Can You Build the App You've Always Wanted? | Dan Atchison of Tend+

What if the app you have been wishing existed could actually be built by you, even if you don't know how to code? In this episode of The Localist, Carrie Rollwagen sits down with Dan Atchison, the creator of Tend+, an iOS app that helps you tend to the relationships already in your phone. You download the app, pick the people you want to keep in touch with, set how often you want to connect, and Tend+ prompts you when it is time to reach out. Carrie has been using it for months. Here's the twist. Dan is not a developer. He vibe coded the entire app himself, starting over Christmas break when he got bored. Dan talks about how he went from idea to App Store, what tools he used, what he learned the hard way, and why every small business owner should know what vibe coding can and cannot do. Dan and Carrie also talk about what Tend+ is really about. Why proximity used to do the work in our relationships and how that has changed. Why we should tend to people instead of managing them. Why the cost of delivery is directly tied to the value of the message. If you have an app idea, or you just want to be a better friend, this conversation has something for you Watch the Full Episode on YouTube ____________________________________________________________________________________ Mentioned in This Episode Tend+ on the Apple App Store Tend+ website Highlands College Claude (AI assistant) Claude Code Anthropic Famous.ai Base44 Lovable Supabase Netlify Vercel GitHub Hattie O'Hara episode of The Localist Dan's Substack: Truth and Wonder _______________________________________________________________________________ Thanks to Our Sponsor, Infomedia The Localist is sponsored by Infomedia, a Birmingham-based web and digital marketing company that helps small businesses get big results online. Contact Infomedia: https://infomedia.com/contact ________________________________________________________________________________ Join Us at Localist Lab Localist Lab is our free live marketing event series for small business owners, held on the third Thursday of most months at Saturn in Avondale. Each session features practical strategies you can use right away, plus free tacos and coffee. See upcoming events and register https://infomedia.com/events ________________________________________________________________________________ Subscribe to Carrie's Newsletter Get more small business insights, resources and behind-the-scenes updates from Carrie delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for the newsletter: https://gmail.us20.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=9c59a060684d71f12f6e495fc&id=98cd3122b9