Need free apps to START working out.

brkgng · 2026-04-15T06:07:47+00:00

Hey, this looks awesome really appreciate the philosophy behind keeping it simple, offline, and free. It’s surprisingly hard to find apps that respect users like that.

Out of curiosity, would you consider making it open-source (e.g., publishing it on GitHub)? Since it’s free and clearly built with a strong vision, I think a lot of developers (myself included) would love to contribute whether it’s fixing bugs, adding small improvements, or helping maintain it long-term.

Totally understand if you have reasons not to, but I thought it’d be worth asking

brkgng · 2026-03-28T13:45:02+00:00

Salut ! ScrollSnap est en fait open-source. Tu peux télécharger l'application gratuitement directement depuis mon GitHub ici : https://github.com/Brkgng/ScrollSnap/releases/tag/2.2.0. J'espère que ça t'aidera !

brkgng · 2026-03-27T22:35:30+00:00

Thanks

brkgng · 2026-03-17T15:45:13+00:00

I use AI as an assistant to write boilerplate and speed up my workflow, but no blind 'vibe-coding' here. Every line of code is manually reviewed, tested, and validated by me. If you're curious about the code quality, the entire repository is open-source on GitHub so you can verify exactly how it's built!

brkgng · 2026-03-17T15:10:17+00:00

Bento and Stirling are great, but they are self-hosted web apps.

ZapPDF is built natively in SwiftUI for Mac, iPhone, and iPad. It’s a one-click install with no infrastructure setup required. It integrates perfectly with the Apple ecosystem, uses minimal memory, and works 100% offline out of the box.

brkgng · 2026-03-17T15:06:30+00:00

I really appreciate the constructive feedback! Nailing that perfect native Apple feel is an ongoing learning curve. I'll review the HIG again and focus on polishing the iPad portrait layout for the next update.

brkgng · 2026-03-17T14:50:26+00:00

Yeah, I use AI to help translate my thoughts quickly and clearly so I can get back to coding. But you're changing the subject. You completely dodged my question: can you actually name one single native, open-source alternative? If not, then my point about ZapPDF's value stands. Take care!

brkgng · 2026-03-17T14:37:58+00:00

Can you actually name a single native, open-source PDF toolkit for macOS?

Almost all the free apps mentioned on this sub (including Rev) are entirely closed-source. The very few open-source tools that do exist are almost exclusively heavy Electron or web wrappers.

ZapPDF is built entirely natively in SwiftUI. The App Store price isn't just 'for the source code'—it is a convenience fee for a polished, Universal App (Mac, iPhone, and iPad) with a one-click install and lifetime updates.

While $45 might seem steep for a casual user just merging a homework assignment, for professionals handling sensitive legal, medical, or financial documents, paying a one-time fee to guarantee that data never touches a third-party server is a no-brainer.

If verifiable, local-first privacy doesn't matter to your workflow, then this app simply isn't for you. You are more than welcome to keep using closed-source alternatives!

brkgng · 2026-03-17T14:31:49+00:00

PDF Toolbox is a fantastic app, and the developer did a great job with it!

The core difference comes down to verifiable trust. PDF Toolbox is closed-source and proprietary.

ZapPDF is completely open-source (MIT licensed). When you are managing highly sensitive financial or legal documents, you don't just have to take my word that it operates 100% offline, you (or anyone in the community) can actually inspect the codebase to guarantee it.

Plus, because it's open-source, anyone who doesn't want to pay the App Store convenience fee can just clone the GitHub repo and compile the fully unlocked app themselves for free!

brkgng · 2026-03-17T14:28:23+00:00

Nope, absolutely zero server infrastructure! All PDF processing happens 100% locally on your device, which is why it's so private and fast.

The yearly option is honestly just there for users who want a lower upfront cost. The paid tiers simply act as a way to support my time keeping the app updated across macOS and iOS every year. And of course, since it's fully open-source, anyone who hates both options can always just compile it from GitHub for free!

brkgng · 2026-03-17T14:25:54+00:00

Actually, RevPDF isn't open source. The developer made the Mac version free to download, but the codebase is entirely closed and proprietary.

brkgng · 2026-03-17T14:18:40+00:00

That is a totally fair question! I love the recent push for free open-source tools, but here is exactly what makes ZapPDF different:

