Subault
A small companion for your personal project
- Type
- macOS
- Time
- Role
- UI design
- Development
- Icon design
- Tools
- Xcode
- Figma
- Blender
- Sketch
Introduction
Subault is a native macOS app designed to be a compact companion for your personal projects, offering a seamless offline experience. The app enables users to store notes, images, and links, providing quick access to their favorite files without requiring an internet connection.
The Concept
When working on a project, I conduct extensive research by collecting images for reference, writing notes, and saving links. Before Subault, I used Eagle for images, Obsidian for notes, and Raindrop.io for links. While each is great software on its own, I found using them simultaneously for a single project and switching back and forth between them to be really tedious.
Prototype
For Subault, one minor goal is that users will not have to prepare extensively for building a portfolio. Designers often find themselves suddenly needing to create a portfolio site or PDF without any materials ready. Subault aims to facilitate this by enabling users to export a streamlined workflow of their projects using GPTs. The initial prototype image below shows that users can store various types of information about a project, such as used tools or even user-defined properties. However, it became apparent that this approach was almost feature creep and did not clearly convey what Subault can do. Consequently, I narrowed the features down to those truly essential.
The Power of Native
When it comes to delivering a great user experience and choosing the right technology to achieve it, I believe utilizing native frameworks is almost pivotal. Nowadays, many macOS apps are built using Electron, which is great for compatibility. However, Subault was developed entirely in SwiftUI, offering user interfaces that macOS users are familiar with, including multi-window interactions.
The Name of Subault
He is Subaru and my beloved Shiba Inu, who also inspired the codename for Subault. He was born six years ago and has always barked at anyone outside the family. I love him so much. Initially, Subaru was just a codename for the project, but when it came time to name the initial release, I decided to keep it. The name Subault is a blend of Subaru and vault. Got it?
Download
I hope that you like the page and are interested in Subault. If you want to check it out, here is the product page. Let me know if you have any feedbacks! Meanwhile, enjoy Subault!