#103: 2026 Vibes

We're back! In this season 6 premiere, Steve struggles to speak after being sick, but still manages to talk a lot about the current hype around Claude Code and Opus 4.5 and the "agentic" coding craze sweeping developer circles online right now. The Trio discuss Alex Hillman's amazing Claude Code wrapper personal assistant called "Andy." Kotaro makes some Metal shaders with Claude and is building a TouchPie with his own hands while Steve is exploring some open source models to use in a Bento Fit update and Aaron is exploring a full and satisfying life away from the computer. There is a lot packed into this episode and it ends with a special announcement!

## Show Notes

- Introductions

- Anime and Isekai: Comfort Food for Developers

- Side Project Explorations (Mostly in "AI")

- Steve Yegge’s crazy “Gas Town” multi-agent automated code factory thing

- https://steve-yegge.medium.com/welcome-to-gas-town-4f25ee16dd04

- Alex Hillman’s “Andy” personal assistant built around headless Claude Code

- https://youtu.be/yjO9UHIunSE

- https://www.youtube.com/live/rk2nsE-MlPg

- Whoops! Data exfiltration in Claude Cowork!

- https://www.promptarmor.com/resources/claude-cowork-exfiltrates-files

- Robots!

- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lS_z60kjVEk

- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJqMPFNP4to

- Shaders!

- https://www.shadertoy.com

- Bento Fit!

- https://bentofit.app

- Raspberry Pi “Ziggy”?

- One More Thing…IRL EVENT!!!!

- Jan 29 at the Vanguard Building, 2300 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, PA

- RSVP: https://luma.com/98u1j4t8

- http://phillycocoa.org

## Chapters

00:00 Introductions

01:50 Anime and Isekai: Comfort Food for Developers

04:59 Side Project Explorations (Mostly in "AI")

08:58 The Rise of AI in Coding: Tools and Experiences

14:49 Innovative Approaches to Coding with AI

19:09 Alex Hillman's Amazing "Andy" Claude Code App

21:18 Building Personal AI Tools

26:03 The Bleeding Edge that is Claude Cowork

29:33 Navigating Security Risks in AI Tools

34:00 The Evolution of AI and User Experience

37:51 "Do Better!"

41:33 Making Shaders Metal with Claude

45:46 Building TouchPie: A Raspberry Pi Project

49:19 Designing Custom Hardware for Enhanced User Experience

52:16 Bento Fit: Building with Open Source Models

55:17 Future Projects and Collaboration Ideas

58:17 Outro & One More Thing...

59:46 Tag

Intro music: "When I Hit the Floor", © 2021 Lorne Behrman. Used with permission of the artist.

In this Season 5 finale, the Trio discuss ideas for next year's side projects and have a ton of laughs along the way. Have a great holiday season and a Happy New Year! Side Project Spotlight will return in 2026!

## Show Notes

- Season 5 Finale!

- Side Project Ideas for 2026

- Bento Fit Updates

- https://bentofit.app

- Tangent: Chat Gippity Joined the Chat

- Server Side Swift Project

- https://www.swift.org/blog/swift-temporal-sdk/

- Vertical Endless Runner Godot Game

- https://godotengine.org

- Vibey Picks

- Photo Gig Journal App

- Photo Culling App

- Dad Joke App

- Raspberry Pi 5 Hardware Project

- One More Dad Joke…

## Chapters

00:00 Introductions — Season 5 Finale!

01:40 Side Project ideas for 2026

05:46 Idea #1 — Bento Fit Updates

07:16 Tangent: Chat Gippity Joined the Chat

16:03 Idea #2 — Server Side Swift Project

21:26 Idea #3 — Vertical Endless Runner Godot Game

29:37 Idea #4 — Photo Gig Journal App

32:02 Idea #5 — Photo Culling App

36:51 Idea #6 — Dad Joke App

42:28 Idea #7 — Raspberry Pi 5 Hardware Project

46:33 Wrap-Up

46:59 One More Dad Joke...

47:28 Tag

Intro music: "When I Hit the Floor", © 2021 Lorne Behrman. Used with permission of the artist.

In this penultimate episode of the season, The Trio discuss some personal examples of software, hardware, and other technology that sparks joy.

