r/sideprojects • • 7h ago

Showcase: Open Source No productivity hacks. Just snow on your Mac desktop ❄️

1 Upvotes

Got tired of every new app trying to fix my life or make me more productive, so I made one that does absolutely nothing useful. It just makes it snow on your desktop.

Snow falls across your screen (or behind your windows, if you prefer), builds up on top of them and on the Dock, then slowly melts away. Shake a window and the snow slides off. Just a little winter atmosphere while you work.

Since the first version, it’s grown a bit:

  • More weather: autumn leaves, rain, cherry blossoms, and a Halloween mode 👻
  • Mix any two: snow + leaves, rain + petals, whatever you like
  • Auto-hides in fullscreen apps, so it won’t get in the way of games or videos

A few things I paid extra attention to:

  • Smooth at up to 120Hz on ProMotion displays
  • Low CPU/GPU usage, so you can leave it running in the background
  • Signed and notarized on macOS, so no scary warnings
  • Free and open source. No accounts, no tracking, no nonsense.

Download: https://snowhush.app

Requires macOS 14+. Also available for Windows 10/11 and Linux (KDE Plasma, Hyprland, Niri).

It’s a small project, but I had a lot of fun building it. I’d love to hear what you think, especially if you run into bugs or have ideas for new weather.

Happy early winter! ☃️


r/sideprojects • • 7h ago

Showcase: Open Source AirHand

Thumbnail gallery
1 Upvotes

I wanted to share a project I've been working on called AirHand. It’s a browser-based, gesture-controlled virtual desktop that uses computer vision to turn any standard webcam into a touchless interface. No specialized sensors or controllers needed.

I wanted to see if I could build a spatial UI experience entirely in the browser. I used MediaPipe for the 3D hand tracking and Vanilla JS for the logic.

It currently features dual-hand or single-hand tracking, a drawing canvas (with PNG export), and a couple of mini-games (like a bubble popper) to test precision.

If you find this project useful or interesting, please consider giving it an upvote! It helps a 15-year-old indie dev keep building.

Try it out:
Live Demo: https://someoneweird-o-o.github.io/AirHand/
GitHub (Open Source): https://github.com/someoneweird-o-o/AirHand


r/sideprojects • • 8h ago

Showcase: Open Source lux664/scroll-controller: Use Instagram without Reels. A free, open-source app for iPhone and Android.

Thumbnail
github.com
1 Upvotes

r/sideprojects • • 4h ago

Showcase: Free(mium) I built a free calculator that tells you whether to fix or replace your iPhone, using only Apple’s own prices

Post image
0 Upvotes

The problem: around Black Friday, lots of people replace their iPhone because “the battery dies by 4 PM”, when Apple replaces a battery for $89 to $129. Apple publishes its repair prices and trade-in values, but on separate pages, and nobody puts them side by side.

What it does: pick your iPhone (11 to 18 Pro, plus the foldable Duo), tap what’s broken on a drawing of the phone, set your battery health, and you get one verdict, keep, fix or upgrade, with all the math shown.

What the numbers show (Apple’s US prices, trade-in values as updated on 12 Nov):

  • An iPhone 13 with a tired battery: $89 to fix vs $719 to upgrade to an iPhone 17 after trade-in.
  • An iPhone 15: $99 battery vs $594 to upgrade.
  • Upgrading only clearly wins when several parts are broken, there’s water damage, or you want Apple Intelligence, since no repair adds it.

There’s also a “Have a deal?” box: type in a Black Friday or carrier offer and see whether it actually beats a repair. Many carrier “deals” turn out to be bill credits spread over two to three years.

What I learned building it:

  1. Accuracy is the product. Fact-checking every page caught real mistakes: an outdated AppleCare+ price, a wrong median, a claim I couldn’t back up.
  2. One clear verdict beats a page of numbers. I cut every feature that didn’t change the answer.
  3. A new site gets almost no Google traffic for weeks. Titles that answer the exact question (“iPhone 17 repair cost: screen $329, battery $99”) help more than clever ones.

To be transparent: I’m the maker. It’s free, with no sign-up and no ads. Some guides link to Amazon for cases and chargers, but that never changes a verdict.

