How my apps work on the inside. Each post takes one app apart: the problem it solves, the code that does the hard part, and where it still falls short.
CaffeinateCat
Why lid-closed mode needs root, how CaffeinateCat asks for it once for exactly two commands, and the five separate things that make sure your Mac can always sleep again.
OAF
Detecting file types from their bytes instead of their names, a spreadsheet engine with loop detection, and why OAF patches Word and Excel files instead of rewriting them.
Loadstone
How Loadstone turns noisy GPS into a pin with an honest radius, keeps a compass arrow steady without making it slow, and fits a place on Earth into seven silly words.
Brewlight
How Brewlight's search works, from byte buffers shaped so every kind of match is one memmem call, to a ranking packed into a single integer, to opening instantly by not asking brew.
Duet
How Duet finds other phones with six words and no server, estimates another phone's clock the way NTP does, and keeps playback in step by easing speed instead of jumping.
LibreChat
How LibreChat floods messages across a Bluetooth mesh, holds them for a day when there's no path yet, and starts Signal-style encrypted chats with no server to hand out keys.
Campfire
How Campfire runs a Ktor server on one phone for everyone nearby, keeps every chat rule in one class that never touches a socket, and stops a pasted link from probing your router.
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