I think this is both the over-hiring effect from the last few years and a small bubble bursting from the rush to get on the AI train that a lot of companies have been on lately (Causing over spending in order to "grow" faster).
Also I think that at this point if someone worked for a company in the last 3 years the burnout is crazy and the productivity is getting lower so this kind of layoff can be a way to shake up the trees a little bit and make other employees "Wake up"
As others suggested, as a solo entrepreneur, I recommend not entering this process without a real justification.
I passed this SOC 2 type for my startup after securing a deal with a big client.
SOC 2 is an ongoing process that involves many documents and workflows you will need to implement in your company.
If your clients really insist on proof of security compliance, I will try to find a local PT authority to complete a one-time process with them to obtain this kind of report.
Hey there,
Thank you for your detailed interest in the app and my journey.
I don't have a dedicated space to write technical posts, but I am starting to consider doing so.
I am thinking of combining them in my small company website appitstudio.com
and writing general posts about my journey building my apps.
I can answer a few of your suggested topics here, and maybe I will createa full tech post also in the future :)
I use pure Swift with SwiftUI for all of my apps.
Before starting to work on my first app, DockFlow, I was developing web, Android, and iOS applications. This was my first time building a macOS application, so the learning process relied heavily on AI. However, my 15+ years of experience as a developer helped me use it as a tool to build faster, better software, rather than just vibe-coded apps with no planning.
I think what sets my apps apart is the quick solutions we offer with out-of-the-box thinking, fast support, taking our user feedback seriously, rapid updates, and release cycle (almost a version every week), and of course keeping our app permission-free / minimal optional accessibility permission for more "fun" features.
Regarding secure windowing flags, I hadn't considered that until now. Good suggestion, will be added to our road map :)
Tamadocky was built entirely for me XD. I plan to expand this feature in the future. Still, because this is a "fun" feature, I want to make ExtraDock very stable before adding more fun staff. The core must be robust and stable.
I know I didn't answer all the questions, but if you have a specific interest, feel free to ask, and I'll move forward with the writing tasks and share more details as you suggest on blog posts.
I don't think it will change much, and this will be one more thing to maintain. Without proper handling, I may miss good feedback.
This is a more complex topic than it seems.
Yes, the menu bar is a big issue.
So many useless icons and menus.
Because in macOS 26 it is easier to remove icons from the bar, I have added this "inline mode". A few users have already told me they removed everything and just put extra bar items, customized them however they want, so this makes it nicer.
I explore writing ideas using various LLM tools,
This helps me build the text structure and gather ideas and information in one place.
I review everything, of course, and this is not just an automated process.
Same for this post,
I am combining my own natural tone while keeping some segguestion, like this line, that has a super "Marketing feel," and for that, the "GPT tone" is noticeable.
But I think this is nice information to put in this post, so I kept it
All my replies are manually typed, and I use Grammarly to fix typos and improve sentence structure.
Maybe,
This has a lot of different opinions,
In SaaS, I can understand why you would give this trial version.
You can improve the onboarding and user progress tracking in the tunnel.
Making rapid updates and improving the onboarding process.
But for Mac apps that nothing is tracked or sent to my server, I have no idea what the user is doing or not doing with the app,
I can't roll out fast updates or even force users to get the newest version
So I won't be able to really improve it.
Maybe in my future Saas I will have some kind of trial.
But for now, I will stay with this model.
Anyway, thank you so much for the feedback,
Super appreciated!
Totally understand you!
I worked on 3 versions for a menu bar solution app.
This was so frustrating.
The first try was 5 months ago
Let me know if this helps you achieve your goal
Hey there,
This topic always pops up from time to time.
First, when I started building macOS apps, the extra work of building a trial mechanism was something I wanted to keep for later.
Today, my key management backend already supports that, and when a user personally asks for a trial key, I give it to them.
But from my experience, when someone has a free trial, 2 thing can happen:
1. Download and never use
2. Use a little bit, stop using it, and leave the app without buying it.
When someone pays for the app, they try it most of the time immediately.
He explores the app, finds issues, and, because he paid for it, will be much more involved, which will provide me with much more accurate feedback.
Also, if something is not working well for him, he writes me, and I benefit from these interactions with the users.
A lot of my improvements for my apps are based on "Refund talks"
Overall, the upsides outweigh the downsides.
I don't have many refunds, but when I do, it really helps me improve the app.
I already had users who asked for a refund, and a few versions later, the app improved based on their feedback, and they repurchased it.
I am sure that some users don't buy without trying,
And this is why I am super responsive to refund requests and handle them faster and without "playing games" with this topic.