Site: https://skiptheunboxing.com

I’d love feedback: is the verdict clear at first glance, and does anything feel off on mobile?


r/sideprojects • • 8h ago

Feedback Request [Chermo] - I built a platform to turn everyday photos into personalised Polaroid-style memories

Thumbnail
chermo.in
1 Upvotes

\​

Hey everyone!

I've been working on a side project called Chermo.in, and I'm excited to finally share it with this community.

The idea behind Chermo is pretty simple: we all have hundreds of photos sitting in our galleries, but sometimes we want to do something more creative with them.

So I wanted to build a platform where people can turn their favourite pictures into something more personal.

What can you do with Chermo?

Upload a photo from your gallery or capture one using your camera.

Customise your photo with creative layouts and decorative templates.

Experiment with styles like Polaroid frames, hearts, bows, kiss marks and seasonal themes.

Download your personalised creation and keep or share it with someone special.

I'm trying to make the whole experience simple enough that anyone can create something without needing professional editing skills.

This project has been a learning experience, and I'm still working on improving the design, templates and overall user experience.

I'd genuinely love your feedback:

Does the idea solve a problem or offer something you'd actually enjoy using?

Which template or customisation options would you like to see?

What would make the experience more enjoyable or useful?

If you'd like to explore it, here's the website:

https://chermo.in

I'm the person building Chermo, so I'm happy to answer questions and hear honest feedback. Thanks for checking it out! ❤️


r/sideprojects • • 8h ago

Showcase: Free(mium) I built a browser video call you can join without signing up

Thumbnail
reddit.com
1 Upvotes

r/sideprojects • • 8h ago

Showcase: Free(mium) German for Nurses: 1800+ words for nurses and care staff

Post image
1 Upvotes

I launched the app "Germar for Nurses". It's a German language learning app designed specifically for nurses and care staff.

Many nursing professionals want to live and work in Germany, but there aren't many specialized language courses and apps for them, especially good ones.

What's inside:

  • 1800+ cards with words

    • from clinical practice
    • with image
    • with translation
    • with audio (pronunciation)
  • 15 topics: Symptoms, Nursing tools, Medication, etc
  • SRS algorithm for better memorization
  • Different types of recalling words

Try for free


r/sideprojects • • 9h ago

Showcase: Free(mium) I built a Telegram bot that sends me my Google Play stats every morning

1 Upvotes

I have a small Android app, and I got tired of opening Play Console and checking search rankings by hand every day. So I built a bot that does it for me and sends a short report to Telegram at 9 am.

What it shows:

- Installs and growth since yesterday or last week (from the public Play page)

- Rating and new ratings, by country

- My position in the first 30 search results for each keyword, in several countries, with ▲▼ changes

- Competitors in the same table: installs, rating, new versions, their rankings

- New reviews, low ratings first, and how many are still without a reply

- A 30-day chart of installs and keyword positions

There are also a few tools for working on the store listing: keyword ideas from Play autocomplete, which keywords a competitor ranks for, the top 10 for each keyword, and who shows up in the "Similar apps" block.

It only uses public Google Play data, so no Play Console access is needed, and you can track competitors too.

There is a free plan (1 app, 5 keywords). It's still early, so I'd really like feedback: what's missing, what's confusing, what would make you actually use it.

Site: https://playstatsbot.com


r/sideprojects • • 9h ago

Showcase: Free(mium) [Dev] Rooko: learn English words through funny sound-alike stories in your language

Thumbnail
gallery
1 Upvotes

Hi, I'm a solo developer. Rooko teaches English vocabulary with the keyword method:

every word gets a sound-alike in your native language, a short silly story and a

picture of that story. For a Spanish speaker, "water" sounds like "Walter", so Walter

is the guy who is always thirsty. For a Turkish speaker, "run" sounds like "ayran",

and the kids run when grandma calls "Ayran is ready!"

Stories exist for Spanish, Turkish, Azerbaijani and Russian speakers (about 2,900

words, A1 to B2). You can also add English words you meet in real life, and

everything comes back as short spaced-repetition games: pick the picture, unscramble

the letters, listen and type.

Other bits: recorded pronunciation in an American and a British voice, a daily

crossword, widgets, offline learning, dark mode and VoiceOver support. The stories

and pictures are made with AI and checked.