## Show Notes

- Tech that sparks joy

- Kotaro: Design that inspires

- Steve: Tools for creation

- Aaron: Craftsmanship that sparks joy

- Tech Mentioned

- Modo - discontinued

- After Effects - https://www.adobe.com/products/aftereffects.html

- Affinity Tools - https://www.affinity.studio

- Procreate - https://procreate.com

- Sketch - https://www.sketch.com

- iPhone 17 Pro Max Camera - https://www.apple.com/iphone-17-pro/specs/

- Coffee Grinder - https://zerno.co/products/zerno-z1

- Handmade coffee mugs

- Wrap-up

- One More Thing… https://appjawn.com

## Chapters

00:00 Introductions

01:20 Design That Inspires

14:58 Tools For Creation

28:13 Craftsmanship That Sparks Joy

37:47 Your Tech Choices Matter

39:38 Wrap-Up

39:58 One More Thing...

41:00 Tag

Intro music: "When I Hit the Floor", © 2021 Lorne Behrman. Used with permission of the artist.

Can you believe we made it to episode 100!? We're as incredulous as you. Join us as we "vibecast" a retrospective on our podcasting journey so far.

## Show Notes

- Pod Retrospective

- App #1 – KanjiLove watchOS app – Launched!

- Pod Lore – Orange Balls

- App #2 – Pickle Jar ToDo macOS app – Unfinished

- Pre-Pod History: Big-O Style Robot Battle App Idea

- Our claim to fame: #55: The “Universal” UI

- App #3 – Bento Fit iOS app– Launched

- Side Project Next?

- Dad Joke 100

## Chapters

00:00 Introductions

02:12 Reflecting on the Podcast Journey

03:29 App #1: Kanji Love — watchOS

13:13 App #2: Pickle Jar To Do — macOS

20:16 Pre-Pod History: Big-O Style Robot Battle App

26:38 Vision Pro Exploration Era

28:12 Greatest Pod Lore: The "Universal" UI

36:29 Pod History: Interviews & Other Topics

39:32 App #3: Bento Fit — iOS

44:11 Side Project Next?

53:42 Wrap-up

54:24 Dad Joke 100

55:06 Tag

Intro music: "When I Hit the Floor", © 2021 Lorne Behrman. Used with permission of the artist.

It's been one week (at time of recording) since Bento Fit v1.0 was released and someone gave us money! Kotaro is recording from an undisclosed location, so in this quick episode, we discuss our week 1 metrics, how much this app cost to make, and what we want to do next to try to make Bento Fit more useful, more marketable, and hopefully, eventually, profitable.

## Show Notes

- Bento Fit: The Story So Far

- Someone Gave Us Money!

- How Much Did Bento Fit Cost to Make?

- How Do We Make Bento Fit More Marketable?

- Refinements for v1.1

- One More Thing: AppJawn.com

## Chapters

00:00 Introductions

01:28 Bento Fit: The Story So Far

05:24 Someone Gave Us Money!

13:03 How Much Did Bento Fit Cost To Make?

20:26 How Do We Make Bento Fit More Marketable?

25:43 Refinements for v1.1

37:27 Wrap-Up

37:47 One More Thing: AppJawn.com

39:02 Tag

Intro music: "When I Hit the Floor", © 2021 Lorne Behrman. Used with permission of the artist.

We did it! Bento Fit v1.0 is live in the App Store! In this episode we engage in a retrospective about the good, the bad, and the ugly of the process. We learned a lot, that's for sure.

## Show Notes

- Bento Fit v1.0 is out!

- https://bentofit.app

- Ship-a-ton submission

- https://devpost.com/software/bento-fit

- The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

- ## Good

- LLM coding (50% good)

- The design / aesthetic

- Revenue Cat

- Learnings / Experience

- ## Bad / Ugly

- No marketing plan

- Future updates

- More metrics

- Improved metric manager / search

- Subscription

- Widgets

- Final Thoughts

- One More Thing

- Minimalist Meditation

- https://appjawn.com/#apps

## Chapters

00:00 Introductions

01:40 Bento Fit v1.0 Retrospective

44:20 Final Thoughts

54:12 Wrap-up

57:15 Tag

Intro music: "When I Hit the Floor", © 2021 Lorne Behrman. Used with permission of the artist.

As The Trio race to complete Bento Fit v1.0 in time to submit for the Shipaton hackathon, they pause to discuss the new iPhones, iOS 26, folding phone creases, and the TikTokification of UI interaction.

## Show Notes

- iPhone 17 Event

- iOS 26 RC

- Bento Fit: Updates

- Polishing continues

- Removed watchOS and widgets

- Bug fixes for app persistence

- Bento Fit: Final Sprint

- Kotaro: Onboarding

- Stephen: Revenue Cat Integration

- Aaron: More metrics

- http://phillycocoa.org

- Ship-a-ton https://www.shipaton.com

- August 1 - September 30, 2025

## Chapters

00:00 Introductions

00:38 iPhone 17 Event

06:08 iOS 26 RC

09:39 iPhone Pricing and Market Trends

13:33 iOS 26 RC (cont.)

