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Local-first software (2019)

(www.inkandswitch.com)
863 points gasull | 2 comments | 05 Jul 25 14:45 UTC | HN request time: 0.53s | source
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ashdev ◴[05 Jul 25 18:08 UTC] No.44474444[source]▶
This was refreshing to read! More apps should be local-first. If the user does not want to sync their data to cloud, they should have that option.

I’ve been building the offline-first (or local-first) app Brisqi[0] for a while now, it was designed from the ground up with the offline-first philosophy.

In my view, a local-first app is designed to function completely offline for an indefinite period. The local experience is the foundation, not a fallback and cloud syncing should be a secondary enhancement, not a requirement.

I also don’t consider apps that rely on temporary cache to be offline-first. A true offline-first app should use a local database to persist data. Many apps labeled as “offline-first” are actually just offline-tolerant, they offer limited offline functionality but ultimately depend on reconnecting to the internet.

Building an offline-first app is certainly more challenging than creating an online-only web app. The syncing mechanism must be reliable enough to handle transitions between offline and online states, ensuring that data syncs to the cloud consistently and without loss. I’ve written more about how I approached this in my blog post[1].

[0] https://brisqi.com

[1] https://blog.brisqi.com/posts/how-i-designed-an-offline-firs...

replies(1): >>44476885 #
1. AstroBen ◴[06 Jul 25 01:05 UTC] No.44476885[source]▶
How has it been going? I've been thinking of trying this model but a bit worried about how much harder it would be to make it sustainable as a business
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2. ashdev ◴[09 Jul 25 20:39 UTC] No.44514525[source]▶
If I were to do it all over again, I’d simplify things even further. I’d start by testing the idea with just the offline version. For syncing, I’d focus on syncing the data itself, just the database records and not the user actions. Instead of replaying every action, I’d track which records were modified and sync only those. No need to capture what changed, just that record got changed. Hopefully that makes sense.

The business is doing alright, but what really keeps me going is that the app is something I genuinely wanted for myself. I use it all the time, it's always open in the background, so that keeps me motivated.