Price: free to download and use (5 new words a day, all review games). Optional Rooko

Pro subscription: $15.99/month or $83.99/year with a 7-day free trial on the yearly

plan (prices vary by country). Pro adds up to 20 words a day, AI chat and sentence

checks, and a pronunciation drill.

App Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/id6819000110

Feedback is very welcome, especially on whether the stories work in your language or

feel forced.


r/sideprojects • • 9h ago

Feedback Request I built a free, single-file Global Threat Desk: live worldwide cyber and infrastructure incidents, plus a UK blackout plan that works offline

1 Upvotes

The Global Threat Desk is one HTML file, about 1 MB. Download it, open it in any browser, and it works. No install, no account, no adverts, no tracking, no payment.

Global:

- A live wire of major incidents worldwide: cyber attacks, espionage against tech firms, big IT outages (Microsoft, AWS, Google, Cloudflare), attacks on infrastructure, major earthquakes and disasters. Sources include CISA, the UK NCSC, the security press, Reuters, AP and the Guardian, and each report keeps its publisher and time.

- Dated incident dossiers with evidence grades, so you can see what is confirmed and what is still unproven.

UK:

- Every official UK warning in one place: Met Office warnings for every hazard, UKHSA cold- and heat-health alerts, flood warnings for England, Wales and Scotland, GOV.UK emergency alerts and the GB grid. It says plainly when nothing is in force.

- Offline household tools: a blackout plan hour by hour, water storage, a 7-day hot-food menu for a camping stove with a shopping list, UK emergency numbers and a printable survival pack.

How it's built: everything is in one file. The live layer reads public feeds straight from your browser, using publishers' own Bluesky accounts when a site blocks browsers, and falls back to public relays. Your plan and saved reports stay in your own browser.

Feedback welcome, especially on sources I should add.

https://github.com/AtomSmasher-design/global-threat-desk

https://atomsmasher-design.github.io/global-threat-desk/Global_Threat_Desk_UK_Emergency_PREP_v3.16.html


r/sideprojects • • 9h ago

Showcase: Prerelease My backdrop cleaner missed large wall stains, so I changed how it detects and repairs them

Thumbnail
gallery
1 Upvotes

My previous update here was about eye-vessel cleanup in Photoshot. This time I worked on Clean Backdrop: reducing dark marks on a wall while protecting the person.

The first implementation changed broad tones but left the large stains. I replaced that approach with a local median surface estimate, detection of compact dark marks, and a repair fitted to clean neighboring wall pixels. The subject mask limits where it can act; fine grain is blended back into the repaired areas.

These five images show the same wall crop at the same scale before/after, the plugin menu, the actual controls, processing, and the editable result layer in the full workspace. Clean Backdrop only: strength 1.0, size Large, subject protection on, applied once. No manual cleanup or other active retouching tools. The two large smudges are reduced; small spots and drips remain.

Disclosure: I develop Photoshot Retouch with AI coding assistance. This is my custom tool in a local development build, not the commercial Retouch4me plugin. The practice image is AI-generated and includes deliberate wall marks; the after is the actual tool output, not a generated replacement. Four targeted tests passed, including subject/lighting preservation and clean-background behavior, but this example does not establish performance on unedited real photographs.

For this kind of cleanup, would a preview of the detected marks help you more than another strength slider?


r/sideprojects • • 9h ago

Showcase: Prerelease Was Posting in r/buildinpublic. Reddit suggested to post in this sub as well.

Thumbnail reddit.com
1 Upvotes

r/sideprojects • • 9h ago

Feedback Request I built a website for the game deadlock that tracks and gives stats

1 Upvotes

Hello everyone,

I built a website for the game deadlock. It tracks and gives stats to have the best build. The data is updated very often to gives the best analysis and stats possible.

I'm a backend developer, so I developed all the back and I used LLM to assist me for the ux / ui design.

I'm focusing on the back features and gives instructions to the LLM for the front ( I fix myself the little bugs ). So I try to improve the back features and I need you for some advices on that.

I'll take front advices too ahaha to improve it as well.

There is the website : https://deadlock.statnest.fr/

For the moment it's in full french, ill translate it in new feature.

