A while back, I decided I wanted to build a grocery store list app for my wife and I to share. Building a native app felt too difficult. I would have to deal with App Store review, TestFlight, and I’d still need to run a server to store data. Seemed like too much hassle for a grocery list app. Plus, I wanted to build a bunch more apps later, like a credit card perk tracker and a tracker for the family’s Pictionary games.

All of this turned into a full OSS platform. All apps in Homestead start out with the resource schema. Homestead creates fully authenticated REST APIs on top. You can use the built-in, agent-friendly CLI if you’re tech savvy or you can use the built-in web server to expose React apps. All the apps are easily compartmentalized, live on your machine, and each can have their own Home Screen icon.

If you’re interested in building personal software, please take a look!