About

Hi there!

I’m Steffen Finsland, a software developer from northern Norway, now living in Telemark with my wife and two boys. I love building products, diving into new tech, carpentry, snowboarding, and playing in the snow.

Through two decades of software development, from scrappy startups to bureaucratic tech giants, I watched my creativity slowly get buried under process. I genuinely enjoyed the ride and learned a ton, yet slowly found myself somewhere unexpected: my days filled more with meetings and ceremony than actually making things. In early 2024, I decided it was time to reconnect with my inner maker, quit my job, started my company, and began developing apps independently.

Coding, I quickly learned, was just the beginning of a much larger challenge. Suddenly, I wasn’t just a developer; I was everything. Bookkeeping, budgeting, taxes, and navigating government compliance became immediate realities. Managing hardware, backups, email, web and backend servers piled onto my plate. Customer support, writing help documentation, responding to ratings and reviews, advertising, content marketing, creating app screenshots, and video production quickly followed.

And then there’s testing: new features, old ones, field tests, device-specific quirks, localization, and accessibility; all crucial, all mine. Product strategy became paramount; understanding users, market analysis, competitor research, and crafting roadmaps. Add design work: product design, asset creation, app and website copywriting to the mix, and the list felt endless. Tackling all these roles alone is incredibly challenging and can feel undeniably lonely at times, despite the personal rewards and growth.

Despite the challenges, I’m still here, still learning, and proudly shipping apps:

Release The Notes! - A macOS app using AI to turn Git commits and diffs into clear, readable changelogs, saving you from tedious archaeology.

Headaches Migraine Tracker - An intuitive iOS app designed to help users effortlessly track migraines and symptoms.

Leksa - An iOS app aiding children (and surprisingly some adults!) with dyslexia, making reading more approachable and enjoyable.

Gitonium - A feature-rich git client for macOS, offering fine-grained staging and AI-assisted commit messages.

Rediscovering myself has been difficult, but ultimately very rewarding. I’m excited about what’s ahead and am always happy to connect with fellow makers, indie developers, or anyone curious about my projects. Feel free to reach out - I’d love to hear from you.

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