It has officially been 10 years since I launched the very first version of Sofa 🤯.
It’s genuinely wild to see where Sofa is today. What started out as a simple tool for keeping track of movies to watch, has grown into a full-featured product for organizing your downtime experiences.
If you’ve ever used, looked at, talked about, shared, or even thought about Sofa, thank you. I’m so lucky for this to be my job ❤️.
I’ve officially been a full-time indie developer for two years 🤗! Here’s a video of me yapping about what’s going well and what I’m struggling with. Enjoy!
Your downtime isn't just about what you watch, read, and play. It's also about where you go and what you do.
Sofa has always helped you organize what to watch, read, and play. But your downtime is more than just media consumption. It's also those concerts you're excited about, next year’s big family trip you're planning, and that new restaurant you've been meaning to try. Now Sofa helps you organize all the ways you spend your downtime, bringing the same simple approach to real-world experiences.
With Planner, your experiences get a proper home. No more scattered screenshots, buried notes and emails, or forgotten recommendations. Half the joy is in the planning, and Planner makes that half genuinely enjoyable.
With the addition of Planner, Sofa is truly an all-in-one tool for organizing your downtime experiences.
Create lists of things to watch, read, play, listen to, and more
Enjoy your favorite podcasts with a fully-featured podcast player
Plan real-world experiences like trips, celebrations, concerts, and more
Whether you're picking what to watch tonight, listening to your favorite show, or planning your next vacation, it's all there in one easy to use app.
Join the beta here: sofahq.com/beta
In this episode of Worklog, I talk about the launch of Sofa's new podcast player. Specifically, the marketing work I did before the launch, how the launch day/week went, and what I've been working on after the launch...and how Nintendo may have got in the way.
Listen in your favorite podcast player
As of today, Sofa comes with a full-featured podcast player that can easily be your primary way of listening to your favorite shows.
Here’s a quick rundown of what you get:
Add your favorite podcasts
Easily manage your “Up Next” queue
Simple controls, chapter selection, show notes, and more
Create custom playlists
Plenty of settings to configure things just how you like
Fine-tune settings for individual podcasts
Listen while you drive with CarPlay
Widgets and shortcuts for quick access
All of this works across iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and visionOS. Head over to the Sofa Podcast Player page to learn more.
This is quite a big addition to Sofa, and one I’ve been working on since the summer of 2024. So why do it?
First, I personally love podcasts and listen to them every day. Podcast listening is such a core part of my daily routine, and I have wanted to build my own podcast player for a long time. While I didn’t know if it would be its own app or integrated with Sofa, I knew I wanted to make one.
Second, integrating the podcast player into Sofa creates a really nice “downtime bundle”. Instead of having to use multiple apps for overlapping “downtime activities”, you can do a lot of it in Sofa (not everything, but a lot of it).
This bundle is a simpler, more integrated experience, and doesn’t require multiple subscriptions. It really is a natural extension to what Sofa already does.
If you have your own podcast, and would like to provide your listeners with a “Listen on Sofa” button or link, I built a handy tool for you.
Head over to the Sofa Podcast Button Builder, and make a “Listen on Sofa” button for your show in just a few seconds.
When listeners click the “Listen on Sofa” button, it will automatically open your podcast in Sofa for them to subscribe to. If they don’t have Sofa installed, they will be redirected to Sofa’s website showing details about your podcast.
Here’s an example linking to my “Worklog” podcast:
You can read the full release notes here, and download the update from the App Store.
If you’re a podcaster, I built a handy little tool on Sofa's website to help you easily create a “Listen On Sofa” button for your podcast.
There are different styles to suit your website’s design or you can simply copy the link and use it however you like.
This button will directly link to a “subscribe” page in Sofa when people click on it.
I hope it’s helpful!
In this episode of Worklog, I chat about some exciting Apple rumors for iOS 19, dig into the home stretch of launching my new podcast player (including solving tricky audio issues with ChatGPT Deep Research), and share behind-the-scenes marketing prep, from creating landing pages to capturing relatable photos of podcast listening in everyday life.
