The Full Story
The spark of inspiration came from actual need. My biggest passion is backcountry skiing. In the backcountry, you rarely follow visible paths. Everything is covered in snow, and winter routes often take totally different lines for safety. GPS and GPX routes are essential. Being able to validate your position opens many options and is a real safety benefit.
Phones work great for navigation, but constantly pulling one out of your pocket, taking off gloves, and fiddling with it in freezing conditions gets old fast. Watches seemed like the obvious solution — but every option I tried felt clunky. Too slow, too annoying to use, not detailed enough, and too focused on workout stats instead of actually helping me navigate.
When the Apple Watch Ultra came out, I bought one hoping it would be different. The hardware was impressive, but the mapping apps still weren't what I needed. I wanted something focused on navigation, not fitness tracking with a map bolted on.
Why not just build it myself?
Being a programmer, I started wondering why nobody had built a proper mapping app for Apple Watch. Turns out, it's genuinely hard. There are no ready-made tools for it — you have to build everything from scratch. That's probably why most watch apps treat maps as an afterthought.
But weirdly, I love this kind of challenge. Solving complex problems, focusing on small details, making things fast and smooth. The idea stuck with me, but working full-time, I didn't have time to pursue it.
The layoff that changed everything
Fast forward to fall 2024. My company laid off plenty of people as it lost its funding, and I was in this group. Suddenly, I had lots of time. And I didn't want to jump straight into the next job after working 12 years non-stop for one company. I wanted to give myself time to breathe and explore what I'd like to do.
That's when I started working on WristTopo. Not that it was my idea for the next job. Not at all. I was enjoying my freedom, but wanted to keep the brain busy and learn new technology (I was not an iOS developer). I started with a Watch-only proof of concept.
It took me a few months to come up with the first version, but I was actually pretty happy with the results. I also found myself really enjoying Apple technologies. And having a slightly different perspective and past experience weirdly put me at an advantage.
The joy of indie development
So I decided to publish the app to the App Store in 2025 and see what happens, with zero expectations. It started slowly, but once in a while I started receiving feedback from users saying they really enjoyed it, along with useful tips and ideas for new features. Later on, I had a few bursts of user acquisition and feedback, usually when I got mentioned on some popular websites.
I realized how satisfying it is to be in charge of the complete software cycle — from idea, to design, to implementation, then talking to users, and implementing their feedback. This is very different from being a small cog in a big software machinery. My software doesn't fly to Mars, but this complete process and the conversations gave me joy I hadn't had for years.
And I think that was the turning point when I really started to push the development and realized this could be my new, extremely satisfying job.
Where I am today
The response has been amazing. I receive feedback from users regularly, and the list of planned features keeps growing based on what people actually need.
But I want to always stay true to the core idea: keeping the app clean, fast and useful. Even as I add more features, I'll make sure not to clutter the experience. If I hear an awesome idea tomorrow, I might shift priorities completely. And I hope it stays like that.
— Piotr