I made Alyx as a caffeine playground for iOS 26. It's actually been on my phone for a few years, but I decided to pretty it up and ship it. If you're keen on iOS 26, these are some things I am proud of:
- Visual Look Up: You can scan coffee and it'll use AI to figure out the contents. This was a new API that iOS 26 brought and I thought this was kinda fun.
- Logging with AI: Apple shipped Foundation Models on iOS 26, and while they are far less capable that flagship models, they are great for bite sized tasks. Plus, they support tool calling - which means they can fire up tools that you give them when they are generating responses. So, I feed it caffeine data and people can type in what they're drinking, and it'll give you a reasonable estimation of how much caffeine is in it.
- Tons of Siri stuff: If you're into automation, every single thing in the app works as an action in Shortcuts. This was a lot of work, but was a goal from the start. Even small things, like changing the app's theme, can be done in Shortcuts.
It turned out pretty good I think! Excited that some people seem to dig it too. I never know how to make these Show HN things super interesting, but if you like caffeine logging and have iOS, I think you'll like this.
I’m at a point my life and career where I’d never entertain working those hours. Missed basketball games, seeing kids come home from school, etc. I do think when I first started out, and had no kiddos, maybe some crazy sprints like that would’ve been exhilarating. No chance now though
The only that hasn't changed in this industry is that engineers apparently can't stand new, green beginners getting into the field.
"They ship buggy, insecure messes"
"They don't know how to fix what AI gave them"
etc etc etc
Right. Like that same thing hasn't been happening literally during the entire existence of programming. I, for one, welcome the vibe coders. I hope it grows their interest in the field and encourages them to go deeper and learn more. Will some be lazy and not even try? Of course! Will some get curious and learn the ins and outs? Absolutely.
The interesting thing with my side projects is that they are ever so close to being a full-on business, but they are slightly under the threshold where I could go all in (stay at home wife, three kids, American healthcare costs). So, it’s hard to think of them as “side” projects when in reality they’ve become a “side” business. It’s like I have no choice but to take them a bit seriously, though I do hope to find the time for a “love of the game” side project. Great post.
I’m a bit behind where you are with my side businesses, and the way I feel about them is more acutely aware of the time tradeoff I have to make to work on them.
To side hustle on my job board, I have to give up hanging out with my kid.
That’s just not a trade I’ve felt like making recently.
On top of that, I just changed jobs, and got a very appreciable salary bump for it. It makes the grind of the side business seem pretty paltry in comparison: the returns on my main career track are just so much bigger thanks to my compounding experience and skill there.
They have their stuff and, I’m not sure how to word it, but like affiliated channels or other channels within their “network” - such Ryan Trayhan (my spelling is off there)
A basketball shot chart. I’m about done with it, but one thing I was happy to have figured - out coaches often want to tag a shot as a particular type. So like a three pointer, mid range, or whatever else it may be. With my shot chart, it automatically tags the shot based on where they added it, which I think is pretty neat.
This reads as someone who looks at data but doesn’t actually play basketball, coach basketball or generally know basketball. Numbers can only tell you so much, and 2025 Celtics and the rise of Steph have led to more 3s but the sport of basketball is not as predictable as the author suggests. For example, look at the college game, which doesn’t reflect this trend as much as the NBA does.
It's basically just seems like a riff off of a Bloomberg article published yesterday, titled "The NBA Has Fallen Into an Efficiency Trap", without any of the details in the article, besides the 3-pointer trend chart, which is basically a carbon copy. I'm not even sure this article is suggestive of someone simply looking at the data. Given the close timing, they probably just read the Bloomberg article, or a different blog inspired by the Bloomberg article, as opposed to just coming to this conclusion as a NBA aficionado.
College players are much more inconsistent because they're younger and less experienced. There are not many 20 year olds you can depend on to consistently make 3s. There are also a lot more teams which spreads the talent pool around. In my opinion, it amounts to a more exciting product to watch, even if it's less polished.
Yes, I agree. Love the college game. I think people don’t realize how talented NBA players really are, which sounds crazy to type - but I believe its true.
There probably are as many 20 year old college kids who can hit threes as there are pros who can hit them, but they are spread over many more teams.
Unless you have a correctable mechanical problem with your shot, the ability to hit a three point basket is more of a natural ability than a learned skill. Those guys just have incredibly good hand-eye coordination.
- Visual Look Up: You can scan coffee and it'll use AI to figure out the contents. This was a new API that iOS 26 brought and I thought this was kinda fun.
- Logging with AI: Apple shipped Foundation Models on iOS 26, and while they are far less capable that flagship models, they are great for bite sized tasks. Plus, they support tool calling - which means they can fire up tools that you give them when they are generating responses. So, I feed it caffeine data and people can type in what they're drinking, and it'll give you a reasonable estimation of how much caffeine is in it.
- Tons of Siri stuff: If you're into automation, every single thing in the app works as an action in Shortcuts. This was a lot of work, but was a goal from the start. Even small things, like changing the app's theme, can be done in Shortcuts.
It turned out pretty good I think! Excited that some people seem to dig it too. I never know how to make these Show HN things super interesting, but if you like caffeine logging and have iOS, I think you'll like this.