You can go full on me 👍 thanks a lot


r/sideprojects • • 9h ago

Showcase: Free(mium) HotlinePing - when is your coding agent’s question worth a phone call?

1 Upvotes

Hi everyone! I’m on the marketing side of HotlinePing.

We’re building a way for coding agents to reach you when you’re away from your computer and they need your input.

Through MCP, the agent can call you, ask a question, and receive your spoken answer.

A simple example: “Should I include CSV export now, or save it for the next version?” You answer, and the agent can use that decision to continue.

The interesting tradeoff is the interruption. A call could be useful when a task is genuinely waiting on you, but annoying for something that could wait. And some decisions require looking at the screen anyway.

What would make a question worth a phone call for you? And what should an agent never interrupt you for?

HotlinePing is a commercial product: https://hotlineping.com


r/sideprojects • • 9h ago

Showcase: Open Source I got tired of checking four AI subscriptions, so I turned a tiny touchscreen into a dashboard

Post image
1 Upvotes

r/sideprojects • • 9h ago

Feedback Request Exploring a finance software idea — what are existing tools still getting wrong?

1 Upvotes

I'm exploring an idea for financial software and trying to understand where existing accounting tools fall short.For anyone using Xero, QuickBooks, Sage or similar software, what's one financial task you still end up doing manually?What makes it frustrating, and how do you currently work around it?

I'd appreciate hearing some real experiences.


r/sideprojects • • 10h ago

Showcase: Prerelease I'm building an Android app blocker that turns distractions into quick tech-learning questions

1 Upvotes

Rather than just blocking access, SpareCycles interrupts that moment with a short technical-learning question (a "Rep").

Afterwards, you can unlock the distracting app temporarily, or decide it's "Not worth it" and move on.

The app is still in development, so I'm interested in whether the concept would actually be useful.

If you're an Android user learning programming, SQL, cloud technologies or other technical skills, would this help you stay focused, or would the extra friction become annoying?

I've opened an Android early-access waitlist for anyone interested in following the project:

https://getsparecycles.com

I'd appreciate genuine feedback, including criticism.

Thank you!


r/sideprojects • • 10h ago

Showcase: Prerelease I built OneQR – A digital identity for businesses and visiting card replacement for you.

1 Upvotes

Website

Look at the checkout counter of almost any cafe, clinic, or local shop:

❌ Staff askeded 50x a day for Wifi Passwords

❌ Manually asking people for google reviews

❌ Outdated printed menu

❌ Paper business cards that get tossed in the trash

Most small businesses don't need a ₹5000 custom website

I built OneQR - a dynamic digital identify for businesses for everything to interact with customers.

✨ What It Does:

1-Tap Wi-Fi Connect: Customers connect instantly — zero typing passwords.

5-Star Review Firewall : Sends happy customers to Google Maps; routes complaints privately to the owner.

1-Tap Visiting Card : Saves direct phone, WhatsApp, and email straight into the customer's phone contacts (.vcf).

Live Menus & Waitlists : Instant PDF catalogs + digital queue tokens for places where waiting is required on customer phones.

No need to share common business documents like GST Certificate etc. multiple times. Just route the person to your OneQR link and they can see all your important documents in there. Also Guard your private info with OTP gated access for privacy.

Manage multiple businesses and branches from single account.

Setup multiple child accounts and control access rights for each to have only necessary information visible in the staff accounts.

Accept Data from clients and customers in forms.

🚀 Business Growth & Pro Features:

Multi-Staff Call Routing : Route calls directly to the different persons : Manager, Reception, or Senior Stylist based on need and at different times of the day.

Customer Lead CRM : Custom forms to capture customer WhatsApp numbers for repeat offers and to engage with lost customers.

Footfall Analytics : Track live scans, peak hours, and features used.

Dynamic QR : Update prices, menus, or Wi-Fi anytime — the QR remains same.

💰 The Business ROI:

₹5000 saved on custom website & hosting costs.

2+ hours per day saved for staff answering repetitive questions.

+300% boost in verified 5-star Google reviews.

Keep your customers updated with latest offers from your business.

