Engineering notes
Things that broke on our own sites, and what actually fixed them. Real numbers, including the ones that are still not good enough.
How much does it cost to make an app in 2026? Published prices, and what actually moves them
Most app projects reviewed on Clutch cost $10,000 to $49,999, yet the average is $90,780 and takes about 11 months. The gap is scope. Here are the published 2026 numbers, the six decisions that move a quote, the costs that arrive after launch, and how to keep a first version small.
Read it →How much does it cost to make a video game? A buyer's guide for 2026
Online answers run from a few thousand dollars to hundreds of millions, and most of the numbers are hard to check. Here is what the published 2026 ranges say, what the engine and the stores actually charge, the five decisions that set a budget, and how to find out whether a game is fun before you spend the rest.
Read it →React Native vs Flutter in 2026: which one should your app use?
Both frameworks build good iPhone and Android apps from one code base, so the decision rarely comes down to speed. It comes down to the language your team knows, how custom the interface must look, and who will maintain the app in two years. We ship React Native apps and have not shipped Flutter, and we say where that bias shows.
Read it →How to find an app developer, and check they are real before you pay
Finding someone who says they build apps takes minutes. Finding one who will ship your app, put it in your name and still answer in six months takes a few checks. Here is where to look, what to check, and what to put in writing before you pay anything.
Read it →How to use Remotion agent skills with Claude Code: what we learned making five product films
Every film on our channel was written as React code by Claude Code with the Remotion skills loaded: a restaurant POS ad, a games promo, a studio showreel and two product films. The setup takes two commands. The lessons that made the renders reliable took longer, and they are below.
Read it →Product launch video: what a 60-second software launch film needs (with real examples)
A good product launch video is not a feature tour. It opens on a moment your customer recognises, shows the product solving it on real screens, proves it and stops. Here is that structure second by second, taken from a film we made for our own restaurant POS.
Read it →How much does an explainer video cost in 2026? Real price ranges, and what moves them
A 60-second explainer can cost $100 or $50,000. The range is real, and most of it is explained by seven decisions you make before anyone opens an animation tool. Here are the published 2026 ranges, where the money goes, and how to spend less without looking cheap.
Read it →React.lazy() isn't enough — my code-split chunks were still loading on every page
Both components were already wrapped in lazy(). Both chunks downloaded on first paint anyway, costing 103KB on every page view. The reason is that lazy() defers the import until the component renders — and both were rendering.
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