Show HN: Pushpin, an iOS client for Pinboard, is now open source

[theli0nheart]

https://github.com/lionheart/Pushpin

Just wanted to share that I just open-sourced Pushpin today under the GPLv3 license.

I've been building it since 2012 and it's become one of the most popular iOS clients for Pinboard [0] [1] [2].

It hasn't gotten a large update in quite a while, but it still runs perfectly on the latest iOS and iPad OS devices. Enjoy!

[0]: https://pinboard.in/

[1]: https://thesweetsetup.com/apps/best-pinboard-app-ios/

[2]: https://toolsandtoys.net/pushpin-for-pinboard/

[wingerlang]

Nice. I am a fellow "more than a decade" maintainer of an app, and it's been fun. Some questions come to mind.

- Do you have some sort of community around the app?

- Do you have a steady (or maybe dwindling) stream of feedback?

- Any power users?

- Have you tried to reinvent the app in any way? (My app is on the third "sequel" where each one gathered some renewed interest).

- What made you open source it? Do you feel like you're "letting it go" by open sourcing it? (I could imagine myself feeling this way).

[theli0nheart → wingerlang]

Hey, nice! Congrats. Always nice to connect with others who've had to struggle through app review. ;)

There's definitely a contingent of loyal users who've been around since the early days, and who don't seem to be going anywhere as long as the app continues to work. Feedback does come in about once per week, but there's not a lot I can prioritize; the app simply doesn't pull in enough revenue to make it worth it. And yeah, there are some power users, and a lot of them are developers, so open-sourcing potentially unlocks a lot for them.

There was one major update a long time ago (iOS 7), when I completely rehauled the interface (thanks Iconfactory!). But the reception wasn't great, and from that point forward the app struggled to gain more momentum.

I'd say the biggest motivator for open-sourcing it was feeling like I was somehow gatekeeping. I'm the only one who could make a change, and it just wasn't my top priority, so by keeping it closed source I wasn't helping anyone.

There also isn't anything in the source code that I'd consider a "trade secret", and moreover I just want to see the app continue to improve over time. It's not a huge moneymaking endeavor, so I wasn't very concerned about copycats either (and there are already plenty of other Pinboard iOS apps).

In some ways, yes, it does feel like letting go, but in another way it feels like I'm actually giving it the room to grow into something more. It doesn't need to be my baby any longer, and I'm actually really excited to see the existing community run with it. We'll see what happens!

[wingerlang → theli0nheart]

Very cool. I also come across people having used my apps for literal years, it's a small subset but they are distinct and super appreciated.

Hopefully there is some progress, but if not, I suppose it's a success already anyway, and less weight on your shoulders.

[foliovision]

Where did you share the code? You didn't include a link.

Great job with Pushpin. It was the only extension which worked semi-reliably on iOS. Sad that it wasn't viable.