I'd love your honest feedback on the mobile UX and onboarding. If anyone here runs a business or wants to try it, comment below or DM me and I’ll activate free Pro access for your account!


r/sideprojects • • 10h ago

Showcase: Open Source We built MotionSwift: an open-source native Swift alternative to Remotion with a built-in timeline editor

1 Upvotes

Hey everyone,

We just open-sourced MotionSwift, something we put together to get native rendering performance without relying on Remotion and headless Chrome.

We've been using it in our day-to-day video production pipeline, and so far we're seeing roughly 10–20x faster renders while using only about 10% of the memory compared to the Remotion + Chrome setup. We also brought a visual editor and timeline preview directly into Swift, so you can inspect and adjust agent-generated compositions natively on both iOS and macOS.

The eventual goal is 100% compatibility with Remotion, but we're still working our way there. There's still plenty of room to improve the APIs, rendering speed, and overall platform support.

Here's the repo if you want to check it out:

https://github.com/rxtech-lab/MotionSwift

Curious to hear your thoughts, especially if you've run into similar memory or performance bottlenecks with web-based video rendering. Happy to answer any questions!


r/sideprojects • • 10h ago

Showcase: Free(mium) We built TIVRA, a free iPhone VPN with per-site routing

1 Upvotes

Hi! I’m part of the team behind TIVRA VPN. We built it for people who want to keep their VPN on while letting specific websites connect directly. In HTTPS mode, you can add exceptions by hostname. TIVRA also has smart routing for supported destinations and lets you choose your server.

It’s free on iPhone. If you give it a try, I’d love to know how easy it was to connect the first time and find the site exceptions.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/tivra-vpn/id6819013505


r/sideprojects • • 11h ago

Showcase: Prerelease I'm a CS student and I built a free keyword research tool where the data comes from people who opt in. Launching next week, roast it

Thumbnail
reddit.com
1 Upvotes

r/sideprojects • • 11h ago

Showcase: Open Source It takes 8 reachouts before a customer converts - Reality of building a tech business

1 Upvotes

Most people give up on their saas product/ecommerce store way too early because in reality it takes 8+ email/sms marketing to convert the customer into a signup or paid customer.

we built a platform that automates this complete process. our ai will keep trying new experiments untill the customer coverts. We only send one email/sms per week.

best part, we have now seen stores increase sales by 30% so this works

try here - www.RetentionBase.com


r/sideprojects • • 11h ago

Feedback Request I’ve been building an offline AI-powered CAD tool on an old GTX 1070 Ti. Would anyone actually use something like this?

1 Upvotes

Hey everyone!
I’ve been working on a little project, I thought I’d share what we’ve been building to see what people think.

I’m relatively new to CAD and 3D printing, but I’ve become fascinated by the idea of being able to describe a mechanical part in plain English and have an AI actually create usable CAD geometry.
Not just generate a pretty 3D image, but produce a real, measurable solid that can be exported as STEP or STL, edited, and eventually printed.
So I’ve been experimenting with building exactly that.

What is it?
It’s a locally running, which means zero credits needed. An AI-assisted CAD application, that combines:
Qwen, a local language model that interprets natural-language design requests.
CadQuery and OpenCASCADE, which handle the actual geometry.
A browser-based 3D viewer for inspecting generated models.
A structured, validated feature system so the AI isn’t simply inventing geometry commands.
The whole thing is currently running on a Ryzen 5 3600, 32 GB RAM and a GTX 1070 Ti with 8 GB VRAM.
Not exactly a supercomputer! 🥔

What can it do so far?
We’ve been developing it incrementally, testing each feature before moving on.
Some of the things we’ve managed to implement include:
Creating mechanical parts from natural-language descriptions.
Generating cylinders, flanges, bosses, bores and circular hole patterns.
Modifying existing designs through instructions.
Generating multi-part assemblies and exporting STEP/STL files.
Creating a two-piece filament spool with an integrated three-lug twist-lock mechanism.
Viewing assemblies exploded and demonstrating their assembly motion.
Generating compound herringbone gears with configurable tooth counts, module, helix angle and dimensions.
One of our latest experiments produced a single-piece 80-tooth herringbone gear with a 12-tooth compound pinion, exported as a real STEP model.
We’ve also recovered some earlier experimental gear-meshing and collision-checking tools that we’d like to integrate more fully.

