Before AI, I only had a notes app, which I built for myself. Why did I build a notes app? Because for some reason, typing on an empty page with no headers, no borders, something so minimal, with no formatting options, always excited me. So yeah, I still use it. It's just a blank white screen where I can write anything, and it doesn't even save.
I wanted to know if other people do this, so I read 1,965 things people on Hacker News built just for themselves, from 2017 to 2026.
63 are notes apps, like mine.
On Reddit, people post photos of the things they made for themselves. These are their photos and their own words.
I built something too: Long Story Short, a daily game where one news story is cut down to five words. Play today’s
Budget trackers turn up in all six threads.
Today’s Long Story Short takes about two minutes. Play it
Only 36 of the 1,965 became a product anyone pays for.
Long Story Short is free, with a new story every morning. Play today’s
An annoying problem I deal with almost every day now has a permanent, personalized solution that took me ~3 hours and would never have otherwise happened.
RickS, 2026
Long Story Short is also on iPhone and Android. Play today’s
Twenty years later, it has turned into Marcel, and I'm still the only one using it AFAIK.
geophile, 2024
If you want a break before the list, today’s Long Story Short is here. Play
All 1,965 from Hacker News and 345 from Reddit. The Hacker News ones come from six Ask HN threads (2017, 2018, 2021, 2023, 2024, 2026) and this year's "What are you working on?" threads, each answer read one by one. Years in use are the makers' own words.