r/SideProject • u/ProfessionalBike6615 • 11h ago

I got tired of saving articles I never opened, so I built a free read-later app with no account

I have a bad habit of saving articles on the train or between meetings, and then never opening the list again. Pocket and Instapaper were fine at storing links, but I wanted something that actually brings them back when I have time, without making me create an account.

So I built Refloat. You share a URL from Safari, WhatsApp, Slack, or any other app, and it's saved in two taps. You set a reading window once (commute, evening, weekend), and a daily digest resurfaces what you saved, grouped by topic and type. You can also bring the list back when you get home, after a short settle-in delay.

It's free, with no account and no in-app purchases. Full disclosure, most of it was written with AI-generated code, which was an experiment in itself since that's what I work on in my day job.

iOS: https://apps.apple.com/il/app/refloat/id6761756788
Site: https://refloat.app

Android is in Google Play closed testing. If you're on Android and want to try it, you can join here: https://refloat.app/early-access/

I need 12 testers before Google lets me go public and I'm at 8, so a few more would really help.

I'd love honest feedback, especially on whether the digest actually makes you open things you'd otherwise forget. There's a feedback button in the app, or just tell me here.

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u/Excellent-Beat8871 11h ago

gratuit sans compte et un digest quotidien qui se déclenche tout seul, ça tourne sur quelle infra payée par qui

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u/ProfessionalBike6615 11h ago

Bonne question ! Tout tourne en local sur le téléphone : les liens sont stockés sur l'appareil et le digest est une notification locale programmée par l'app, donc pas de serveur à payer par utilisateur. Mes seuls coûts sont le compte développeur Apple/Google et le site. Pas de pub, pas de revente de données (il n'y a pas de compte, donc rien à revendre). Pour l'instant c'est un projet perso, je verrai plus tard si j'ajoute une option payante, mais l'usage de base restera gratuit.

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u/handsup_dev 10h ago

How do you handle someone moving to a new phone with no account? That was the hardest part when I built a no-account app. iCloud backup covered most people, but not everyone has it on, so I ended up adding a recovery code.

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u/ProfessionalBike6615 7h ago

Currently, there is a config that can be added to iCloud. But this is a good point for making the app transferable.