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Hi, founder of Invisible Computers here. I think your questions are valid and not eye-rolling at all. As for the app, you can find the Android APK here, so as

Hi, founder of Invisible Computers here. I think your questions are valid and not eye-rolling at all. As for the app, you can find the Android APK here, so as long as you have or find an old Android device, you can sideload it anytime: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nnAHVm21FLKIAJ4kTmz6Q0D9Zk4s2x73/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nnAHVm21FLKIAJ4kTmz6Q0D9Zk4... But there is another dependency that you haven't mentioned: The device requires a running backend with an API. At the moment, my only answer to that is: "I'll keep it running even if it becomes uneconomical and I will then also open-source everything.". But I am also intending to add a way to completely avoid the backend, which will require users to render the data in a specific format to the device. Supporting this is totally worth the effort for me. If only to put my own mind at ease a bit! But, and there I have to be honest, I have limited resources to work on things. There are other features that I feel are very pressing as well. And so I cannot promise when I will find the time to implement this.

w0m 3y ago
> render data in a specific format Honestly; a (?rest?) API to push content and trigger updates would potentially cause me to buy immediately if I can self host all the required parts. I've been trying to come up with a household GTD system for awhile now and i can see some clean integrations.
hedora 3y ago
Why require a backend? Presumably, that means (in the best case) you end up handling credentials for unknown http end points. In the worst case, the backend sees the data being rendered, and now you have to deal with European and California data handling compliance. What if the device had a mode to let people connect to an API via a lan connection? That would solve all the privacy issues I just mentioned, and also improve reliability when the internet is flaky. It would also solve the e-waste problem if your backend shuts down.
lykahb 3y ago
What do you think of configuring the device with a simple config file or even an sqlite database that is available via mass storage? Here I am taking inspiration from Kobo. The config would point to the API that a user can deploy. Exposing more knobs through a config would be much easier than through a mobile app. Overall, I am impressed with the device and the dev-friendly documentatio. I consider buying it. My use case would be to display weather and calendar - preferably together. The OAuth2 stuff is quite complex, so I appreciate that the company handles it on the backend.

w0m 3y ago

> render data in a specific format Honestly; a (?rest?) API to push content and trigger updates would potentially cause me to buy immediately if I can self host all the required parts. I've been trying to come up with a household GTD system for awhile now and i can see some clean integrations.

hedora 3y ago

Why require a backend? Presumably, that means (in the best case) you end up handling credentials for unknown http end points. In the worst case, the backend sees the data being rendered, and now you have to deal with European and California data handling compliance. What if the device had a mode to let people connect to an API via a lan connection? That would solve all the privacy issues I just mentioned, and also improve reliability when the internet is flaky. It would also solve the e-waste problem if your backend shuts down.

lykahb 3y ago

What do you think of configuring the device with a simple config file or even an sqlite database that is available via mass storage? Here I am taking inspiration from Kobo. The config would point to the API that a user can deploy. Exposing more knobs through a config would be much easier than through a mobile app. Overall, I am impressed with the device and the dev-friendly documentatio. I consider buying it. My use case would be to display weather and calendar - preferably together. The OAuth2 stuff is quite complex, so I appreciate that the company handles it on the backend.