Rewriting Orbit: what changed and why
A complete rebuild of Orbit. I walk through the new capture engine, the lighter interface, and the storage flexibility I've been working toward.
Michael Heckmann
I build digital things that work well and feel right.
Latest posts
Designing for vague memories: Why I moved away from keyword-first
Why I've replaced Orbit's search bar with a visual timeline. A look into designing a lightweight entry point that matches how people actually remember.
The gap between what you can see and what you can make
I explore the space between inspiration and creation, and how exposure to high-quality work shapes our internal standards and creative instincts.
Type-safe IPC in Electron
I show how to build a type-safe IPC layer in Electron using typed IPC wrappers. You'll see how types flow from handlers to the renderer, how I register handlers safely, and what trade-offs this structure introduces.
Design details from the new Orbit website
I break down some of the design choices I'm most proud of on the new Orbit website: chromatic aberration effects, custom easing functions and retro icons.
A pragmatic Electron architecture for macOS
How Orbit for macOS is built: Electron + Swift CLI, narrow typed IPC, encrypted SQLite, Vite/electron-builder. What worked and what didn’t.
Orbit: The story so far
An honest update on Orbit's development journey: the challenges of balancing client work with building my own product, key technical improvements, and why it's time to ship despite the imperfections.
Find again what you didn't save: Introducing Orbit
I'm introducing the early access program for Orbit, a Mac app I've built to privately record your screen activity. It enables you to search and revisit anything you've seen, acting as a time machine for your digital life.
Project Orbit: Moodboard and themes
I'm exploring visual themes and aesthetics for 'Orbit,' my new Rewind alternative. Themes like retrofuturism, analog clocks and VHS tapes help capture a nostalgic yet forward-looking vibe — shaping the product's identity, branding, and overall user experience.
Creating my own Rewind alternative
I'm building my own local-first alternative to Rewind, and in this post, I'm sharing my wishlist. Privacy, enhanced search, performance, backups, and AI integration are key features I'm aiming for in this screen memory tool. Read about my motivations and the features I plan to implement.
Deep dive: Setting up Astro server islands & actions on Cloudflare Pages
This post guides you through setting up an Astro project with server islands and actions and deploying it to Cloudflare Pages. Learn the required configurations, implement server islands and actions, and understand the build output for performant, dynamic websites.
Building a custom multi-key shortcut system with skhd and Raycast
Build a multi-key shortcut system that lets you trigger different actions based on keyboard modes. We'll use skhd for the shortcuts, create two Raycast extensions and write a TypeScript generator for type-safe configuration of shortcuts and modes.