24:50 Bento Fit on iOS 26

26:45 Bento Fit: The Final Countdown

37:42 Wrap-up

38:01 Ship-a-ton

39:11 Tag

Intro music: "When I Hit the Floor", © 2021 Lorne Behrman. Used with permission of the artist.

We are running out of time to finish our "Bento Fit" app before the Ship-a-ton deadline! This week, we go through what's left to be done and what we are cutting as we race to the finish line of v1.0.

## Show Notes

- Apple September 9 Event

- Bento Fit: The Story So Far

- Bento Fit: Race to the Finish Line

- What do we need to left to do

- Monetization strategy

- Finalize name

- ASC description

- Website Link

- Privacy Policy Link

- Screenshots

- App Store Video

- Ship-a-ton paperwork

- Last metrics

- Polish, polish, polish

- What are we cutting for v1.0?

- Widgets

- WatchOS app

- Share with Friends

- Public Test Flight

- $2.17

- Ship-a-ton https://www.shipaton.com

- August 1 - September 30, 2025

## Chapters

00:00 Introductions

00:52 Apple September 9 Event

07:09 Bento Fit: The Story So Far

10:05 Bento Fit: Race to the Finish Line

41:47 $2.17

52:55 Wrap-Up

53:15 Ship-a-Ton

55:38 Tag

Intro music: "When I Hit the Floor", © 2021 Lorne Behrman. Used with permission of the artist.

This is a short and sweet episode with some Bento Fit updates from Kotaro and Steve, plus some overly ambitious goal setting for next time! First up, Kotaro used the ChatGPT Xcode integration to prototype a welcome screen that sounds cool, but we can't see it because his iOS SDK was deleted! Then we review the latest version of our app icon as implemented in Icon Composer and talk about some of the quirks and features of this cool new tool from Apple. Then Steve goes on a technical deep dive about his latest refactoring, pushing complexity into an enum data structure to make updating what we surface from HealthKit a lot more straightforward. Finally, we discuss what is left to be done for this app, which is actually not too much. The end is in sight! Stay to the end to learn more about Ship-a-ton, the contest we have entered and you can too (NOT A SPONSOR)!

## Show Notes

- Bento Fit: The Story So Far

- Bento Fit Updates

- Kotaro: Prototyped a welcome screen with ChatGPT in Xcode

- Kotaro: New app icon via Icon Composer

- Steve: Simplified HealthKit integration and generated documentation with Aider

- Goals For Next Time

- Onboarding with the 3 personality types

- Get widgets working

- Better UI for trend metrics

- Better UI for selecting cards

- Ship-a-ton https://www.shipaton.com

- August 1 - September 30, 2025

## Chapters

00:00 Introductions

01:30 Bento Fit: The Story So Far

05:16 Bento Fit Updates

36:28 Goals For Next Time

40:42 Wrap-Up

41:02 Ship-a-ton

44:09 Tag

Intro music: "When I Hit the Floor", © 2021 Lorne Behrman. Used with permission of the artist.

Kotaro's laptop burns hot as he gives his impressions of the iOS/macOS 26 public betas and life with ChatGPT inside Xcode. We also discuss dystopian nightmares about "AI," give some Bento Fit updates (Aaron has a PR!), and announce our participation in a cool new hackathon!

## Show Notes

- It’s hot outside!

- iOS/macOS 26 Public Beta impressions

- Xcode 26 ChatGPT integration impressions

- Kotaro’s Sci-Fi Dystopian Nightmare

- BentoFit: The Story So Far

- BentoFit: Updates

- Aaron: Custom workouts!

- Steve: Huge HealthKit update!

- Kotaro: Exploring liquid glass UI components & icon composer

- Wrap-Up

- One More Thing…

- Ship-a-ton https://www.shipaton.com

- August 1 - September 30, 2025

## Chapters

00:00 Introductions

02:09 iOS/macOS 26 Public Beta Impressions

07:44 Xcode 26 ChatGPT Integration Impressions

14:36 "Amazing Stuff"

15:24 Xcode 26 ChatGPT Integration Impressions (cont.)

18:37 Kotaro's Sci-Fi Dystopian Nightmare

25:57 Bento Fit: The Story So Far

28:23 Bento Fit: Updates

40:15 Wrap-Up

40:43 Shipaton 2025

47:01 Tag

Intro music: "When I Hit the Floor", © 2021 Lorne Behrman. Used with permission of the artist.