After years of mobile development, one of the most annoying parts of my daily workflow is jumping between scattered tool websites.
Finding image assets means digging through folders layer by layer — SVG and Lottie need separate preview tools. Converting or compressing images means uploading to online converters. Debugging APIs means opening a JSON formatter. Inspecting an APK means yet another dedicated site. By the end of the day I have a dozen tabs open, constantly context-switching. Worse, many online tools require file uploads — internal project assets and unreleased builds always feel risky.
When things slowed down recently, I built a pure-frontend, all-in-one toolbox for the tasks I reach for every day. I call it AppForge. Core features run locally in the browser — files never leave your machine.
Resource Preview: find one icon in 2,870 files
This was the first module I built — and the one I use most — because it hits a daily pain point for our 40-person app team.
One project scan surfaces 2,870 resource files. Search close and you get 80+ near-identical close icons: inconsistent names, scattered paths, zero discipline. Can I push the whole team to clean this up overnight? Honestly, no.
But one missing asset blocks your whole flow. My take is simple: if I can't fix the mess, I can at least find what I need in seconds.
Select a local project folder — AppForge scans everything and recognizes SVG, WebP, PNG, GIF, Lottie, Vector, Iconfont, and more. The screenshot shows it in action: search close, filter Vector, 81 matches with instant preview and full paths. No Finder spelunking, no guessing the rest of the filename.
Results cache locally — reopen and you're ready. Onboarding legacy projects, auditing duplicate assets, or chasing "that little X close icon" — what used to take minutes now takes seconds.
File Conversion: image processing in one place
After finding assets comes format work: SVG → PNG for multi-platform, PNG → WebP for smaller bundles, HEIC → common formats, occasional background removal for marketing assets.
Instead of design software or multiple upload sites, the convert module handles format conversion, smart compression, and background removal — all locally. Drop files in, download results.
APK Inspector: unpack locally
Android devs regularly need to inspect APKs: competitor package names and versions, signatures and permissions, icons and resources.
Drag an APK into AppForge to view package info, Manifest, permissions, components, and export internal assets. Need decompilation? One click to JADX.
Image OCR: copy text from screenshots
Stack traces, design copy, code snippets in docs — often trapped in screenshots. The OCR module runs locally, supports Chinese and English, batch processing, one-click copy. Files stay on your machine.
Mini Tools: no more bookmark clutter
JSON formatting, Base64 / URL / Unicode encode-decode, regex testing, timestamp conversion — small but essential. Built-in presets for email, phone, ID, IP, and more.
AI-Curated Tech Articles: skip the noise
Another big pain point. As a mobile developer I skim tons of tech content daily — most of it is fluff, reposts, or clickbait.
The AI-curated articles section pulls candidates from DEV and Hacker News, scores each post with an LLM, and keeps only high-quality picks. Updated daily with cumulative history — past picks aren't wiped each run. Browse by category in Chinese or English — like having someone pre-filter for you.
Open APIs: quick reference for demos
Building a small demo often means hunting for free APIs, testing endpoints, bookmarking docs. I curated common APIs by category with sample calls — look up when you need them.
Why I built it this way
Simple goal: make my own workflow smoother.
- Local-first: sensitive project assets and builds stay in the browser
- Zero friction: no signup, no desktop install — just open and use
- Real scenarios: every feature comes from actual daily pain points
Built with React 19 + Vite 8 + Tailwind CSS 4, deployed on Cloudflare Pages, with lazy loading, caching, and bilingual UI.
Started as a personal toolbox — after using it for a while I polished it for others. If you're a mobile developer tired of scattered tools, give it a try.
What's missing from your dev workstation? Share the tools and workflow tricks you can't live without in the comments — let's swap notes and level up together.
👉 Try it now: https://appforge-7tw.pages.dev
AppForge — AI-curated reads and dev tools at your fingertips, all-in-one.
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