Romateslax

I talked to Andy from Not Boring Software about the story behind his apps you probably know and use, !Weather, !Camera, !Calculator, etc.

The fun part is that all of the apps are built using a 3D rendering engine SceneKit with 3D assets made in Blender, basically designing and building apps like games. I was super impressed by that.

Hope you learn something fun from it too!

Hey hackers,

After talking to 30 makers and founders, I'm excited to introduce App Stacks to you all!

Stories behind the most beautifully crafted apps ‒ told by the founders & makers themselves.

We're kicking off with a legendary lineup: Klack by Henrik Ruscon, Bump by Amo, Abode by Joseph Smith, Kinopio by Pirijan, Joi by Alexey Sekachov, Experiments by Easlo, Supernotesapp by Tobias Whetton,Cakedesk by Max Schmitt, and Queue by Eike Drescher.

More inspiring stories will be released in the coming days and weeks, including Framer, Craft, Retro, Fey, Uneed, & more.

I believe these stories are deeply inspiring and are worth sharing.

Check it out and let me know what you think!

Hey there, thanks a lot for this comment! Indeed an interesting use case to add to my list :)

To comment on the points you mentioned: Great to hear you're looking for a proposal/invoice solution. Hour tracking is not currently built as a feature, as for now it's a web-based application and I have a feeling time tracking needs to be closer integrated into the system, so that it's quicker to access. So it has to be a desktop app imo, which I am exploring for the future. What will be available right away is an easy way to set an estimate in the proposal and then update the project with the actual hours when the project is complete. But this is great feedback and I'll do my best to cover your use case.

The whole idea with payments is to make it as easy as possible for the client to pay. I've experienced late payments multiple times myself, so a built-in solution with multiple payment options should be a no-brainer for the client. The payments are done using Stripe - they're the most reliable player on the market. As the client makes the payment, it goes directly to the freelancer. There're definitely many edge cases that I hope to cover during the beta phase.

I also believe subscriptions could be a popular feature. You could use it for retainers, as you mentioned, or run productized services, which are pretty popular these days. So offering fixed packages and fixed timelines. And the coolest thing is that the payments are collected automatically, so not you or the client need to worry about it.

Deliverables is just a cherry on top. I know it's not applicable for everyone but doesn't hurt to have it :)

Thanks again for this feedback and looking forward to hearing your thoughts again once you try it yourself!

Upwork charges freelancers 10-20%, depending on the total earnings, and clients - 5%, Fiver charges freelancers 5-20% and clients - 5%, If I remember correctly. And yes, they do bring you clients, so higher fee some what makes sense. Portal at the initial stage is designed for freelancers that do get inquiries from their network and other places.

Appreciate it!

I get that, it's always a challenge to trust a new product, especially when it comes to money. All the payments are done using stripe. Each user creates a connected Stripe account as part of the onboarding, accessible from Portal. When a payment is made, it goes directly to the user's Stripe account, and from there paid out to the selected bank account.

I'm aiming to build this as safe as possible, but that's why I'm planning to have a soft launch with the beta list to see if all the edge cases are covered.

Thanks for the great feedback and totally get where you're coming from!

Pricing is definitely not set in stone and will likely be adapted based on the feedback. My starting point is all the freelance platforms out there that take up to 20% in some cases. So I thought 1% is a good start, especially considering the fact that even payment processing fees are usually higher. But you're making a great point, it shouldn't feel like you're paying too much, so capping the fee is a good idea :)

Hey hackers,

Roman here, maker of Portal

As a product designer myself I always felt that the whole freelancing process of sending proposals, collecting payments, transferring deliverables was way too convoluted and hideous.

So I got this ideas for Portal - a digital space for your freelance project that replaces PDF proposals and invoices, and allows you to easily collect payments, down payments, tips, run subscriptions and share large deliverables easily and in one place. There's a heavy focus on customization, so that you as a creative freelancer can express your skill and your taste.

I'm building Portal primary for creative professionals like me, but either way, whether you're one or not, I'd love to hear your opinion.

Also worth mentioning, the waitlist is there only to allow people request early access while I'm polishing the final details. The app itself will be available within the next couple of weeks :)

Thanks a lot!

Focusing on the initial traction for the next couple of weeks or so, then will start adding features again. This one so far is number 1 on the list :)

Hey Hackers

Super excited to share Droppable!

Here's a quick overview of what it does: Droppable is a little native macOS application for large file sharing (up to 2TB), with a messenger-style UI and imported contacts. It makes sending files quicker and more efficiently compared to existing alternatives out there(like WeTransfer of Dropbox Transfer). It's designed for creatives, like photographers and videographers, for whom sending large transfers is a repetitive daily business.

Droppable was built entirely with SwiftUI to perfectly fit your macOS experience. We've been heavily inspired by Raycast and Craft, which are native apps. That's the level of craftsmanship we aim to achieve.

If it sounds interesting, feel free to give it a try for free. Would love to hear what you guys think.