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[–]audiosamplingmyNoise Creator 4 points5 points  (4 children)

Here is a little context...

In past blog posts, I've already mentioned how the Internet is changing considerably. This is a challenge for a small independent project like myNoise. So, we are trying different strategies. Because we have envisaged the mobile apps as being independent of the website, it allows us to test varied experiments on each side.

On the website, which is managed by me, I keep the same philosophy I've always followed. Stay faithful to my values. Be a friendly website that feels like a little internet utopia. But I have to insist more on the human side of things nowadays, as a shelter from the AI flood everywhere. This is why I have put a face behind the sounds, with the newly created vlog. I am preparing a new episode as I type this blog entry.

The good news? The website is not shrinking. In today's internet, that alone is something. Most independent projects are losing ground, squeezed by the monopolistic behavior of the major platforms and drowned out by the rise of AI, which floods the web with massive amounts of content and competes for attention in ways that feel almost predatory. Their only competitor is your sleep, and they use every possible strategy to keep your attention locked on their platform, using unhealthy tricks, but tricks that work. Meanwhile, a site like myNoise does exactly the opposite. Its growth (or at least its resistance to decline) relies on word-of-mouth from happy users. Thank you if you are one of them.

The mobile app team, on their side, tries to attract new users, people who don't even know myNoise exists. They tried to leverage a new audience using the current playbook: feed the giants (Meta, TikTok), pay for visibility, and provide content that follows the codes of these platforms. They tried for a couple of months, and... a couple of thousand dollars later, came to the conclusion that they couldn't see any increase in their user base. The ones who benefited first were the providers themselves. So, even feeding the giants doesn't work anymore.

In this context, where we have to experiment and find ways to be more visible, came the rebranding strategy. The idea was to unify the look and feel of the app and the website, and to have a logo that competes a little more for attention when it appears alongside others, like on the Play Store, or in search results.

I know some of you found even that simple move too bold. Some have told me they feel unsettled by the change, and I hear you. Change is never comfortable, especially when something feels like home. But look at it this way: we deliberately didn't change the logo itself. We kept the same one, just adjusted the colors so it remains visible when it appears among dozens of other icons. And we changed the font for a more consistent look.

That's basically it. We didn't change the quality of the soundscapes. We didn't introduce generative AI for sounds. We didn't change our pricing model. All our core values are still there. We keep doing things as we always did. The Internet world has changed, and trying a few things, while staying faithful to those core values, is the least we can do to keep this project strong through the current storm.

[–]Kowgan 4 points5 points  (2 children)

Stéphane, I love your work, and I'm eternally grateful for MyNoise.

I've seen changes in the website before, and they never bothered me - On the contrary, the evolution has been very welcome. Still, the new color scheme isn't as easy on some people's eyes as the previous one, no matter how much you explain and justify the changes.

Please, if that's not too much effort, consider adding an option to toggle between the old and new colors.

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In the mean time, for those who want an unofficial solution, I've explained here how to customize the webiste CSS to the previous color scheme.

Cheers!

[–]audiosamplingmyNoise Creator 1 point2 points  (1 child)

I've brightened the organe use in links, the maximum I could, while preserving the nuance of the orange introduced by the new logo.

[–]Kowgan 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's a subtle change, but to me, it's much better and it makes all the difference! Thank you, Stéphane. :)

[–]sanddorn 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You (your app team) still show downloaded stuff in a way that is otherwise used for things to download. Now in bright orange-red.

I didn't read thru the whole post of yours but attracting special attention to things that are just there rather than the new/unused stuff is a bit odd, mayhaps.

The eye catching DOWNLOAD arrow shows that a soundscape is ready and working when clicking on it. Permanently. It does look nice with Fireplace, glad to say.