server — for something as simple as "remind me before this renews." That felt like a lot of trust to ask for, for a fairly small utility.</p> <h2> What I built </h2> <p>Subsight is an Android app that runs 100% offline. No sign-up, no bank linking, nothing leaves the device. You add what you're paying for (there's a quick-add list for common services like Netflix and Spotify), and it tracks renewals, flags price hikes, and breaks down what you're actually spending monthly vs yearly.</p> <p>A few things I focused on that most trackers skip:</p> <ul> <li> <strong>Duplicate detection</strong> — warns you if you're about to add a subscription you're already tracking</li> <li> <strong>Overlap detection</strong> — flags when you're paying for two services in the same category (two note apps, two music services, etc.)</li> <li> <strong>Everything computed locally</strong> — since nothing syncs anywhere, there's genuinely nothing to leak</li> </ul> <h2> Why offline instead of cloud-synced </h2> <p>This was a deliberate trade-off, not a limitation I'm excusing. Building a backend means auth, a database, security review, uptime, and a much bigger attack surface for what is fundamentally personal financial data. Going fully local meant I could ship faster as a solo dev <em>and</em> make a stronger privacy claim than a hosted competitor honestly could. The trade-off is no multi-device sync — for a v1, I was fine with that.</p> <h2> Where it's at </h2> <p>It's live on the Play Store, free while I grow it (not a trial — actually free, no hidden paywall in the launch). Built solo, so I'm sure there are rough edges.</p> <p>If you try it, I'd genuinely appreciate blunt feedback — what's confusing, what's missing, what would make you keep it installed instead of deleting it in a week.</p> <p>Play Store: [<a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.hamzapowerplayer.Subsight" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.hamzapowerplayer.Subsight</a>]</p> <p>Happy to go deeper on any of the technical or product decisions in the comments.</p> androiddev buildinpublic privacy indiehackers