I’m a solo developer based in Austria and over the past year I built a ski technique analysis app that runs fully offline on the phone.

No cloud processing. No account system. No subscription model.

I originally built it because I was frustrated with two things: 1. seasonal sports apps charging year-round subscriptions 2. performance data being tied to cloud accounts for no strong technical reason

Instead of debating the model, I decided to try building something different.

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The technical approach

The app processes: • GPS • motion sensors • acceleration data

All analysis happens on-device.

The biggest challenges weren’t UI. They were: • sensor noise during aggressive turns • battery drain during long ski days • balancing sampling rate vs. usable signal • designing a scoring model that feels intuitive but is still technically grounded

The offline requirement made architecture simpler in some ways and harder in others.

No backend meant: • no server costs • no sync logic • no auth system • no cloud ML pipeline

But it also meant: • everything must run within phone constraints • optimization matters • no ability to “fix it in the cloud”

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What didn’t work • I overestimated how much people care about privacy as a primary selling point. • Distribution is significantly harder than engineering. • Launch posts don’t move the needle nearly as much as you think.

The app currently has 600+ downloads across iOS and Android. No investors. No paid marketing.

Getting the first 100 users was easier than getting from 300 to 600.

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The business decision

I chose one-time pricing instead of subscription.

From a pure revenue perspective, subscription would likely generate more predictable income.

But I wanted to see whether a niche sports product could survive without recurring revenue and without cloud dependency.

It may turn out that this was financially naive. I genuinely don’t know yet.

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What I’m struggling with now • distribution without hype cycles • explaining “offline” in a way that isn’t marketing-sounding • deciding whether staying small and sustainable is enough

I’m curious how other builders think about: • offline-first architectures in 2026 • one-time pricing viability • building for niche seasonal markets

Happy to answer technical questions.