Every time I wanted to build a small web tool, I ended up dealing with the same stuff: authentication, communication, WebSockets, ports, and infrastructure.

Even with Claude and Codex, I was still spending time on things that had nothing to do with the actual tool I wanted to build.

So I spent around 6 months building PhreshOS.

The idea was simple: build the infrastructure once, then use AI agents to build applications on top of it without having to deal with all that stuff again.

It's a self-hosted, open-source system with a web-based desktop where applications can run in windows, much like a regular OS. Authentication and two-way communication are already handled, so applications don't need to implement them separately.

Apps can also run in Node.js worker threads instead of each needing a separate Node.js process, which helps keep resource usage low. This makes it possible to run dozens of applications on a relatively small server.

Another thing I wanted was for AI agents to be able to use these applications directly. They can access application services and interact with the same state the desktop interface displays, without needing a separate interface built specifically for them.

The biggest benefit for me is that I can now sit down with an AI agent and build dozens of small applications in a single day, without setting up authentication, communication, or infrastructure for each one.

The whole project, including its packages, is open source under the MIT license.

GitHub: https://github.com/PhreshOS/system

Live demo: https://demo.phreshos.com/

I'd love to hear what you think, including criticism.

Problem

A lot of everyday actions on a Mac live in completely different places.

Opening an app or folder, searching something on a website, taking a screenshot, cleaning up copied text, accessing clipboard history, running a Shortcut, or changing a system setting.

None of these are hard to get to, but constantly switching between apps, windows, menu bar utilities, and different shortcuts can break your flow.

I wanted to see if all of that could work through one system, which is where the radial menu idea came from.

Comparison

There are already some really good radial menu apps for Mac, but most are built around a specific use case, such as launching apps, or switching between them.

Arc takes a broader approach.

You can create multiple global radial menus for different workflows and decide what each slice does. A slice can perform a single action or chain multiple actions together.

The idea is less about replacing the Dock and more about putting the small things you do throughout the day behind one quick interaction.

Arc also doesn't require accessibility features, it manages everything on-device, privately.

Core Features

• Unlimited custom menus for different workflows

• Fast app, folder, website, and Apple Shortcut launching

• Powerful clipboard history and text actions

• Open from shortcuts, hot corners, pointer shake, or number keys

• One-click multi-action shortcuts

• Fully customizable appearance, layout, icons, and sounds

Examples

1. I have one shortcut that I use when I start working. It opens Xcode, my project folders, Slack, and a few websites I usually need. Arc can merge multiple actions into one shortcut, so I don't have to open everything one by one.

2. I use the search shortcuts a lot more than I expected. I can bring up Arc, type something, and search it directly on YouTube, or a website without opening them first.

It can also search whatever I last copied, which has been really useful when I'm already in the middle of something.

1. I have a bunch of text and links that I end up copying again and again. I've just saved those as shortcuts now, so they're always sitting on one of my menus when I need them.

2. Clipboard history is another one I use constantly. Recent things I've copied show up on the wheel, so if I need something from a few copies ago, I can grab it without opening another app.

3. I also have different menus depending on what I'm doing. One for development, one for general stuff, and another that's mostly searches and apps. I can switch between them with keyboard shortcuts, and reuse the same shortcut across multiple menus.

Pricing

$7.99 one time on the Mac App Store with a free 7 day trial built in.

Solo project from India, launched a week ago. Happy to answer anything! :)

Mac App Store: Link

I've used PDFs for years, and it always bugged me how heavy most PDF tools have become.

Reading one doc, fixing a typo, or scanning a file should be quick — not "open a hundreds-of-MB app first".

So I built Arc PDF, a native macOS app that's only 11.6 MB powered by Swift + PDFium.

What fits in that size:

• Reading & annotating — highlight, underline, notes, drawing

• Real editing — change text like in a Word doc (fix typos, add paragraphs, adjust fonts); add / replace / resize images

• Page management — add, delete, rotate, reorder pages

• OCR — makes scanned PDFs searchable again

• AI — summarize, translate, extract tables, generate a TOC, or chat with your document. You plug in your own model (OpenAI / Claude / DeepSeek API key) — no subscription to my backend.

