"Stupid apps" are the future and vibing coding will bring the rise of *vibeware* - and its okay.
OP-ED?
Recently I've been finding myself actually buying and downloading apps more than before. The common thread? They're all silly things that almost do nothing.
I say almost because what they do offer is a bit of joy during my work day. Some of the recent apps I've purchased or downloaded are @Klack, Googly Eyes, @Docko, @Ball,@TabTab, and @NotchNook.
Some of these do have productivity or quality of life improvements (looking at the last two) but others are simply about making the computer fun again.
For example @Klack has genuinely made me more focused when I type and I've been able to zone in on work. It's like each clickity-clack is driving me closer to where I want to go and idk, the feedback just feels GOOD. The audio is also really nice, not sure how I can explain it, but feels very high-def for something that is mimicking a tactical feeling.
All these apps remind me of a time where shareware and P2P ( @Limewire ) was more popular. Where you might be okay buying a CD or floppy and installing something fun on your computer, then telling (sharing) your buddy about it. And with the rise of vibe coding, I think we're going to see vibeware become a thing. Where users will create something fun, quickly, using AI tools like @Cursor, @Replit, or @bolt.new/@Lovable and then put it at a super low cost or have a free-trial (shareware).
Those that don't want to pay, will create their own iteration of it and choose their own distribution method (P2P) but it won't eat at the original.
It's my genuine feeling that the internet is about to become fun again (it's already started) and I'm curious if I'm the only one feeling this way and/or embracing it?
What do you think? Is the era of vibeware a good thing? And if not why should we refute it?
This piece was written with FKJ - Just Piano in the background.
Replies
minimalist phone: creating folders
I think that vibe coding for a solo is great for a very small team but (without any coding knowledge) I wouldn't make a solution that is sensitive to data.
I can see how people are very insecure about their passwords, screenshots etc (it is one of the most asked questions) and if the code wouldn't work properly because of the code that wasn't tested by someone who has knowledge in coding, it would be a very huge problem and lot of fines.
Product Hunt
@busmark_w_nika reallllly great take. I feel this is where @bolt.new and @Lovable are going to shine through for those with no dev experience. Having Supabase and authentication "built-in" to the vibe coding process will help reduce some of these saftey concerns....however...I do think we as a community need to do a better job educating new builders about how to build with privacy, security, and versioning in mind. Maybe a good thing for @producthunt and @GitHub to collab on.
NewOaks AI
@busmark_w_nika Yes Nika, I got asked by many customers that how does my product deal with their password, what is the security layer by AI, whether password is hashed etc. Privacy and security is a big thing for people's concerns when it comes to vibe-coding software tool
minimalist phone: creating folders
@ray_luan + Every day I receive such a message like: Can you please delete my account and data? So education would be very beneficial (I mean on the topic of data security).
NotchNook
VIBEWARE FOR THE WIIIIIIIIIIIIN!
Dude, isn't that what we're all about? Feelings?
That's why Apple is and, until we replace them đź‘€, will always be so amazing.
UX is about feelings, not logic. It's about what the user FEELS when they use your app.
As the wise Steve Jobs once said:
Happiness is our fuel, Steve knew that, and he knew how to apply that for customers. I, differently from Steve, apply that to everyone. lo.cafe is about happiness in the best way possible, specially for the people who work here. Sometimes users get a bit angry with us because we take so long to release updates, but sorry, it's the cost of making apps for love. It's in the agreement that they will only work when they want :)
Btw, you can't wait for what's to come from us hehehe
This piece was also written with FKJ - Just Piano in the background ❤️
Product Hunt
@kinark big fan of lo.cafe and happy to see you here, Igor! Totally, it's all about the feeling...and...I think you're hitting on something that I excluded from my original post. DESIGN will be very important. Crafting design and interfaces for humans will be key, especially since AI can't always know what's best emotionally.
Excited to see what's next from y'all! I think the fact that you're active on Discord and across social apps (like here!) is testament enough and ppl should understand you and the team are busy building. Happy to test anything if you need testers!
Hehe, glad you tuned in. It's good BGM.
