Blog

Launches, notes, and the occasional process post.

  1. How do I get faster at mental math as an adult?

    8 min read

    Hone Math (on the App Store as Hone Math: Arithmetic Methods) teaches 71 named arithmetic methods across ten units, from filling a ten to sharing in a ratio, then drills them in a 15-problem Daily Workout that takes roughly three minutes. Smart Set follows your practice history, three number puzzles cover the days a quiz sounds like work, and a 0 to 1000 Recent Practice Score tracks recent accuracy, difficulty, and speed. English and Spanish, iPhone and iPad, no account and no ads.

  2. How do I check if a gold prospecting spot is already claimed before I drive out there?

    8 min read

    No app can tell you that ground is open. Gold Story (on the App Store as Prospecting Log: Gold Story) maps 75,000+ historic USGS gold records and dated BLM claim-record packs for 11 covered states, shows the PLSS reference and source date behind every record, and keeps a timestamped log of what you checked. Then it works as a GPS field journal for finds, trips, and breadcrumb trails, offline.

  3. How do I keep my houseplants alive without guessing when to water?

    7 min read

    Most houseplants die on a blanket weekly reminder or on no reminder at all. Plant Story (from Studio AM) puts each plant in one of five categories and applies a built-in routine across watering, fertilizing, repotting, pruning, pest checks and grooming. Logging care restarts that task's clock, so a reminder fires when care is due. iPhone and iPad, no account, works offline.

  4. How do I make drivers see me when I cross the street at night?

    8 min read

    Safe Crosswalk is a free iPhone app from Studio AM for the moment a driver turns across your path without looking at you. One tap flashes the screen and the rear torch together and speaks the word "Crossing"; a tap anywhere stops it, and it stops on its own after 45 seconds. It makes you easier to notice. It does not make you safe, and it is no substitute for making eye contact and waiting until the car has actually stopped.

  5. How to improve English reading comprehension as an adult

    8 min read

    A 15-minute routine for adults and English learners: recall the main idea, answer real questions, learn words in context, then reread with purpose.

  6. How to practice English speaking privately with AI grammar feedback

    8 min read

    A practical routine for rehearsing real English conversations, reviewing grammar and more natural phrasing, and trying the improved version again without sending your recordings or transcripts to an AI server.

  7. What is on-device AI, and is it actually private?

    7 min read

    A plain answer to "what is on-device AI, and is it actually private?" It runs the model on your phone's own chip, so the AI feature can process input locally. An airplane-mode test is useful evidence, but the rest of the app still matters.

  8. Notion AI vs a private on-device second brain: which one actually knows your notes?

    6 min read

    Notion AI vs a private on-device second brain: both answer plain-language questions about your notes, but the durable difference is where your notes are when they get read: Notion AI reads them in the cloud, while Second Brain answers on your device with citations and no Studio AM account.

  9. Best app for non-native English speakers to fix grammar and sound more natural?

    6 min read

    For non-native English speakers who want to fix grammar and sound more natural without sending words to a server, Better Writing (from Studio AM) corrects important work messages in Natural, Polite, Direct, or Formal style and shows the exact changes. It runs on a compatible iPhone, iPad, or Apple-silicon Mac after local model setup.

  10. Better Writing vs Apple's built-in Writing Tools: what's the difference?

    7 min read

    Better Writing vs Apple's built-in Writing Tools: both run on-device, but Writing Tools needs Apple Intelligence while Better Writing also runs on non-Apple-Intelligence devices when a compatible downloaded model is available. Better Writing adds Natural, Polite, Direct, and Formal work-message correction, word-level changes, verified coaching, and saved-history tools.

  1. Is there a grammar checker that works offline like LanguageTool or ProWritingAid but keeps my writing private?

    7 min read

    Wondering if there's a grammar checker that works offline like LanguageTool or ProWritingAid but keeps your writing private? Both are cloud-first by default; Better Writing corrects English on a compatible iPhone, iPad, or Apple-silicon Mac after local model setup, with no Studio AM AI server. Here's an honest comparison.

  2. How do I learn essential travel phrases before a trip without the internet?

    6 min read

    How do I learn essential travel phrases before a trip without the internet? Load a curated, situation-based phrasebook onto your phone and drill it offline. Here's how Pocket Lingo pairs arrivals-to-emergencies phrases with practice, quizzes, and system-voice pronunciation when available, all on-device.

  3. Best offline camera translation app for reading menus and signs abroad?

    5 min read

    Looking for the best offline camera translation app for reading menus and signs abroad? Pocket Lingo reads and translates text on your iPhone with no signal after model setup, while translation content stays on-device. Here's how it handles restaurants, stations, and pharmacies, and where it's honestly weak.

  4. Is there an offline alternative to DeepL that works in airplane mode?

    5 min read

    Looking for an offline alternative to DeepL that works in airplane mode? DeepL translates in the cloud; Pocket Lingo runs on your iPhone, so it works with no signal. In-app translation stays local; optional web search opens externally only by choice.

  5. Can a journaling app show how my sleep and steps affect my mood?

    3 min read

    A journal can compare health signals with mood, but Daily Vibe does not currently read Apple Health. It shows patterns in the mood and energy you record, without implying that correlation is diagnosis or causation.

  6. Best voice journaling app that transcribes on your phone without the cloud?

    3 min read

    Daily Vibe offers both disposable on-device dictation and saved spoken entries with local audio, on-device transcripts, and word-synced playback.

