Type in your own exercises, set work and rest ranges, and let the timer surprise you. Works offline.
Week 43, 2026
This week on Somebody Build This
· 1 shipped · 1 build started · 7 new ideas
Shipped that week
1- ShippedBuilt from#0020A random-interval workout timer you can load with your own exercises
Builds started
1New ideas posted
7A new-release checker for people who keep their own music collection instead of streaming
People who buy and keep their own music, rather than streaming it, miss out on the 'new from artists you like' alerts that streaming apps give everyone else. Someone in that position wished for an app that looks through the music folders on their own computer, works out which artists they have, and when asked shows any new albums or singles from those artists. They know online services exist, but wanted something that works from their own music folders and checks only when they ask. It could check a free public music database such as MusicBrainz and remember what it has already shown you.
Asked for by a music fan on the fediverse who doesn't use streaming
#music#collection#new-releases#0042wantedA map where parents share free public spots for little kids to watch diggers and cement mixers
Lots of little kids are obsessed with diggers, cranes and cement mixers, and watching real ones at work is a free outing they love. After someone shared a street in New York where you can see a row of cement mixers, another person wished there were an app for finding free, public places like that. Parents could drop a pin on a spot they can watch from the pavement or a public viewing area, say what's usually there and roughly when it's busy, and mark when they last saw it working. Building sites come and go, so each spot should show how recent its last report is.
Asked for by someone on Bluesky replying to a tip about where little kids can watch cement mixers
#kids#family#outings#map#0041wantedA way to tap one article in a newspaper PDF and read just that column on your phone
Reading a newspaper or magazine PDF on a phone means endless zooming and sliding sideways, because the pages have several columns that change from page to page. Someone who reads a daily paper this way wished they could tap the one article they want and have just that column's text laid out to fit the phone screen, in a comfortable size. The reader apps they tried either confused them or jumbled the text across columns. It would only need to work for PDFs that contain real text, not scanned photos of pages.
Asked for by a reader on the F-Droid forum
#reading#news#pdf#phone#0040wantedA shared rating of which food jars and tubs are easy to clean out and reuse
People who wash out jam jars and food tubs to reuse them find that some brands' labels peel off cleanly while others tear and leave sticky glue behind, and some products come in far more plastic than others. This would be a simple shared list where you look up a product and see how easy its container is to reuse, then add your own rating after trying it: did the label come off, is the lid worth keeping, how much extra packaging was there. Next time you shop, you could pick the brand with the friendlier jar. Products could be found by name or by scanning the barcode, using the free Open Food Facts product list.
Asked for by a commenter in a Hacker News thread
#home#recycling#shopping#kitchen#0039wantedA way to turn a spare kitchen TV into a message board that only wakes up for family
Some homes have a TV in the kitchen that hardly ever gets watched. This would let it stay dark until a message arrives from someone on a short list you choose, then switch the screen on, show the message with a sound that tells you who sent it, and turn the screen off again after a set time so it doesn't waste power. Messages from anyone not on the list would never show up. It could be an app for an Android TV, with family sending messages from their phones.
Asked for by a poster on Software Recommendations Stack Exchange
#home#family#messages#tv#0038wantedA picture-story writing game for kids that lights up each picture once they've named it
Children aged about 7 to 9 would see a small row of pictures and write a few sentences that use all of them. As they type, each picture lights up when they use its word, so they can see what they still need to describe, and if they're stuck, tapping a picture shows or says the word. When every row is done, the pieces join into one story the child can read back or hear read aloud, then turn the page for a new set. A parent or teacher would choose the pictures and their words, and it would need no accounts or chat.
Asked for by a poster on Software Recommendations Stack Exchange
#education#kids#writing#reading#00371 shippedA chore reminder that reacts to the weather and what's happening at home, not just a fixed schedule
A lot of housework depends on the weather, visitors, or another job being finished, so a fixed schedule doesn't always help. This reminder would still handle the regular jobs, like laundry on Thursday evening, and also speak up when heavy rain is forecast (check the gutters), when guests are coming tomorrow (tidy up), or the day after a job that needs a follow-up (fold yesterday's washing). Everything would live in one simple list for the household. It could read the local weather forecast and let you add your own events, like a visit, that trigger the right chores.
Asked for by a commenter in a Hacker News thread about things people wish existed
#home#chores#reminders#weather#0036wanted