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  • Can Smart Keys translate other people’s messages?

    Here’s how I started talking to people on RedNote Xiaohongshu (小红书) without knowing Mandarin.

    Well, everything started when I first showed Smart Keys to my psychologist friend, Javad Salehi Fadardi, he hit me with a question I didn’t see coming: “Can it translate other people’s messages?”

    “No,” I said, feeling pretty confident. “That’s impossible.”

    Then he hit me with one of those classic psychologist one-liners designed to keep you up at night: “What makes you believe that?”

    I had no answer. But the question burrowed into my brain and refused to leave.
    Around the same time, I started getting DMs on Instagram from users asking for the exact same feature.

    Dozens of them. At first, I brushed it off. Smart Keys wasn’t built for translating conversations in languages you don’t understand, it’s meant to help you sound fluent in languages you kind of already know.

    But last week, I was checking out RedNote Xiaohongshu (following TikTok refugees) and decided to strike up a conversation with someone in Chinese.

    That’s when it hit me: struggling through copying and pasting user’s messages while trying to have a real-time conversation is painful. That was it. The final push. I couldn’t ignore the signs anymore.

    So now, Smart Keys can translate other people’s messages and suggest responses. All in just one click. It works with screenshots, photos, you name it. Just update the app to the latest version, go to Settings > Keyboard Options, and enable Screen Translator.

    Big thanks to Javad for planting that seed of doubt and curiosity.
    This one’s for you.

  • No-BS Friday Metrics: Store Conversion Rate

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    App Store gurus love to talk about ASO tricks and how to squeeze every bit of conversion juice from the app store. But what if I told you it doesn’t really matter?

    Smart Keys store conversion rate is over 50% while the best apps barely scrape 8%. So either I’m a wizard or this is a BS metric.

    We, app builders, love the idea that some ASO tweak will be the magic bullet. A better subtitle, the right screenshots, a catchy promo text. Sure, those things help a little, but I’m sorry to say that you may be spending your time on the wrong task, they won’t move the needle in a meaningful way.

    Then what? What actually happened in October that store conversion sky rocketed? What’s the big ASO secret?

    It’s a three-letter word: Ads. No ASO magic tricks, no growth hacks, no overcomplicated strategy. just Ads iterations that started working well.

    So is this store conversion rate relevant? not really. It looks good on a dashboard, to brag, but that’s about it. Focus on what actually drives growth, not vanity metrics that make you feel good but don’t pay the bills.

    That’s it for today. Next Friday, I’ll dive into retention, the real deal.

    Have a no-BS weekend. See ya. ✌️

  • The end of the maker’s midlife crisis

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    What do you do?
    And why, my friend?
    For whom does your effort
    Begin and end?

    Is it for love,
    For truth, for gain?
    For fleeting joy,
    Or to ease some pain?

    Do you create
    To leave a mark,
    To light the way,
    Or spark the dark?

    So ask yourself,
    When all feels new:
    What drives your soul,
    And what drives you?

  • Listening

    Music should be one of the essential elements of human life. ᕕ(⌐■_■)ᕗ ♪♬

    These artists and channels help me get into the flow mode while coding or endurance high while cycling: Radio Paradise, Flavour Trip, HANA, Book Club, KEXP.

    See the full playlist or recent favorites:

  • Journal: Jan 2025

    • The tingling in my fingers to write more and the inspiration from other makers led me to create this website and be part of the “Building in Public” movement for the first time. Butterflies!!! ཐི༏ཋྀ󠀮ʚїɞ
      • Migrating all my content spread around the web to here.
      • This is my first “/now” update, and I’m absolutely in love with this concept. I can see this reducing a lot my need for publishing stuff on social media.
      • Big thanks to Rich Tabor for this WordPress template and inspiration.
    • Building Smart Keys
      • Working with influencers.
      • Planning a desktop version.
    • Looking for flights to Brazil
    • Planning Earth Month Events (April) in Walnut Creek.
    • Learning Korean, Hangul is so, so beautiful. And also quite hard. Thank you, Ryan Estrada for these mnemonic drawings.
    • Saturdays you can find me having a delicious Omega at Rooted Poets Corner, at the beautiful PH Library or riding with Wildcats as Training Ride Leader for ALC 2025