Why we're building Juno
Small apps are worth building
A useful app can start with one person, one recurring problem or need, and a better way to handle it.
We keep thinking about all the apps people never build because the idea sounds too small.
An app that remembers which coffee you liked. A tailored workout tracker. A scorekeeper with the house rules your family & friends actually use.
These are apps that should exist precisely because someone finds them useful.
Small can be the whole point
Most app ideas get graded like startup pitches. How many people might use it? How does it grow? What is the business model?
When you're building for yourself, value is much simpler: does it make your day better?
A small app can fit one life unusually well. It can use your language, assume your habits, and leave out every option you never touch. The whole experience can focus on one recurring moment.
Some ideas should stay small:
- A packing list that understands the kinds of trips you actually take
- A garden log for the plants and seasons in your own yard
- A household inventory for filters, batteries, paint colors, and spare parts
- A simple tracker for a treatment, habit, or routine that is specific to you
Each one earns its place by being useful.
Start with the annoying part
The best small app ideas show up inside routines you already do the hard way.
Every Friday, we photograph the whiteboard in our workshop, type the unfinished jobs into Notes, and text three people to ask who owns each one.
That Friday routine gives us a clear place to start. The app needs to capture jobs, track ownership, and make sharing simple. We can learn the rest by using it.
If you want to find one of these ideas, pay attention to three things:
- What happened immediately before you reached for your phone?
- What information did you already have?
- What should be true thirty seconds later?
The answers become the first version of your app.
Build for one person first
Building for yourself removes a surprising amount of guesswork. You can tell whether a label makes sense by using it. You can notice that a button is in the wrong place while standing where the task actually happens. The feedback loop is immediate because you are the person with the problem.
Sharing can come later. The app may stay private, help a friend, or reveal a need that many people share. Any of those outcomes works.
This is a big part of why we're building Juno
The distance between "I wish this existed" and a working app is still too large. Even a tiny app idea can mean sitting down at a computer, choosing a stack, creating a project, and learning a collection of tools. If you want to share it, add Apple's $99-a-year Developer Program membership to the list.
We're building Juno to shorten that distance.
You should be able to notice a problem, describe what you need, and start shaping the app on the iPhone or iPad already in your hand. You should be able to use it, find the awkward parts, and keep changing it until it fits.
Small apps deserve to exist. We want Juno to help more of them become real.