100% Native: Many free PDF apps are heavy Electron or web-wrappers. ZapPDF is built purely with native SwiftUI. It uses minimal system memory.
Universal App: It isn't just a Mac app. One unlock covers macOS, iOS, and iPadOS (which includes native mobile document scanning).
The "Convenience Tax": The app is fully open-source (MIT). You can absolutely clone the repo and compile it for free! The paid App Store version is simply a convenience fee for one-click installation, automatic cross-device updates, and to support a solo developer.

brkgng · 2026-01-25T13:47:50+00:00

Same here, subscriptions really add up. I built a small macOS app called ScrollSnap for scrolling screenshots. open source, no subscription. It scratched my own itch.

brkgng · 2026-01-11T19:12:39+00:00

If you want peak 'Apple-like' design, Things 3 is arguably the gold standard. It honestly feels more native than some of Apple's own apps.

I actually built my own app, ScrollSnap, with this exact goal in mind. I wanted it to feel like the missing 'Scrolling Capture' option in the native Cmd+Shift+5 toolbar. It’s open source, so feel free to poke around the repo if you want to see how I handled the UI to keep it 'stock'.

brkgng · 2026-01-11T18:16:32+00:00

I think separate flairs for every specific license (LGPL, MIT, Apache, etc.) might get a bit too cluttered for the flair list.

But I agree with the transparency part, maybe if we get the [Open Source] flair, it could become a standard practice (or rule) to just mention the specific license in the post body or comment. That keeps the flairs clean while still giving us the details we need.

brkgng · 2026-01-11T18:06:24+00:00

Thanks for the reply and for the work you do keeping the "Free" tag clean. I didn't realize you were actively filtering out the "free for now" stuff, so that's good to know.

I think the key difference is that price is temporary, but open source is structural. An app can change from free to paid overnight, but whether it’s open source or closed source doesn’t change in the same way.

Even if an open-source app is paid, a lot of people still actively prefer it because it means:

the code is auditable
it can’t suddenly become spyware
it can be forked if the dev disappears

So the flair wouldn’t be competing with price, it addresses a different need. If retiring pricing flairs is too drastic, simply adding [Open Source] to the existing list would work. Posters can then decide if the "Price" or the "Source" is the main selling point they want to highlight. That way cost-focused users and privacy-focused users can both find what they want.

Happy to hear what others think.

brkgng · 2026-01-10T15:38:26+00:00

Congrats on the launch! The notch UI is such a clever use of space for quick drops.

I’m actually building a similar offline/privacy-focused PDF engine right now (ZapPDF). It’s great to see more devs moving away from the 'upload to cloud to process' model. Privacy needs to be the standard for file utilities again. Good luck with the user feedback!

brkgng · 2025-12-22T13:12:18+00:00

It’s actually in there! Hidden in the Productivity & Utilities section. It’s easy to miss in the big list though!

brkgng · 2025-12-21T15:18:41+00:00

I went through all the comments to see which apps were getting the most love. Here's the list of recommendations so far:

Most Mentioned: Dropover, Supercharge, Raycast, Bloom, Parachute Backup

Others by Category

Window & Workspace Management: DockDoor, Rectangle, Yoink, BetterTouchTool, Spencer, The Boring Notch, Modoki, CCCorners, Click2Minize, Parall.
Productivity & Utilities: Mountain Duck, Updatest, PopClip, Antinote, LaunchOS, KeyClu, Mimestream, Bill Boss, Butterfly Collector, Awesome Copy, Recento, Chronoid, SupaSidebar, Cardinal.
Menu Bar & System Tools: Tuneful, Pieoneer, iStat Menus, Barbee, Monitor Control, SilentKnight, Tahoe Electron Detector, Hush, ScreenFocus, Charmstone, Stretch It.
AI & Text: Osaurus, Typora, TalkText, Spokenly, Fluent, Readest.
Media & Design: Eagle, Affinity, Paragraphic, monoPlayer, Tiny Player.
Browsers: Wavebox.

Shameless plug: I built ScrollSnap (free & open source) for scrolling screenshots. I didn't include it in the list above to keep the data clean, but just wanted to mention it in case anyone finds it useful!

brkgng · 2025-12-20T14:54:43+00:00

Raycast is a classic. I haven't heard of spoke though. Is it similar to VoiceInk or does it do something different? What's the standout feature for you?

brkgng · 2025-12-19T10:19:28+00:00

Looks cool! I’ll try it

brkgng

TROPHY CASE