I built an app where you send pebbles to people you love

YJ — Sun, 22 Mar 2026 13:54:58 +0000

Penguins have this social ritual where they find the smoothest pebble on the beach and gift it. It's simple, earnest, kind of ridiculous — and genuinely one of the sweetest things in nature.
I built a web app around that idea. It's called Trinkt.

Why I built this

I got tired of the way we "stay in touch" online. You scroll a feed, maybe drop a like, maybe leave a comment — but none of it actually feels like reaching out to someone. It's broadcasting, not connecting.
I wanted something that felt more like a text from a close friend, or leaving a note on someone's desk. Something small, intentional, and private. Not content. Not a post. Just a quiet way to say "hey, I thought of you today."
That's Trinkt. No follower counts. No public profiles. No feed. You pick a friend, you send them a pebble. They know you were thinking of them. That's the whole product.

How it works

Every day you get 3 unique procedural art tokens. Pick one, send it to a friend with an optional 50-character message. No likes, no feeds, no algorithm. Just: "I saw this and thought of you."

Privacy by default

Social apps love hoarding data. Trinkt does the opposite:

No public profiles. Your collection is yours. Nobody can browse it.
No analytics on your relationships. We don't track who you send to most, or score your friendships.
No read receipts pressure. Recipients can react if they want. Or not. No "seen" timestamps.
Full data export. One button, JSON file, everything you've ever sent or received. Your data is yours.
Account deletion actually deletes. Not "deactivation." Gone. I built this for my girlfriend and my closest friends. I wouldn't ship something I'd be uncomfortable having them use.

Things I'm proud of

The art is procedural

Every trinkt is unique, generated from layered SVG patterns with seeded randomness. No AI API, no cost per generation, instant.

The mosaic

Your received trinkts float in a drift view with real collision physics — they bounce off each other and the walls. Completely unnecessary. Love it.

Simple mode

One toggle strips away streaks, rarity badges, and gamification. Not everyone wants to be "engaged." Some people just want to send art to their friends. Respect that.

Trinkt isn't trying to be a platform. It's not trying to grow. It's a pebble on a beach — small, smooth, meant for one person.
If that sounds like your kind of thing, I'd genuinely love to hear what you think.

Trinkt — Connect with people, not algorithms

A different take on staying connected. Send tiny gifts to friends.

trinkt.co

DEV Community: YJ