A few days ago, something unexpected happened.
I published a small indie project on itch.io — a lightweight, offline habit-tracking app I built for people who want fewer distractions and more consistency.
Within hours, the page was automatically placed under quarantine for additional review. No takedown, No warning.
Just… quarantine.
🧠 What the App Is (and Isn’t)
Focus & Grow is a fully offline Windows habit tracker.
- No accounts
- No ads
- No trackers
- No background network activity
Tech stack
TypeScript for app logic
Tauri (Rust) for packaging
- Distributed as a zipped Windows
.exe
- Includes a clear README explaining usage and intent
Nothing obfuscated. Nothing hidden.
🤔 Why This Probably Happened
If you’ve shipped a Windows executable before, you know the struggle:
- Unsigned
.exe
- New project with no reputation
- Automated security heuristics doing their thing
I completely understand why platforms do this — but it raises a real question:
How do indie developers establish trust when starting from zero?
🧪 Why I’m Sharing This Here
I’ve already contacted itch.io for a manual review.
In the meantime, I’m doing the most transparent thing I can:
Opening the project up to the dev community.
- Curious? Take a look.
- Cautious? Inspect it.
- Been through this before? Share your experience.
Feedback, comments, or even just engagement genuinely help — both for improving the app and for signaling legitimacy.
🔗 The Project
The app is called Focus & Grow — a simple habit tracker designed to stay out of your way.
If you check it out and have thoughts, I’d love to hear them.
Building in public isn’t always comfortable — but it’s worth it.
Let’s talk.