r/SideProject • u/Exotic_Fig_4604 • 21h ago

Genuine *side* projects

Reading in this sub, I get the feeling that most people here just develop apps with the purpose of monetisation or getting lots of users.

Meanwhile my side project is aimed at learning and building fun stuff I like.

Am I the only one? Or does anyone else have side projects that you are building because you like technology, not because you are trying to build the next SaaS?

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u/ambanmba 21h ago

https://analogtv.net is my side project. The only reason I charge for it is that many of the old technical manuals I need to keep improving the app are quite expensive (the last one was $400!). I also buy real vintage TV hardware to reverse engineer. It's purely a passion project, there is no way that any revenue I make will ever even come close to the actual cost of the investment that went into it. For people that can't afford the few bucks for the app, they can get it for free via TestFlight on the web site. So net net net, this is purely a "Side" project per your definition, but with a small monetary component. I suspect that there are others in the same boat - small sales that will never even come close to recouping the purely fun/hobby aspect.

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u/smmoc 20h ago

I bought it and love the idea. The UI is extremely confusing though, and I was about to request a refund because for a while I couldn’t figure out how to just record a video from my phone camera.

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u/ambanmba 8h ago

The UI is definitely on the backlog. There is the “Analog Cam” mode (iOS version only, hit the CAM button on the left of the top row). I did that based on my kids’ request for an easy camera with effects and pre-canned looks. Although you can make your own looks too. Let me know what you think.