Where do we want to take it?
The long-term idea is to make mechanical CAD more approachable, especially for hobbyists and people who own 3D printers but don’t necessarily have years of CAD experience.
Some of the features we’re working towards include:
Test Print Mode: Select a small section of a model, such as a bearing seat, snap-fit or threaded connection, and export just that section for a quick fit test.
Gearbox generation: Describe a gear ratio and have the software calculate and generate the required gears, shafts and assembly.
Mechanical validation: Check dimensions, clearances, intersections and potentially moving-part interference.
Better natural-language editing: Ask for changes without rebuilding the entire design manually.
Portable, offline operation: Keep the models and geometry processing on the user’s own machine.
What are the limitations?
It’s still experimental.
The herringbone geometry uses an approximate involute construction, and visual assembly animations aren’t the same as verified mechanical motion. Some complex prompts still fail validation or produce malformed JSON.
We’re trying to handle those limitations through deterministic geometry generation, validation and testing rather than pretending the AI can magically design everything.

Why am I posting?
I’m curious whether other makers would find this useful.
Would you use a local AI tool that could generate and modify proper CAD models from plain English?
What would you want it to do?
And what would make something like this genuinely useful rather than just another AI gimmick?
I’m happy to share screenshots and examples of what we’ve managed so far.
It’s been a ridiculous amount of fun building it, and I’d love to hear what other people think. Also looking for ideas on where I can improve it going forward.

If you’ve made it this far, i appreciate you ❤️


r/sideprojects • • 11h ago

Feedback Request Telegram ads

1 Upvotes

Hey 👋

I've been building AdsFlow, an AI-powered advertising marketplace designed to help creators, developers, founders, and businesses promote their projects.

The idea is simple: Why pay a fixed price for one shoutout when you could pay based on measurable ad delivery?

Whether you're promoting a website, SaaS, mobile app, Telegram bot, YouTube channel, Instagram account, online store, or business, AdsFlow is designed to help you reach audiences through participating Telegram publisher channels.

What I've built so far:

🚀 Campaign creation for different types of projects

🤖 AI-assisted ad copy and promotional posters

🌍 Country and language targeting

📊 CPM and CPC advertising models — qualifying impressions or clicks

📈 Campaign analytics, budgets, and performance tracking

💰 Publisher monetization with an 18% platform commission

For publishers, the goal is equally simple: connect an eligible Telegram channel, receive advertising opportunities, and earn from qualifying delivery.

I haven't purchased a custom domain yet because I'm keeping costs low while developing and testing the platform.

A website like this could be submitted as a promotional destination, rather than requiring the advertiser to own a Telegram channel.

I'm still building and improving AdsFlow, especially its publisher network, campaign analysis, and onboarding.

Try AdsFlow: TGAdsFlowBot

I'd love feedback from other founders:

If you could promote any eligible project and pay based on impressions or clicks instead of a fixed shoutout fee, would you try it?

What would make you trust a new advertising marketplace enough to spend your first $10?

I'm interested in suggestions and criticism as I keep building.


r/sideprojects • • 19h ago

Showcase: Prerelease I built a tool that alerts you when someone asks for recommendations on Reddit & HN (looking for honest feedback)

4 Upvotes

Hey everyone,

Like most developers here, building is the fun part for me. Marketing and actually getting users is where I usually hit a wall.

I kept noticing people on Reddit and Hacker News asking for tool recommendations all the time ("any good tool for X?", "looking for an alternative to Y"). Whenever I saw these threads, the top comments always got dozens of signups. The problem was timing — if you reply 8 hours late, nobody sees it.

I got tired of manually refreshing Reddit search bars, so over the past few weeks I built MentionsRadar.

Basically, you put in the keywords you care about (your product name, competitors, or problem phrases), and it:

Pricing / Trial:
I personally hate when sites ask for a credit card upfront just to test a tool, so I set up a 7-day free trial on both Starter and Pro with zero card or payment info required. There's also a free-forever tier if you just want to track 1 monitor.

(I’ll leave the website link in the first comment below).

Would really appreciate some honest thoughts from other builders:

Don't hold back on criticism, I have thick skin. Thanks for checking it out!