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27. October 2026
Releasing Filmlog for Mac with MCP in the age of AI
A release that would not exist without AI — but was handcrafted nonetheless.
I am proud, and quite relieved, that Filmlog for Mac is out today on the Mac App Store.
It is a native Mac app for movie and cinema enthusiasts. I published the first iOS version in 2013 and spent about a year bringing it to the Mac. I also have to admit that it would not exist without AI, and I want to be honest about what that did and did not mean.
What changed in how I work
I am a self-taught programmer. For twelve years, that meant Filmlog moved at the speed of my free evenings and the occasional weekend.
Then AI coding tools got good. They were faster at typing from the start, and within months they had become far better Swift programmers than I am. Then I noticed what they are actually a fit for: I had spent years in requirements engineering, and the one thing I really know how to do is specify software. That turned out to be a pretty good match, and it removed a bottleneck I had always had. I could never afford to hire a professional, full-time developer. Now I was moving at a pace that would have needed a small team.
So I was able to put not only a lot of features, better iPad layouts and a complete offline database into the app, but also about 2,000 tests across 219 files; a screenshot pipeline that walks every screen on every platform — and, since this month, all three poses of the iPhone Duo; and a verification list that every build goes through before it ships. 665 commits since January. Testing and QA to a degree I could never have afforded alone. That was fun. Features are nice, but what I really got into was making Filmlog a piece of great, tested software.
Did it work out? Yes, I think so — though I admit I stretched my goals at times and did not always play it safe. It was simply too much fun. But I can say this: the app is better, safer and faster than before, and it crashes less. Whatever turns up, I will fix in the coming weeks. I need something to do, and something to ship updates for, no?
And still, the fear never quite leaves: that someone opens the app and it feels vibe-coded. Generated, interchangeable, not quite decided. I specified, the model implemented, the tests closed the loop. But that is not something a user can see. What a user can see is whether the thing holds together. So here are two places where you can judge that for yourself.
The catalogue lives inside the app
Most apps of this kind query a web API for every search. Filmlog ships its own catalogue: about 315,000 films, 464,000 people and 58,000 cinemas, in SQLite files bundled with the app. Search works with the network off, in 32 languages, and goes beyond the title — characters, filming locations, the book a film is based on, the subject it deals with. About 1.3 million facet rows sit behind that — hard to believe, and still incredibly fast. When you are online, results from the web are merged in.
The data comes from Wikidata and OpenStreetMap. The pipeline filters a 141 GB Wikidata dump down to JSONL, builds the tables and adds full-text indexes. Wikidata is what makes the people table deeper than an API would: roughly 110,000 of those people have no entry in the usual film database at all. A silent-era cinematographer gets a page, offline — as far as I know, only in Filmlog.
The cost is size: about 396 MB for the films and 63 MB for the cinemas, and a rebuild means re-shipping both with an update. I think the trade is right for an app whose point is that your library is yours and works in a cinema basement without reception. The posters will have to wait until you are online again, of course.
An MCP server that answers from this Mac
The Mac app includes an MCP server. Point Claude Desktop, or any client that speaks the protocol, at it, and you can ask about your own viewing history — what you watched last winter, which Kurosawa films you still haven't seen — and, if you allow it, have the client add to your watchlist, rate a film, follow a person or pin a cinema.
The server is a separate, sandboxed helper inside the app bundle. It reads a JSON snapshot the app exports, plus its own copy of the catalogue — it only ever reads. A proposed change goes into an outbox; the app picks it up, runs it through the same code the interface uses, and the change waits in Filmlog for your approval. Everything in that path stays on your Mac — which is also why the feature exists only on the Mac: that is where the client runs. There is also a change log, a toggle to explicitly allow writes, and a change manager to revert anything the MCP client initiated. Handy. The setup guide has questions to try.
Smaller things, same principle
Challenges are intentional film lists. Think of them as a to-do list with a goal and a progress bar. Sharing one packs the entire list into the link itself; whoever opens it starts with their own copy. Share your nicest lists — people without Filmlog can still look at them in the browser before they're convinced to download the app.
