Vague Presence — a workbench for apps that are not finished
This browser is a little too old for the desktop version of this page. Everything on the bench is still here, and the main site works everywhere.
This page is running inside itself. Open it on its own instead: os/
Vague Presence is a workbench, not a shop. Apps being built to run natively on macOS and iOS turn up here as web builds first, so they can be used and argued with long before there is anything to install.
Everything on this desktop is either an app being tested or a way to tell me what happened when you tried it. Nothing here is finished, and that is the point of the site rather than a disclaimer at the bottom of it.
How it works
Three steps, and none of them involve a credit card.
1. Make an account, if you want to leave a note
An email address and a password, confirmed with a six digit code. It opens the invite-only builds and it ties each note you leave to a build, so the note can be answered.
2. Open an app and point it at your own storage
No install, no signing, no beta invite queue. Pick a folder on your machine, or connect the cloud drive you already use, and the app reads and writes in place.
3. Leave a note, and it changes
Anything that annoyed you, in a sentence. The note carries the build it came from, so it never gets answered against the wrong version.
What to expect
A web build first, every time. A browser tab is the cheapest way to put something in front of someone. Whatever ends up native gets tried here first.
Your storage, not mine. Files stay in the folder or the cloud drive you choose. There is no account database holding your work, because there is no upload.
Notes carry the build. Every note records the version, the browser and the viewport it came from, so a report about one build never gets tested against another.
Things will break. That is what the bench is for. Do not put work here that you cannot afford to lose.
Questions
What is this exactly?
A test site. Apps being built to run natively get a web build here first, so they can be used and criticised long before a native version is ready to hand out.
Is there anything to try yet?
Yes. PadSonic is on the desktop now, and anything else on the bench is in the Applications window. Leave your email address in Note Pad if you want to hear when the next one lands.
Where will my data go?
Into your browser, and into whatever folder or cloud drive you point an app at. Nothing about your files is copied to a Vague Presence server, and there is no bucket sitting somewhere with your work in it. The full answer is under Where your data goes, in Read Me on the desktop.
Do I need an account?
Not for most apps. An account is an email address and a password, and it exists for two things: leaving a note, so the report can be traced back to a build and answered, and opening the occasional build marked invite only.
Why web builds if the apps are going native?
A link is the cheapest way to put something in front of someone. No install, no signing, no beta invite. The web build is the same interface heading to native, running early.
Should I expect things to break?
Yes. That is what the bench is for. Nothing here is a finished product and none of it should hold work you cannot afford to lose.
Will any of it cost money?
The web builds stay free while they are in testing. Pricing for the native apps has not been decided, and anyone who tested a build gets told before that changes.
Will the source be public?
A public code repository is planned. Issues and releases move there once the first app is stable enough for the traffic.
