IdeaWell

Project ideas from Hacker News discussions.

Skip is now free and open source

Original Article

Hacker News Discussion

📝 Discussion Summary (Click to expand)

Based on the Hacker News discussion surrounding the open-sourcing of the Skip tool (which allows SwiftUI development for Android), the three most prevalent themes are the licensing and business model debate, the technical comparison to existing cross-platform frameworks, and the underlying constraints of mobile development.

1. The Ethics and Economics of Open Source Tools

A significant portion of the discussion centers on whether developer tools should be open source, the viability of selling tools to developers, and the practical challenges of licensing (specifically LGPL on iOS). While the team open-sourced Skip to drive adoption, users debated the reality of paying for software in an industry accustomed to free tools.

"The plain truth is that developers expect to get their tools free of charge." — publicdebates

"Free software is an ideology, not just a license." — sneak

"I'd be more likely to [pay for source-available software] than if I couldn't access the source." — cortesoft

2. Cross-Platform Framework Comparison (Flutter, React Native, KMP)

Skip is frequently compared to Flutter, React Native, and Kotlin Multiplatform (KMP). The debate focuses on the trade-off between native UI fidelity and development convenience. Skip’s main selling point—translating SwiftUI to native Jetpack Compose—is contrasted with frameworks that render custom UIs (Flutter) or use alien UI on iOS (Compose Multiplatform).

"Flutter still doesn't support liquid glass on iOS so it doesn't seem like a serious contender to me at this point." — trevor-e

"Whereas Skip is native on both platforms... CMP [Compose Multiplatform] is native on Android but alien on iOS." — marcprux

"I can always tell when an app is Flutter. They feel like crap. Everything's a bit off with the native looking widgets." — skavi

3. Development Overhead and Hardware Constraints

There is a recurring concern regarding the high resource requirements for mobile development. The discussion highlights that running both the iOS and Android toolchains simultaneously requires significant RAM (32GB was recommended), adding to the friction and cost of mobile development regardless of the framework used.

"At least 32GB of memory is recommended for development with Skip." — gouthamve (from documentation)

"You're running both the iOS development tools (Xcode, iOS Simulator), plus the Android development tools (Gradle, Android emulator...). These add up." — marcprux

"IDEs targeting mobile development saw the bloat in FPGA IDEs and said 'we can beat that'." — dlcarrier

🚀 Project Ideas

License Clarity Scanner

Summary

  • [Automated tool that scans GitHub repositories for ambiguous or missing open-source license information, specifically targeting the "LICENSE file but not clear" issue seen with Skip.]
  • [Provides instant clarity on project licensing status, preventing developers from unknowingly using non-compliant or risky dependencies.]

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Mobile & desktop developers, open-source maintainers, DevSecOps teams
Core Feature CLI/GitHub Action that detects licensing issues and explains compliance implications (e.g., "LGPLv3 on iOS requires X")
Tech Stack GitHub API, Go/Rust for scanning, NLP for reading READMEs/commits, simple web UI
Difficulty Low
Monetization Hobby (free open-source tool, optional paid GitHub App features for teams)

Notes

  • [Directly addresses gouthamje's confusion about the missing LICENSE file and gpm's LGPL compliance questions.]
  • [High practical utility; avoids legal risk and speeds up dependency evaluation for developers.]

Skipify: Skip Preview & Compatibility Service

Summary

  • [A cloud-based preview service for Skip projects that eliminates the 32GB RAM requirement for simultaneous iOS/Android development.]
  • [Allows developers to test cross-platform SwiftUI apps in-browser via simulated iOS/Android emulators, reducing hardware strain.]

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Indie developers, small teams, developers on lower-spec hardware
Core Feature Web-based simultaneous preview of SwiftUI (iOS) and Compose (Android) builds from a single codebase
Tech Stack Cloud VMs (AWS/GCP), Docker containers for iOS/Android toolchains, WebAssembly for streaming UI
Difficulty Medium
Monetization Revenue-ready: Freemium (limited previews) -> $20/month for unlimited parallel builds

Notes

  • [Addresses the "Dear lord, 32GB RAM" frustration from jstummbillig and wahnfrieden.]
  • [Makes Skip accessible to hobbyists and students without high-end hardware, increasing adoption.]

SwiftUI-to-Compose Visual Diff Tool

Summary

  • [Developer tool that visually compares SwiftUI UI rendering vs. translated Jetpack Compose output to catch "uncanny valley" UI bugs before release.]
  • [Ensures Skip apps feel truly native on Android by flagging rendering deviations from Material 3/Android conventions.]

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Skip developers, UI/UX engineers, QA testers
Core Feature Side-by-side screenshot diff of iOS simulator vs. Android emulator for the same view, highlighting pixel/spacing differences
Tech Stack Appium, Jest, Image processing (OpenCV), integrated with Xcode/Android Studio build scripts
Difficulty Medium
Monetization Hobby (free tool, potential paid enterprise features for CI/CD integration)

Notes

  • [Directly addresses pxc's concern about TalkBack accessibility parity and the "nearly native" vs. "alien UI" debate highlighted by marcprux and skavi.]
  • [Provides tangible value for ensuring quality, a major risk when moving from Flutter/React Native to native toolkits.]

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