@gabe one thing for sure - there's going to be more tools/products/vibeware, whatever you want to call them.
it's like with websites after the internet went mainstream - the number exploded. we can argue about the quality but the exponential growth of websites isn't in question
Product Hunt
@taniabell very true - I think the main difference is it won't all be online now but can remain local or amongst friends.
@gabe agreed. just like local shops - bakeries, butcher's etc. - co-exist with supermarkets. what a time to be alive
NewOaks AI
Agreed with you Gabe. Andrej Karpathey said in 2023 that the new hot programming language will be plain English. With that said, Bolt, Cursor, Replit or Lovable have first mover advantage on Vibe-coding business. Two questions: 1. Do you think LLMs like Claude or Chatgpt will compete with them head to head? How would they do if Sam Altman decided to build an app just for autonomous coding with ChatGPT 4O. 2. For second movers like EZsite AI ( my product for Vibe-coding but focus on business owners instead of developers), how should they position themselves to compete with the first movers who has reaped the traffic benefit of Vibe-Coding in the first hype?
Product Hunt
@ray_luan hey! I'll tackle each one on at a time
I think what's cool about LLMs is that they power the tools like Cursor or Bolt. With that being said, I'm sure OpenAI might have a coding companion at some point. They're already implementing snippets and we've seen @Claude by Anthropic run code in line. I think the future is going to be that all the tools have the capabilities but let the user interact with their interface differently allowing for different type of users to access the same knowledge/agent.
Really good question! I'd suggest thinking narrow, not broad. There's a reason you're building what you're building. Hone in on that, and then really focus on what makes your product special compared to whats on the market. If you're the 20th hamburger shop in town, why does your burger stand out? Is it the patty? The store design? The community? The sauce? Hope that helps :)
NewOaks AI
@gabe Thanks a lot for your insights, very delightful!
Yes I am sure that ChatGPT will find its companion like Bolt or Cursor soon. Maybe Bolt or Cursor would build their own LLM at some point.
Totally echoed you on that. I think second movers should go narrow and go deep. For example, Lovable's target audience is developers, so their app is more flexible for coders to modify and integrate with Supabase, widely useful tool. However EZsite AI's main customers is SMBs with no coding experience, so we build native built-in database and also allow uer to use their own database like PostGre SQL or Oracle besides Supabase. One core feature we have VS. Bolt/Lovable is that SMB actually needs conversion rate improvement and sales funnel automation. So Our USP is to build AI apps that can convert and ship revenue eventually with AI.
Thanks again for your inspiration! We are planning to launch on April 8th. Hopefully you have time to curate our USP and give some constructive feedbacks!. Keep up the great job Gabe!
Product Hunt
@ray_luan I built a Tariff explainer website using @EZsite AI. The output and experience is a bit different than things like Cursor, so maybe lean into that more! Otherwise, congrats and good luck :)
@gabe there’s something beautiful about how “stupid apps” are reminding us what it feels like to use a computer again. not for output, not for metrics — just for joy, texture, presence. "vibeware" feels less like a trend and more like a quiet rebellion. small tools, soft edges, built with care. maybe that’s the future — less scale, more soul.
Product Hunt
I love the soundtrack link! In the future, you should totally add the soundtrack to the beginning so I can read your posts with the same soundtrack in the background!
Product Hunt
@rajiv_ayyangar I love that suggestion! Will definitely do on the next one!
I wonder if conventional app revenue approaches will be put to the test by the rise of "vibeware." More freemium models with optional paying features might be om the horizon.
"They're all silly things that almost do nothing." - I for one totally vibe with this. Old enough to have been around when the 'internet' first enabled a whole bunch of awesome silliness for the fun of it. Somewhere along the way, it became harder to build smaller things and the last decade has been mainly about building things that others will pay or use (and ads pay for it).
The big unlock I think with vibe coding is being able to just build something for yourself as the default. This is actually quite profound, because there is soul in these products [compared to traditional product building for ICPs etc] and it will likely resonate beyond the makers. I think we are on the cusp of an explosion of creativity, and quite excited by it.