The business model
Freemium. The watchlist, the diary, soundtracks and export are free. Filmlog Plus — a monthly or yearly subscription, or a lifetime purchase if you prefer — adds the full search and releases, sync across devices, statistics and widgets, the MCP server, and import from other apps, which moves to the free tier with the next update, 2026.10.1. Every plan includes Family Sharing. The app is paid for by the people who use it — that is how I wanted it to be.
If you try it, tell me what you love, what breaks — and whether it feels decided. That is the one review I cannot write myself.
Give it a shot
Thank you to my family, who supported me all the way. I could not have done this without you. With gratitude.
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30. September 2026
Thirteen years, and the biggest release yet
Filmlog: A big leap for your movie watchlist
The latest Filmlog update is out today for iPhone, iPad and Apple TV. It is the largest release in the app's thirteen years — and I have never worked on an update this long, or this hard. But why?
For the first time I saw a chance to realise the complete product vision I had for Filmlog, my film diary for iPhone, iPad and Apple TV — and even to bring it to the Mac. The Mac app is finished — I would have loved to show it to you today, but it is still stuck in App Store review, so we will both need some patience. If you want to know when it lands, the studio crew or the newsletter are good places to stay up to date. Anyhow, I am happy to say that Filmlog is now a fully featured product, full of small niceties and lovely details.
The short version of what changed: Filmlog now carries its own film catalogue — around 315,000 films and 464,000 people — inside the app. No network needed. It sounds crazy, but it is perfectly possible to carry nearly every film in the world in your pocket. You can look up a director in a cinema basement in airplane mode, and you will find people — including roughly 110,000 cast and crew who have no entry in the usual film database at all. And the best part: it let me build features I haven't seen anywhere else. Find every film set in Paris. Find every actor who has played the Joker, and the films they played him in. Believe me, there is a lot to discover. An onboarding will never have room for all of it, but the walkthrough does, if you're curious.
Beyond the catalogue: challenges — film lists with a progress bar. Planning to watch a set of films, or setting yourself the goal of a complete filmography? Easy. You can also share one as a single link that carries the whole list, with nothing stored on a server, whether for your friends or for the public.
I love listening to soundtracks. They carry so much of the emotion tied to a story or a character that I wanted them in Filmlog too. Now you can feel the film: mark it as watched and Filmlog plays its soundtrack. (This needs Apple Music, and the soundtrack has to be on Apple Music, of course.) It also plays from the film's own page, so Filmlog works as a regular soundtrack player, too.
I could go on for hours: ratings and notes attached to each individual viewing, so a rewatch twenty years later is its own entry. The cinema you sat in, as a place with a page and a history. Rebuilt statistics with eight widgets. And a new two-pane iPad layout. But let's stop here for now.
Thirteen years, one person, paid for by the people who use it. What a ride! Thank you to everyone who tested, wrote back, or filed the bug that made today better. A small dream came true: to build one piece of software, properly and completely. It did not come without struggle, and sometimes a fight — but today I am happy, and if Filmlog brings you joy, that would make me proud.
Give it a shot
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It has now been more than two years since the war against Ukraine began. For me, it is still hard to imagine that a cruel war has become part of everyday life just a few flight hours away. It feels like there is little you can do as an individual, but that makes it all the more important for me not to forget.
I recently had the idea for a small gesture. The only real point of contact I have with people from Ukraine is through the apps that I also sell there via the AppStore. From now on, the premium functions of my three apps Auricula, Next Size and Filmlog are available in the Ukrainian AppStore for just 0.99ct – about 85% off.
That's it; let's not make it any bigger than it is.
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It is a special day for me. – Next Size is a great app that let you forecast clothing sizes of your children. But I somehow lied to you because it is not a new app, at least not all of it. As the AppStore ages so do many applications in it and some just disappear. Sometimes because of lack of time or money, sometimes just because it wasn't the right time or the right time to start a project like that. So I'm very glad that a good friend of mine, Tim, gave me the opportunity to take care of his app. It was called "What fits when?" back in the days and he put so much care and love for details in to this project that it was making me sad that it never took off. I think it wasn't the lack of success, but personal reasons to leave not only the app itself, but the whole world of indie developers and app development behind. Sometimes things have to change. When I showed interest to continue his app project he was very open to the idea and finally just decided that I should continue his work.
