About Zephyr

There was no perfect task management app for someone like me.

Zephyr is a highly opinionated product built by one very easily distracted person who uses it every day. It is designed to be powerful, intuitive and dead simple.

Plain text files or note taking apps lack quality-of-life features like repeating or deferring tasks, while other productivity apps have so much functionality that the visual clutter distracts from what really matters - getting stuff done.

Zephyr is respectful software occupying the sweet spot between these extremes.

Respectful Software

Zephyr is my proving ground for a new kind of software development philosophy: Respectful Software.

Developers of advertiser or venture capital-funded software are incentivized to drive constant engagement and eternal growth. These things are not in the best interest of the user. Dark patterns keep users engaged, while their data is sold to advertisers.

Respectful software do right by the user, and respect their attention, privacy, and freedom. Zephyr's product development is guided by these principles.

  • Respect the user's attention: Do not interrupt users, or demand their attention. Users should engage with software on their own terms.
  • Respect the user's privacy: Only collect the data required to provide the service, or what is mandated by law.
  • Respect the user's freedom: The user should be free to leave the service, or cancel their subscription at any time. Make it easy for the user to take their data with them.
  • Software should be finished: One day Zephyr will be done. It will be sufficiently useful and polished to justify its price, and there won't be anything else to add.

I can commit to these principles because Zephyr is designed and priced to be sustainable and independent.

This is an experiment. I don't know how big the market is, or how many people will pay for it. If this experiment fails and the service is discontinued, the Zephyr source code will be released under the MIT license, along with everything required to run the service and import your data if you wish to continue using it.