Life after Automattic: Week 8

Previously on Life after Automattic: back in October, I took an alignment offer because I disagreed with Automattic's direction. I received a generous six-month severance and took a sabbatical to work on personal projects and explore what to do next. Read more in parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7.

Last week, I hit the wall.

There were two reasons. First, I've been struggling with what I would call a lot of internal stress. I want this paid sabbatical to have purpose and meaning, and every second not working and being productive feels like a waste of time.

It's completely irrational, I know. The primary purpose of this time off should be to refresh and rest, but my mind is having a tough time doing so.

The second reason is Endgame's launch.

After months of development and weeks of App Store bureaucracy, I finally released my death countdown app last week 🎉

Working on something for a long time creates big expectations. When I pressed the launch button on the App Store, I expected people to start dancing in the streets, peace treaties to be signed around the globe, and solutions to both hunger and poverty to be implemented.

Instead, nothing much happened. The app still hasn't reached 100 downloads. It's a bummer.

It's increasingly difficult to launch anything these days. Algorithms oppose any form of self-promotion on social media. My original Instagram announcement story didn't get any views for hours, and the likes on my Facebook posts are laughably low. It's also not in my nature to shout and get attention for something I created. I'm not good at it, and things get awkward pretty fast.

Maybe it's the idea. Perhaps it's good enough for a giggle but not enough to download. Maybe the idea became too big, and I should've kept it purer. Adding more features is an easy trap to fall into, and even though I said no to many ideas, maybe I still crammed too much inside.

On the positive, the direct feedback I've received from several people was generally very positive, and I'm delighted that the percentage of users buying the $1 upgrade to Premium is high.

It would probably be wise to stop pouring energy into Endgame, but I'm having a lot of fun building it. Even though it's pretty clear now that it won't make me rich, it's an excellent portfolio project.

Both reasons made me question my sabbatical and drained my energy. They even made me wonder if I have failed at whatever I want to achieve during these months without A Real Job™, and it's time I start looking around.

However, I quickly realized that I'd been paid generously and have been given this time and that, however cliché it may sound, the voyage is more important than the destination. Even if my expectations, which I hold myself accountable to, aren't being met, I'm learning and growing.

All's good. Let's go.

That intro was a bit longer than expected. So, what did I do last week?

🏁 Endgame

After the disappointing launch, I started working on version 1.1, which has one significant feature that brings Endgame to the home screen: widgets.

Besides the widget, there's a sleep left stat, which connects to your HealthKit sleep data of the past week (if available), and a stat that shows how many menstrual cycles you've left if it applies to you.

And Android users rejoice: an Android version (with Health Connect sync) is in the works.

Version 1.1 can be downloaded from the App Store today.

Besides working on the Android version, I will try to do more marketing on Endgame this week, and I hope to double the downloads.

📝 Lijsje

Lijsje took a backseat while I focused on Endgame, though it's still growing steadily with over 60 new lists created on peak days — which is wild.

This week, I plan to implement sub-lists / sections. Because you often make one big list for everyone in your household, and not being able to add sections to such list is a roadblock.

Misc

• To relieve myself of the internal pressure, I didn't work on Friday 🎉 My girlfriend and I went to the city and visited the Antwerp sewers. I've wanted to do it for some time now, and it was fun. We were given a tablet and headphones, and at every stop along the way, we had to see a video that told us a bit of history. The videos were underwhelming, so if you ever want to do this, take a proper guide and not a tablet.

• Afterward, we had a lovely lunch at Cannolo. It was delicious. I highly recommend it if you like Italian food other than pizza or pasta.
• If you like a long read about why React might not be the best option for anything, read this: If Not React, Then What? I don't agree with some things in it (I think RN will still give you a more native app than an HTML wrapper), but the author makes some very valid points.
• I ordered new keycaps for my keyboard ⌨️ I've been keeping an eye on that color scheme for over a year now, but it was always sold out.
• As for AI-assisted code editors, I keep switching between Windsurf and Cursor. They are very alike in capabilities, and last week, Cursor added an agentic feature (still not as good as Windsurf's), and Windsurf added image uploads. It's like they're bunny-hopping constantly. Right now, I get the best results with Windsurf.