Why make mini-apps?
I can remember sitting down, wanting to quickly switch between three things: notes, a transaction list, and a calculator. I felt like the constant swapping between app screens on my phone was going to drive me crazy. I wanted a better way to manage multiple tools at once… A little while later, in what seemed an unrelated problem, I needed my multi-tool from the toolbox to fix a wobbly table. As I opened the screwdriver on the multi-tool I realized that what I wanted earlier was the multi-tool of apps. I didn’t want to have to switch between three different app screens on my phone to complete a problem, and so… I thought, “why not combine all the simple apps into one?”
The Omni-tool is born
To deal with my frustration of too many apps at one time, I put together my original issues – in other words, my calculator, and my notes, into one app. From there, I thought about what other tools I might want. It began to sprawl in a cascade of lovely chaos. First, I added quick-use tools I thought would be helpful, like a world clock, counter, simple budget, and limited bookmarks. And then I added simple games. The kind you would play if you had nothing else to do, such as memory, checkers, and chess. I thought about things I might want if I were playing a game with someone and added the dice mini-app which is a personal favorite. This is how the omni tool started, and it continues to grow.
Simple tools for every skill
The Omni-tool currently branches out into tools that would be useful for specific sets of tasks. For example, there are now mini-apps for artists, an exercise and diet planner for fitness, and now web development and design. Each is a simple one-task miniature application, for when you just need to do something simple like create a good-looking button for your webpage but don’t want to download yet another singular app to do it.
Vision for the Future
Though it is still very simple now, I want to transform the Omni-tool into something that is indispensable in all my daily tasks. I want to make it more modular than any other multi-tool has been before, allowing users to adjust and curate just the right tools to fit their lifestyle, all while simplifying, and decluttering the process of using mini apps. What started as an easier way to use two simple apps quickly is now becoming a hub for simple task workflows, where, for example, an artist could come to work out their color palette, check the values of their references or art, and apply helpful grid marks to their images as needed.
How does the Omni-tool declutter our phone use?
Remember when you either had to google “inches to centimeters”, (metric conversion app coming soon!), had to download a hundred different apps, or visit sketchy ad-bait websites just to do one simple thing? The Omni-tool is built to solve exactly that problem. As it grows, the intention is for the Omni-tool to become something that replaces the clutter of scattered tools across the internet and applications.
Spoiler: Some Planned Updates
Currently, the Omni-tool is planned to undergo the following updates:
- Add brand design board to web development apps
- Allow use of brand design board in button generator, and future web dev mini apps.
- Metric conversions app for distance, volume, and weights
- Update dashboard to allow customization of mini app groups
