Seth Paonessa

Building privacy-first apps that actually respect you
Label Guard • Vspot • BottleCard
100% on-device • Zero subscriptions • No data collection
Founder • Oregon

[Seth Paonessa @snessa7]

@PlayWaggle Thanks for the heads up, Ambrose! Looks like the unlock is still pending on Apple's side. As soon as it's good to go I'll DM you. Really appreciate you wanting to support it!

[Seth Paonessa @snessa7]

Shipped-it: Sugar Squadron is out on the App Store today. A candy arcade shooter for kids: drag to fly, it auto-fires. No ads, no accounts, no loot boxes, works offline. Built solo after retiring from the Navy. #indiedev https://t.co/qy4ri881BP

[Seth Paonessa @snessa7]

@acesley040618 Thanks, that's exactly the goal: a kid can play solo and parents don't have to worry about it.

[Seth Paonessa @snessa7]

@plainandsimpl_ That's exactly what I was going for. Try it, like it, unlock it once. Felt fair then and still does. We are coming for you SAAS! No one wants to pay $10/month for a workout tracker (or most small services).

[Seth Paonessa @snessa7]

@softsaidapp Thanks! That was the goal: one finger, no reading needed, and a kid can play on their own.

[Seth Paonessa @snessa7]

@ZionE8T Honestly, too early to say. Day 3. The Nova clip is pulling the most views on YouTube so far. Apple Ads starts Monday and I'll share what happens. What's worked for you?

[Seth Paonessa @snessa7]

Building Sugar Squadron took 4 months and a lot of tools, including SI (the entity formerly known as AI). Now I'm documenting the marketing.

Live on the App Store since Oct 28. Fresh accounts, zero followers on YouTube, TikTok, IG and FB. Daily clips for parents, small Apple Ads test Monday.

Weekly updates here: real social numbers plus Apple Ads wins and fails. Tell me what I'm doing right and wrong. This should be fun.
#buildinpublic #indiedev

[Seth Paonessa @snessa7]

@MachTechie Super helpful, thanks. Starting a small Apple Ads test Monday for the same reason. And agreed on retention, that's where endless mode comes in. Congrats again on 10K!

[Seth Paonessa @snessa7]

@WinterKimmin Photo cleanup for me. On-device is the whole appeal: privacy without a subscription. Curious how much runs locally vs Private Cloud Compute there.

[Seth Paonessa @snessa7]

@KewangKe @AarushYadav47 Mouthing words to the camera with the model trained on-device is a clever twist. Love that nothing leaves the machine. How long does calibration take?

[Seth Paonessa @snessa7]

@BedtimeKafka Talking to a fully local second brain is the dream. What model and hardware are you running her on?

[Seth Paonessa @snessa7]

@brkaydev Good luck in review! Checking paychecks against real hours is a problem plenty of people have and never think to solve. Are you keeping shift data on-device?

[Seth Paonessa @snessa7]

@PlayWaggle Ha, yep, that's exactly it! Beat Mission 2 and the one-time unlock pops up right after. Glad you're enjoying it, Ambrose, and thanks for wanting to support it! After finishing the game in easy and medium (sweet, sour). the endless mode unlocks....for score maxing!

[Seth Paonessa @snessa7]

Last Sugar Squadron post from me this week, promise. Meet Nova: sugar glider, squadron leader, screen-clearing Nova Blast. More pilots and boss fights are dropping on the game's own socials so I don't spam you here. #indiedev #gamedev #iosgames #madewithAI

[Seth Paonessa @snessa7]

@ONGrooveLabs @ONGrooveLabs Thanks! You're the second person to say that, so it's going on the first screenshot in the next update.

[Seth Paonessa @snessa7]

@dctrades22 @dctrades22 Thanks! Honestly still figuring that out. Starting with short gameplay clips here and on YouTube, then parent communities. Open to ideas if you've seen what works.

[Seth Paonessa @snessa7]

@plainandsimpl_ @plainandsimpl_ Thanks! First two missions are free, then one small one-time unlock for the rest. No subscriptions, no coins, nothing to buy after that. Price is on the App Store page: https://t.co/qy4ri881BP

[Seth Paonessa @snessa7]

@Shadowfetch @Shadowfetch Thanks Robert, appreciate it! Kids having fun without anyone selling them stuff was the whole point.

[Seth Paonessa @snessa7]

@wazX_7 Great call, thanks Waz. Right now the first screenshot sells the action, but you're right that parents scan for exactly that. Swapping "No ads. No accounts." onto it in the next update.

[Seth Paonessa @snessa7]

@haru2401game Thanks Haru! Both. Missions are short wave runs a kid can finish in a few minutes, each ending on a warlord boss, with Sweet, Sour, or Spicy difficulty so parents can play on hard. Endless mode is the long challenge: chase your high score. Congrats on Shishito at TGS!