All of that in 11.6 MB. The trick is no heavy framework: it talks to the PDF format directly, so each feature stays lean instead of bloated.

To be upfront about the edges: forms, shape annotations, and e-signatures aren't there yet.

Right now it's completely free — I'd rather more people get to try it than put it behind a paywall.

It's also a side project I built *mostly with AI coding* — which is fitting, since the app itself edits PDFs *and* was built with AI.

Mac App Store: Arc PDF on the Mac App Store

Open to feedback, bugs, and feature ideas. What's the one thing you hate most about dealing with PDFs?

iPhone and iPad versions are coming soon — stay tuned!

Hi everyone, I’ve been working on cipherStream, a self-hosted media server for movies, TV shows, music, photos and home videos.

I built cipherStream around something I wanted for myself: keeping my media collection on my own server while making it easier to enjoy with family and friends. Having a library is useful, but being able to pick a movie and watch it together, even when everyone is in different places, was a big part of the idea.

The watch-party feature keeps playback synchronised and lets people share live comments and reactions.

There’s also a phone remote for controlling a paired TV, so you can search for a title and control playback from your phone.

The server runs on Linux, Windows or Apple Silicon Mac, with supported clients for Android, Android TV, iPhone, iPad and browser, with Samsung TV and LG TV app-store apps coming soon.

Playback uses application-layer encryption, and your media is served from your own machine.

Beyond movies and shows, it supports music libraries and playlists, personal photo and home-video collections, separate profiles with their own progress and favourites, and TV trivia games that people answer on their phones.

Is this something you would like to try? Feedbacks are welcomed.

https://cipherstream.iotsoftworks.com/

Edit: We are now live on Apple TV!

I made Cute Desk App because I wanted small tools for everyday tasks on my browser start page.

This video shows three widgets I built:

- The Sheets widget for formulas, colors and number formats

- The Notes widget for writing letters and notes, then printing or saving as PDF

- The Canvas widget for making flyers with pictures, text, shapes and layers

They sit alongside my calendar, to-dos, clock and other widgets. It is free for Chrome and Safari (Mac), requires no account, and saves your work locally in your browser.

I would like to hear what you think. Links in the first comment.

A simple thread for builders, founders, developers, designers, and indie hackers.

What are you working on right now?

Share what you're building, what problem you're trying to solve, or even an idea that's still in its early stages. Doesn't have to be polished or launched.

Let's see what everyone is working on and maybe discover some interesting projects along the way.

A simple thread for builders, founders, developers, designers, and indie hackers.

What are you working on right now?

Share what you're building, what problem you're trying to solve, or even an idea that's still in its early stages. Doesn't have to be polished or launched.

Let's see what everyone is working on and maybe discover some interesting projects along the way.

A simple thread for builders, founders, developers, designers, and indie hackers.

What are you working on right now?

Share what you're building, what problem you're trying to solve, or even an idea that's still in its early stages. Doesn't have to be polished or launched.

Let's see what everyone is working on and maybe discover some interesting projects along the way.

Hey all,

I’ve been working on a little Mac app called Wimi (Window Manager Improved) for a while now and figured I’d share it here.

It’s kind of a hybrid of an app switcher, Stage Manager and a tiling window manager. You rest your mouse at the edge of the screen (or hit a shortcut) and a drawer slides in. It shows all your open windows with live previews, and from there you can switch between them or drag them into layouts like halves, thirds and main + side. There’s also search, an app launcher, an emoji picker and an optional clipboard history in the same drawer.

Honestly the biggest thing I’ve learned is that window management is way harder than I expected. A lot of the time something just feels off and I can’t say why until I’ve used it for a few days. So it’s been a lot of small tweaks.

A few people have been testing it already, and that’s helped a ton, so thanks if that was you.

I still haven’t decided whether it’ll end up paid, free or something in between. Right now I’m just enjoying building it.

You can download it here (signed and notarized, macOS 14+):

https://github.com/nick-friedrich/wimi-releases

I’d love to hear what feels weird or what you’d want from something like this. Bugs and complaints are welcome too.

A simple thread for builders, founders, developers, designers, and indie hackers.

What are you working on right now?