Listen in your favorite podcast player
In this episode of Worklog, I introduce my new podcast, where I share the journey of building Sofa, an app designed to help you be intentional with your downtime. I talk about why I'm branching into podcasts—both to better understand the podcasting experience I'm building into Sofa and to give listeners another way to enjoy my content. I also share updates on recent Sofa developments like CarPlay, Widgets, Shortcuts, and performance improvements. Lastly, I dive into "Launch Mode," explaining my strategy around deadlines, prioritizing tasks, and managing my workload leading up to a launch.
Astro Orbiter taken from the People Mover
📸 Sony A7IV @ 70MM
📆 Nov 2022
đź“Ť Magic Kingdom
Little Big League still holds up. Love that movie.
A lot has happened since Jan 20, but don’t forget that Trump pardoned 1,500 January 6th rioters. Hundreds of which assaulted police officers. So when he says he’s for the “blue”, his actions have proven otherwise.
But as Trump's team wrestled with the issue, and planned a shock-and-awe batch of executive orders Day 1, "Trump just said: 'F -k it: Release 'em all,'" an adviser familiar with the discussions said.
Happy President’s Day!
Just waiting for the train
📸 Sony A7C2 & 35mm 1.8
📆 Nov 2023
đź“Ť Magic Kingdom
I’m excited to announce something new…I’ve started a new podcast called “Worklog”!
It’s where I share my journey of building Sofa into a successful indie app business—covering lessons, challenges, and insights along the way.
This is basically the stuff I make for YouTube, but in podcast-form.
You can get all the details and subscribe here:
I have six episodes published, which are repurposed YouTube videos that are already out. You’re going to hear me say “in this video…” in this first episodes, because I wasn’t thinking about the podcast yet lol. Going forward, I’ll do better.
I have a few reasons for launching this podcast, but the main two are:
I’m building a podcast player into Sofa and I want to understand the full process/ecosystem of creating and listening to podcasts. No better way than to create my own.
I want to broaden my reach with the stuff I share and talk about. While I love YouTube, there are many folks who would prefer to just listen to my videos instead of watching them. This is an effort to allow people to enjoy the stuff I make in a format they prefer.
Also, thank you to Stephen Robles for helping with some logistical/technical issues I was working through. I was struggling lol.
You can subscribe to Worklog in your favorite podcast player…and sometime soon in Sofa:
Sofa (Coming soon)
In this conversation, Shawn Hickman discusses the often-overlooked aspect of app development: the removal of features. He emphasizes that sometimes it's more beneficial to remove features rather than continuously add new ones. Through personal experiences and examples, he outlines the reasons for feature removal, including when features aren't working as expected, are broken, or when the product has evolved. He also shares best practices for effectively communicating these changes to users and managing feedback.
Sofa (Coming soon)
The Skyliner zipping by from the Hollywood Studios bus stop
📸 Sony A7C2 & 35mm 1.8
📆 Nov 2023
đź“Ť Hollywood Studios
In this video, I’m sharing why I don’t offer a free trial for my app, Sofa.
When I first launched the Super Sofa subscription, I struggled with decisions around pricing and whether or not to offer a free trial. Most advice said, “You should offer a free trial because that’s what everyone does.” But that never sat right with me.
Now, after a few years of running a subscription app without a free trial, I’ve gained clarity on why I don’t do it — and why Sofa’s freemium model works better without one.
I’m not against free trials! They can work great for certain products. But for Sofa, it doesn’t make sense. In this video, I’ll walk through my thought process and explain why.
Sofa (Coming soon)
In this video, I share my experience using the Leica Q2 over the past few months and try to decide whether I should keep it or sell it. The Leica Q2 is an incredible camera with a lens that produces stunning images, but it’s not without its quirks. I’ve used it for travel, family events, everyday carry, and more—so I’ve developed some strong opinions about its pros and cons. If you’re considering the Q2 or are curious about what makes this camera special (and frustrating), this video is for you.
In this video, I dive into the realities of building an app: why starting is the easy (and fun) part, and why the real challenge lies in growing and maintaining it over time.
I’ll talk about the excitement of launching a new project, the hurdles you’ll face when life gets busy or progress feels slow, and how setting the right expectations can make all the difference. I’ll share tips on building sustainable systems, celebrating small wins, and staying motivated when you hit technical, emotional, or mental roadblocks.
Whether you’re creating your first app or struggling to keep going, this video is here to remind you to enjoy the process and keep moving forward.
Sofa (Coming soon)
