Apps I built to suit my own needs.
One for learning a language, one for reading in the language you're learning, one for a calmer workday. Each is small, opinionated, and made the way I wanted to use it.
Amber
English, Spanish, Japanese and Chinese, each rooted in a real city, on a 52-step path from A1 to B2.
How it teaches →Casu
A reader built for language learners. Tap a word for its meaning, hear the page read aloud, and share the lines that land.
Open a page →Elf
Six tasks for today, six planned for tomorrow, and a midnight reset. The Ivy Lee Method, with a nod to Bauhaus.
See the method →Learn a language the way languages are learned.
I wanted a language app that suits my needs, so I built one around how languages are learned. It draws on my own experience as a learner and on what my training and work have taught me.
A reader built for language learners.
I wanted to learn a new word without leaving the page, and to capture or share a thought the moment a passage connects with me. It has become my everyday reader.
- LearnsSelect a word and its meaning appears on the page, in your own language. The word joins your New Words.
- OpensEPUBs, PDFs, web articles and RSS feeds. It can even combine related RSS articles into a book.
- ListensReads everything aloud in natural voices, so you can follow along.
- RemembersTap any saved item to jump straight back to its passage.
- Book clubKeeps friends on the same chapter.
- RespectsEverything outside the club works offline, with no tracking, and there's an e-ink mode.
Six things today. Six for tomorrow. Then midnight.
I wanted a calmer workday, so I built a productivity app on the Ivy Lee Method, with a nod to Bauhaus design. At midnight, tomorrow's plan moves into place on its own.
Bookmarks
Save the page you'll need later, kept beside the work it belongs to.
Knowledge base
Capture from any page and grow a personal library you can actually find things in.
Workflows
Turn the routines you repeat into step-by-step SOPs.
Questions
What is afoo?
afoo is the home of three small apps from one maker: Amber for learning a language, Casu for reading in the language you are learning, and Elf for a calmer workday. Each was built to suit the maker's own needs.
Which apps does afoo make?
Amber, a language learning app for English, Spanish, Japanese and Chinese. Casu, an ebook, PDF and article reader built for language learners. Elf, a daily planner based on the Ivy Lee Method.
Where can I use them?
Elf runs as a web app at elf.afoo.app, a Chrome extension and an iPhone app. Amber and Casu are coming soon to iPhone.