London, UK

Zack Baxter’s workshop.

I build software for everyday problems, write essays and notes, and keep a shelf of things worth returning to.

Things I’m building

All 8 projects ↗

Active private build

SpendWise

I want to understand where my money goes without handing over the details. SpendWise keeps receipts and budgets together on my phone, fully offline.

Under the bonnet

Receipt OCR runs on-device, money is stored in integer pence, and core records do not depend on a cloud account.

  • Kotlin
  • Compose
  • On-device OCR

Active private build

Anchor

I'm building Anchor to fit tasks around fixed commitments, with room to rethink the plan when the day changes.

Under the bonnet

Plans explain why work moved, stage consequential changes for review, and keep flexible scheduling reversible.

  • Kotlin
  • Compose
  • Room

Active private build

PhotoBoi

Room to play with a photo and keep the original. PhotoBoi brings editing and a photo library together on Android, without an account or a cloud upload.

Under the bonnet

Non-destructive edits, GPU previews, local library tools, and on-device processing keep the full photo workflow on the phone.

  • Kotlin
  • Compose
  • OpenGL ES

Recent writing

All the essays ↗

Latest essay · 11 min read

A personal account of researching local companions: time blindness, the lethal trifecta, interruption cost, and why help has to arrive at the moment of action.

Read the essay →

Field notes

On brain banks

The future of agents isn’t general-knowledge LLMs. It’s a model with impeccable function calling, with prebuilt interchangeable brain banks that grow as you use it. Most LLMs are wasting massive compute for information that’s never …

Read the field note →

Art and poetry

Browse Kept →
Detail of Checkmate, a historical painting in the collectionArt & poetry by other people. Always credited.

From my shelves

Browse the shelves ↗

Follow along

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