I've quit my job to focus on writing my own software, such as this app. I'm also taking a little break.
Banyan Flashcards is my novel take on a language learning app. This category is incredibly crowded, but that's largely due to a deluge of apps which differ only in form factor (i.e. design, but not substance). My theory is that it's crowded because nobody has truly solved the problem yet - acquiring a language is still hard. The first to solve this will win big, and they won't do it by cloning Duolingo or being a cookie-cutter flashcard app. Success here will require clear differentiation, authentic marketing, and a product that delivers on a radical promise: Effortless learning.
You can understand how this app differs from existing offerings by reading ^Improving at a language could be easy, we're just not doing it right.
My aim is to develop this app to the point where it delivers on its potential as an idea. So much is possible with this interaction model, and I want to build something that delivers on that. People with busy lives should still have a way to make continuous progress on their learning goals.
The hardest part of this will no doubt be finding a way to get it in front of the people who it'll be useful for. Part of the challenge is finding the right messaging so that I can summarise the value proposition in a way that is easy to communicate. This is all new to me, so it'll take me some time to get it right.
This app isn't the only thing I'm working on ("don't put all your eggs in one basket" etc.) - I have one other mobile app, and I have a few ideas for some other software, although I haven't started on those just yet.