I make kind software.
Apps that ask one gentle question a day and never guilt you for being human. I'm Arnaud Joubay (say Ar‑no Joo‑bay) — indie developer at Goodwhale and diver, freshly landed in Helsinki.
Why kind?
Most habit apps punish you: break a streak, start from zero, feel bad, delete the app. I build the opposite — mascots that forgive. Crush the orangutan shrugs off your worst sugar day. Naomi the cow doesn't blink when you order the steak. Your progress is a planet that fills up, never a counter that resets.
Even my initials turned out kind: draw an A and a J carelessly enough and you get a whale. It became the company.
The evidence
- Quit Sugar: No Treat Today never resets your streak — a slip is a day, not a defeat.
- No Meat Today lets Naomi ask about meat without ever judging the answer.
- Tortuba remembers every fish you met, even if you forgot the dive.
- Emojym turns being slow at emoji into a game, not an embarrassment.
- Snack Workouts: Pyup asks for 90 seconds of push-ups, not a gym membership.
Writes
Notes on SwiftUI, Xcode, Rails, and the indie app life.
Off the keyboard
I dive — which is how Tortuba happened; paper logbooks don't survive boat bags. I don't make music, I make playlists — someone has to. And I keep a Now page, for whoever's counting.
Six homes, four countries
Where home has been since 2005.
- Paris Mar 2005 – Jun 2009
- Ho Chi Minh City Jul 2009 – Aug 2012
- Paris Sep 2012 – Dec 2013
- Limoges Dec 2013 – Dec 2021
- Zürich Jan 2022 – Jun 2026
- Helsinki Jul 2026 – now current
Find me on
Everywhere below I'm sowenjub — a made-up word: the jub of Joubay grafted onto Sowenga, my imaginary island, the place I go in my head for fun and creativity 🏝️