  7. What's a private alternative to Reflectly or Stoic for AI mood journaling?

    3 min read

    A source-linked comparison of Daily Vibe, Stoic, and Reflectly, focused on where journal AI runs and what the public privacy documentation actually supports.

  8. Is there a private alternative to Day One that keeps my journal on my phone?

    3 min read

    Daily Vibe stores entries locally by default and analyzes them on-device. Here is the precise difference from Day One’s encrypted sync and opt-in Daily Chat.

  9. Second Brain 1.0: a private memory that answers only from your notes

    7 min read

    Second Brain 1.0 ships grounded recall on a roughly three-billion-parameter on-device model: every answer cites the notes it came from, and it abstains instead of guessing. Here is the pipeline in plain words, what runs on older phones, and what it costs.

  10. The Note App That Answers Questions From Your Own Notes, Without Sending Them to a Server

    6 min read

    A fair, sourced look at how ask-your-notes apps handle your data, and why Second Brain processes notes on-device, with optional private iCloud sync off by default.

  1. Second Brain vs Apple Notes vs Obsidian: Which Fits How You Think?

    7 min read

    We make one of these three apps, and we use the other two every week. The difference that decides it is who does the organizing work: you or the software. We compare them on that, and recommend by person, not by winner.

  2. Grammarly uses cloud processing. Which iPhone alternatives keep editing local?

    5 min read

    Grammarly, QuillBot, and many writing tools use remote servers. Better Writing keeps English correction on a compatible iPhone, iPad, or Apple-silicon Mac after local model setup. Here is an honest comparison of where each tool processes your words.

  3. How to Actually Remember What You Capture

    6 min read

    Most captured notes are never opened again. Memory research points somewhere specific: retrieval practice, spacing, and a system that resurfaces old notes without you scheduling anything.

  4. Google Translate Offline vs. On-Device Translation: What Stays Local?

    4 min read

    Some translators process text online; others can translate on-device. Here's a verified comparison of where each one does the work, and how optional web handoffs affect privacy.

  5. Cognitive offloading: why your brain wants an inbox, not a filing cabinet

    5 min read

    Working memory is tiny, and unfinished thoughts keep tugging at it until they land somewhere safe. The research points away from elaborate folder systems and toward one thing: capture you trust. Here is the case, and what a trustworthy inbox needs.

  6. Shipping four apps on Apple Foundation Models: what a 3B on-device model can actually do

    5 min read

    Our AI line began on Apple's roughly three-billion-parameter on-device model. Current versions may use Apple's runtime where available or compatible downloaded models on other supported hardware. Here is what worked, what did not, and the patterns that make a small model shippable.

  7. Private Journal Apps That Read Your Mood Without Sending It Anywhere

    4 min read

    A current, source-linked comparison of private journal apps: what stays on-device, what is sent for AI, and which privacy promise each app actually makes.

  8. Field Notes #5: We Graded the iPhone's On-Device AI. Here Are the Raw Numbers.

    5 min read

    Everyone ships "AI on your iPhone." Almost nobody publishes how often the on-device model is actually right. We built eval harnesses for four of our apps, ran them on-device against the shipped code, and here are the unedited pass rates, including the two we are not proud of.

  9. Field Notes #4: We Built 28 SEO Pages Before Checking If They Could Rank

    4 min read

    Our whole website gets three clicks a month. Here is exactly what Search Console showed: which of our content can rank, which never will, and the three-question test we should have run before we built the pages.

  10. Three ways we keep a small model honest

    3 min read

    Last week we said the AI in your iPhone isn't very smart on its own, and that a good harness is what makes it trustworthy. Here are three of the tricks that harness is actually made of.

  1. Why our AI runs on your phone, not our server

    4 min read

    Most AI apps send your words elsewhere for processing. Ours run the model on-device; storage choices such as optional private iCloud sync are explained separately and plainly.

  2. A weak model and a strong harness

    4 min read

    How we shipped three on-device AI apps in one day, and why the small model in your iPhone is enough if you build the right cage around it.

  3. From Team AM to Studio AM

    2 min read

    We renamed. Same two people, same work. But "studio" captures what we actually are better than "team" ever did. Why the change, what moves, and what does not.

  4. Field Notes #3: Why We Merged Seven Apps Into Two

    4 min read

    We shipped one app per niche (Car, Bike, Moto, RV; Pup, Kitty, Paws) and then deleted five of them. Here is why the niche-per-app instinct was wrong for a two-person studio, dead-ends included.

  5. Field Notes #2: Screenshots Are Infrastructure

    3 min read

    We turned App Store screenshot production into a one-command factory, then spent the day watching the human quality gate catch failures that all looked finished. The story, dead-ends included.

  6. One Dataset, Two Products

    3 min read

    Behind most of our apps is a structured dataset: maintenance schedules, care routines, reading passages. We publish that data twice: as a private app, and as a free tool anyone can use on the open web. Here is why, and how.

  7. Field Notes #1: Building a Studio with AI

    2 min read

    We are running a small app studio where AI agents do the production work and a human owns the quality gate. Here is what that is actually like, dead-ends included.

  8. Free Maintenance Schedules for 1,023 Vehicles

    2 min read

    The database that powers Car Story is now browsable free at teamam.org: service intervals and cost estimates for over a thousand vehicles, free for anyone.

  9. Introducing Car Story: Maintenance Log

    2 min read

    Our first app is live on the App Store. Car Story is a private, local-first maintenance tracker for everything you drive.

  10. Welcome to Studio AM

    1 min read

    A new home for what we build: apps, visuals, and the things in between.