Small software, carefully made

20X Labs is an independent studio making apps and games for mobile and desktop. Everything is small, native, and nothing asks you to sign up.

Utilities

Quiet tools that fix one annoyance, then stay out of the way as if they came with your device.

Everyday apps

Apps for the small daily routines: the check-ins you keep forgetting, the milk at the back of the fridge.

Games, next

Small games you can pick up in a spare minute, made with the same care as the apps.

greenhouse — Fern.swift

Greenhouse

Sources

Fern.swiftM

Mood.swift

Kettle.swift

Watering.swift

Tests

FernTests.swiftM

Package.swift

README.md

Outline

SFern

vthirst

vcompliments

vmood

fwater(ml:)

Fern.swift FernTests.swift Mood.swift

Sources › Fern.swift › Fern › mood

1/// The office fern. Runs on light, water and compliments.
2struct Fern {
  var thirst = 0.2            // 0 = fine, 1 = theatrical
  var compliments = 0
5
  var mood: Mood {
      if compliments > 3 { return .smug }
      switch thirst {
      case ..<0.4: return .content
      case ..<0.8: return .sulking
      default:     return .dramaticallyWilting
      }
  }
14
  mutating func water(ml: Int) {
      thirst = max(0, thirst - Double(ml) / 250)
  }
18}
            

TerminalProblems1Output

~/greenhouse $ swift test --filter FernTests
Build complete! (1.84s)
Test “Forgives one missed weekend” passed after 0.001 seconds.
Test “Three compliments make it smug” passed after 0.001 seconds.
Test “Survives the summer intern” failed after 0.004 seconds.
  Expectation failed: fern.mood == .content, got .dramaticallyWilting
~/greenhouse $ 
              

main 1 test failing 2 files changed Ln 7, Col 44Spaces: 4UTF-8LFSwift

Apps

What we’re making

Four apps, two for the Mac and two for iPhone. None of them has been released yet.

Mac · Menu bar utility

ATKBattery

Shows the battery level of ATK and VXE wireless mice in the menu bar, with no vendor driver installed. It warns you when the battery runs low, greys out while the mouse sleeps, and tells you when new firmware is out.

Not affiliated with ATK or VXE.

In final testing · macOS 13+

iPhone · Daily routine

CheckinFlow

Daily check-ins are scattered across a dozen apps. CheckinFlow lines them up: tap to jump to the next one, switch back when you’re done, and it ticks that step off and moves on.

In development · iOS 17+

iPhone · Home inventory

Chipmunk

Scan a barcode to log what’s in the fridge, the cupboard or the medicine box. Chipmunk warns you before things expire, notices what you’re about to run out of, and keeps it all on your phone.

In development · iOS 18+

Mac · App launcher

LaunchLabs

macOS 26 replaced Launchpad with an app list inside Spotlight. LaunchLabs is our plan to bring back the full-screen grid of pages and folders, for people who liked it the way it was.

Concept · macOS 26+

Studio

How we work

20X Labs is a small, independent studio. Every app has to pass the same four rules.

One job each

Every app starts from an annoyance of our own: a mouse battery we couldn’t see without the vendor’s driver, check-ins we kept forgetting, milk that expired at the back of the fridge. It does that one job, then stops.

Nothing to sign up for

No accounts and no ads. What you put into an app stays on your device. The only data that leaves it is diagnostic feedback for fixing bugs, and you decide whether it gets sent.

Careful with the details

CheckinFlow resets itself at midnight. Chipmunk won’t guess when you’ll run out of something until it has a week of history. The small decisions are what make an app worth opening every day.

Native, not wrapped

Swift throughout, on AppKit and SwiftUI. No web pages dressed up as apps, so everything looks and behaves like the software that came with your device.