Are local and simple apps the future of coding?

We all thought AI was going to replace developers, big corpos would have only a handful of coders in their staff to guide their agents and keep making their apps bigger and wider. But what if the future is different?

An undeniable truth: AI is a powerful tool for developers that can cut development time in more than half and make tiny but repetitive tasks a thing of the past. That means anyone can develop an app in days when normally it would take months.

In the last few years, we’ve seen the arrival of the so-called super apps. Apps that have everything in them, SAAS that does as much for you as possible. The problem? They’re normally not curated for individuals but rather a global user base. Users end up paying a costly subscription every month, for an app that isn’t tailored for them and subjected to whatever direction the company decides to steer the app to.

Enter programmers and AI. For a fraction of the price, programmers will soon be able to create the same app but this time tailored to specific users. Very local, very customised. Think of all the apps people could use day to day that don’t even need to be connected to the internet, just solve the specific problems a user has.

I recently encountered a similar situation. A small restaurant needed a simple app to manage shifts for employees. They were using an Excel sheet that had to be copy/pasted every week, changed line by line, didn’t have global states, etc. It worked for them for some time, but it was making something quite simple a huge task and the owner of the restaurant is getting older and starting to struggle with technology. In a few days, I was able to build a windows app with Electron fully customised for them that solved all of their pain-points and peculiarities. Now they do in a few clicks what normally would take them hours. The app isn’t connected to the internet, it doesn’t need to. It’s fully local, easy to use and catered to them. Last I heard from them, they were considering asking me for other apps for similar tasks.

Now, I want you to grab my hand and go with me on a bit of a wild walk. I’d like to show you how far we could go.

Paired with web3, the paradigm could switch completely from global gatekeepers to hyper-local interfaces that depend on super protocols-anyone has access to.

Let’s look at an example: Spotify. Right now, as a Spotify user, you’re bound to their interface, their songs, whatever they decide to do with them, their beef with artists, etc. Want a dashboard that shows how many Rosalia songs you’ve listened to this year? Can’t have it. A shuffle button with your own preferences? Nope, can’t do. No freedom, no power.

With AI and web3, you could build an app entirely designed for you or a client, with any button, list, feature you want, that depends on a system that is entirely on the blockchain and not owned by a single company. Everybody wins: users love their highly customised app, the internet is happy and probably artists would largely benefit from it too.

I know that’s a big jump, but it’s just an example of what this could look like in a few years. Right now what’s certain is that we already have the possibility to create apps that are fully customised and tailored for clients and users

Surely an interesting future. And while we can’t pretend to know what’s truly going to happen (no, Chad, you don’t know for sure AI is going to take over the world), we can prepare in case our forecast comes true.

So, if you have a local super customised app you’d like to have built, why don’t you message me and we can have a little chat. I can build apps for Windows, web, android…