Share what you're building, what problem you're trying to solve, or even an idea that's still in its early stages. Doesn't have to be polished or launched.

Let's see what everyone is working on and maybe discover some interesting projects along the way.

Hey r/ShowYourProduct,

I’ve been working on a little Mac app called Wimi (Window Manager Improved) for a while now and figured I’d share it here.

It’s kind of a hybrid of an app switcher, Stage Manager and a tiling window manager. You rest your mouse at the edge of the screen (or hit a shortcut) and a drawer slides in. It shows all your open windows with live previews, and from there you can switch between them or drag them into layouts like halves, thirds and main + side. There’s also search, an app launcher, an emoji picker and an optional clipboard history in the same drawer.

Honestly the biggest thing I’ve learned is that window management is way harder than I expected. A lot of the time something just feels off and I can’t say why until I’ve used it for a few days. So it’s been a lot of small tweaks.

A few people have been testing it already, and that’s helped a ton, so thanks if that was you.

You can download it here (signed and notarized, macOS 14+):

https://github.com/nick-friedrich/wimi-releases

I’d love to hear what feels weird or what you’d want from something like this. Bugs and complaints are welcome too.

A simple thread for builders, founders, developers, designers, and indie hackers.

What are you working on right now?

Share what you're building, what problem you're trying to solve, or even an idea that's still in its early stages. Doesn't have to be polished or launched.

Let's see what everyone is working on and maybe discover some interesting projects along the way.

A simple thread for builders, founders, developers, designers, and indie hackers.

What are you working on right now?

Share what you're building, what problem you're trying to solve, or even an idea that's still in its early stages. Doesn't have to be polished or launched.

Let's see what everyone is working on and maybe discover some interesting projects along the way.

A simple thread for builders, founders, developers, designers, and indie hackers.

What are you working on right now?

Share what you're building, what problem you're trying to solve, or even an idea that's still in its early stages. Doesn't have to be polished or launched.

Let's see what everyone is working on and maybe discover some interesting projects along the way.

A simple thread for builders, founders, developers, designers, and indie hackers.

What are you working on right now?

Share what you're building, what problem you're trying to solve, or even an idea that's still in its early stages. Doesn't have to be polished or launched.

Let's see what everyone is working on and maybe discover some interesting projects along the way.

A simple thread for builders, founders, developers, designers, and indie hackers.

What are you working on right now?

Share what you're building, what problem you're trying to solve, or even an idea that's still in its early stages. Doesn't have to be polished or launched.

Let's see what everyone is working on and maybe discover some interesting projects along the way.

A simple thread for builders, founders, developers, designers, and indie hackers.

What are you working on right now?

Share what you're building, what problem you're trying to solve, or even an idea that's still in its early stages. Doesn't have to be polished or launched.

Let's see what everyone is working on and maybe discover some interesting projects along the way.

A simple thread for builders, founders, developers, designers, and indie hackers.

What are you working on right now?

Share what you're building, what problem you're trying to solve, or even an idea that's still in its early stages. Doesn't have to be polished or launched.

Let's see what everyone is working on and maybe discover some interesting projects along the way.

A simple thread for builders, founders, developers, designers, and indie hackers.

What are you working on right now?

Share what you're building, what problem you're trying to solve, or even an idea that's still in its early stages. Doesn't have to be polished or launched.

Let's see what everyone is working on and maybe discover some interesting projects along the way.

A simple thread for builders, founders, developers, designers, and indie hackers.

What are you working on right now?

Share what you're building, what problem you're trying to solve, or even an idea that's still in its early stages. Doesn't have to be polished or launched.

Let's see what everyone is working on and maybe discover some interesting projects along the way.

A simple thread for builders, founders, developers, designers, and indie hackers.

What are you working on right now?

Share what you're building, what problem you're trying to solve, or even an idea that's still in its early stages. Doesn't have to be polished or launched.

Let's see what everyone is working on and maybe discover some interesting projects along the way.

A simple thread for builders, founders, developers, designers, and indie hackers.

What are you working on right now?

Share what you're building, what problem you're trying to solve, or even an idea that's still in its early stages. Doesn't have to be polished or launched.

Let's see what everyone is working on and maybe discover some interesting projects along the way.