I got a lot of ideas for side projects rattling around in the old tin can. As part of my “No new projects” initiative, I’m trying to jump on building prototypes so I can decide if I want to explore ideas more or call it quits. A handful of my ideas are riffs or twists on existing app categories:

Dave Rupert

A developer reflects on repeatedly hitting dead ends when trying to build side project prototypes due to lack of public API access — from tennis rankings to real estate listings. Frustrated by the decline of freely accessible APIs since the Web 2.0 era, the author decides to swear off API-dependent ideas entirely as a personal filter. The post also touches on the risks of building on third-party platforms (OAuth apps, Tweetbot-style shutdowns) and the CarPlay template restrictions discovered along the way.

I'm swearing off APIs entirely