This is the reason why it is a special day for me. I was able to take over his project, gave it a new name, designed a new icon and startet developing my vision of its future. I have to thank Tim for his trust and generosity. It is a great opportunity to build on his foundation and securing just another great app from disappearing from the AppStore.
Here it is: the Next Size app for forecasting the clothing sizes of your children. It is easy to use and gives a great overview over the current and upcoming clothing sizes of your kids. Just add your child, its birthday and body height (all data is only stored locally). Next Size will create a card showing you the current clothing size and its forecast. Updating the body height of your child will increase the accuracy of the forecast and is done fast and easily. Also available are different common clothing metrics for the EU, UK, US and Japan. All clothing brands have their own patterns and size charts, but within this range the prediction should be very useful anyhow.
How is the clothing size estimation working? The growth rate calculation is based on the WHO Child Growth tables that contains statistical data for the whole human population. This for one part is the reason why only female and male options are available and why the accuracy is decreasing for older body height measurements. Just make sure to update the body height from time to time.
This is the first app release that I did not miss to promote, I was about 10 years younger when I released my other two apps Auricula and Filmlog. Back then I wasn't confident enough and did miss out on that opportunity. This time I wrote this blog post, made social media posts on Mastodon, Linkedin and launched the app on Product Hunt, where I invite you to give it an upvote.
If you want to follow my journey as an indie developer make sure to subscribe to my Indie Developer Projects Insight Newsletter.
And last but not least please download and checkout Next Size – I'm eager to receive all of your feedback and steadily release updates to it. Writing app reviews on the AppStore is maybe one of the most powerful options, if you want to support Next Size and my work.
I'm very excited about the upcoming days and the future of Next Size. Thank you, Tim!
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Exactly 10 years ago on June 8, I was able to release the first version of my iOS app Filmlog in the AppStore. Born from an idea that should be simple and that I would have a use for myself. A simple, fast and attractive way to manage my unseen and seen movies.
To celebrate this anniversary, Filmlog Plus will be ~50% off starting June 8! For a whole two weeks, so maybe one or two people will catch it besides all the excitement about Vision Pro.
The first release was a huge success for me, because with Filmlog I learned programming. I couldn't expand my knowledge of programming in my graphic design studies, so I taught myself everything with the help of the Internet and, of course, books back then!
Today, exactly 10 years and 15 updates later, a lot has changed and yet Filmlog has stayed true to its original idea. There have been many changes under the hood that the users didn't notice, but also many layout adjustments due to the introduction of ever new iPhone sizes have significantly determined the further development of Filmlog.
But the biggest development was definitely my own. With regard to what I wanted to achieve with Filmlog and especially on which way I tried to achieve it. 10 years ago, there was still a lot of the general enthusiasm that was triggered by these new types of smartphones and their apps. I meticulously followed the development of iPhones and the iOS platform. Secretly, I dreamed of being similarly successful as the first big app hits from Things to Tiny Wings. In the meantime, apps are no longer a novelty and it has also become very difficult in the incredible amount of apps to inspire the users let alone be found.
In the meantime, my focus and goal for Filmlog is very clear: I want to permanently offer an app with Filmlog that provides a simple and attractive solution for users. The focus is on consistency, which in my view plays a very important role for a product in this fast-moving app world. This allows me to achieve long-term goals and makes it possible at all to pursue this project alongside my full-time job.
The start of the beta phase for the next major release is planned for the anniversary year. All news and when the beta test will start can be found in the Blog / RSS / Mastodon. Disclaimer: Filmlog will also become significantly more expensive with the next version, for all those who still want to take advantage of this opportunity and want to purchase Filmlog Plus before that.
Here's to the next 10 years and many satisfied users that I can reach and inspire with Filmlog.
Try out Filmlog for free
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There it is! The new app icon for Supershift – refines the s-shape and adds more depth to it. The background gets some shift planner patterns to set the category of the app.
I'm quite happy with it. What do you think about the evolution of this app icon?
If you are working in shifts, check it out. It is a great app: easy to use, nice design and no subscriptions. And of course it has a new and shiny app icon! – You can learn more about Supershift right here: https://supershift.app
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