THE FAQ

Kinetic is a suite of software I’m developing to help neurodivergent minds live productive lives without crashing hard... in theory. Practice? it’s another thing because this is meant to be flexible based on the user. This is the flagship foundation, with others to follow. It’s named "Current" to relate to electrical energy and flow. Plus, it’s a lot cleaner than the original internal codename: "Cyberpunk Energy Tracker."

Most trackers or pacing systems flatten your whole day into a single "good" or "bad" mood. That never worked for me. Kinetic Current takes Spoon Theory and treats your energy like four separate batteries: your brain focus, physical endurance, sensory tolerance, and social battery. It tracks what’s draining you, what refills your tank, and how much friction it takes to start a task so you can pace your day before hitting a wall.

I was inspired by the lack of free apps addressing real needs within the neurodivergent community. I firmly believe tools that help you survive burnout and manage executive dysfunction shouldn't sit behind a $15/month paywall. On top of that, your health data belongs to you—not an ad tracker or a venture-backed cloud database. I built this to pull myself out of a severe burnout spiral. If it can help you get through your week, it should be yours to use.

Software takes dedicated time to build, document, and test. I'm a freelancer, and after abruptly losing my main platform income, finances have been tight. I don't want to cut corners or abandon this halfway through. Backing this project gives me the runway to finish packaging the app, write clean documentation, and release the entire framework open source for everyone. Historically, this isn’t the first open-source project that raised funds before release (Ghost, an open-source alternative to WordPress and Substack, did the exact same thing on Kickstarter).

It’s a mix of hands-on software design, local LLMs running on my homelab, and commercial models when I need heavy syntax lifting. I also did a lot of research, read a lot of material and use that to help me formulate equations to help with the battery. I test every single build on myself in real time, catching bugs, adjusting edge cases, and dogfooding it daily.

Short answer: Absolutely not.

Longer answer: "Vibe coding" is typing a vague prompt into an AI and hoping for the best. I architected deterministic math models—like baseline idle decay and sensory gear costs—built an offline write-behind queue so data never gets lost without Wi-Fi, audited security holes, and wired up local databases. AI helped write boilerplate, but the engineering and system logic are completely intentional.

My stance on AI is nuanced, but let’s keep it practical: I use AI strictly as a coding tool.

I use models to accelerate syntax, but I personally architect the systems, monitor security holes, fix visual bugs, and write the logic. Everything else—the product design, the ideas, the video work, the writing—comes directly from me (aside from having an LLM sanity-check grammar; I use Lexicon for my drafts). I’m in this to build useful software or step up when an existing tool needs real improvement. For instance, I maintain Med Rx—a fork of an existing medical logging app—where I added features the original author left out.

Down the line, my goal is to run my own local coding agents entirely on my homelab once I can afford a dedicated GPU (unless someone wants to donate one!). But the bottom line is simple: I don’t use AI to invent my ideas, generate my art, or replace my creative voice. I just use it to help me build code faster.

No. The coaching model does not use AI; it relies strictly on the mathematical formulas within the app to advise you. With that said, the advice is limited and may sometimes be unfeasible or impractical (like it may coach you to do things when it’s close to bedtime. The coach is not meant to be taken literally at times like that). In the future, I will explore internal models that can offer better advice, but only if they genuinely improve guidance without compromising your privacy or data.

Yes. Aside from guided tours and automatic resets, it’s the exact build I use daily which feeds my data into it (but scrubs it of personal information first). The final project will continue to evolve based on community feedback and my own design choices.

As a designer, I want to create a broader design language that includes other themes. It’s dark mode for now because it’s more than just a preference: after decades in front of screens, I rely on dark interfaces to prevent eye strain and sensory fatigue.

This app has already gone through 200+ builds. I anticipate more revisions before hitting a true 1.0. The goal of those revisions is to trim friction so deep telemetry stays easy to use. Also, I need feedback on how to do that. As much as I want to trust my own instincts, it’s better to get feedback on this as well.

I want the code open so anyone can inspect it, tweak it, and build on it. What I don't want is a company taking this free codebase, slapping a paywall on it, and selling it back to the community. The goal is accessibility, period. Under PolyForm Perimeter 1.0.1, building a competing software product or offering commercial hosted sync services using this codebase is strictly prohibited. Official managed sync is provided directly to support the project.

A paid service is not needed to run Current. You can run it on a single device, and you can set up multi-device syncing yourself using the provided documentation. The managed service is strictly for people who don’t want to manage the server infrastructure themselves or who want to support the project on an ongoing basis.

Yes. You can freely use and self-host Kinetic Current for your personal workflow, internal team pacing, or client coaching sessions.

First, I’m a web developer at heart. A progressive web app runs everywhere—phone, tablet, desktop—with zero gatekeepers. Second, building for iOS requires a Mac, an iPhone, and Apple’s yearly developer fees, none of which I have right now. There is an optional Android companion app called Pulse to bridge Health Connect wearable data, and while I’d love to support the Apple ecosystem down the road, making the core web app rock solid comes first.

Nope. It’s web-first, which means it works on pretty much anything with a modern browser—Android, iPhone, Mac, Windows, Linux… hell, you can even open it from your PlayStation!

Think of it like a digital notebook that lives entirely on your own device. Everything you log is saved right there on your phone or computer, not sent off to a third-party server. You don't need to create an account, you never have to remember a password, and it works 100% offline whether you have internet access or not.

The only time an account ever comes into play is down the road if you opt into a managed sync plan to mirror your logs across multiple devices automatically. If you're just tracking on one device, you simply open the app and start logging.

It's a full application with zero stripped features. Everything in the core engine is included for everyone.

No.

That's the whole answer. Sorry for the bluntness.

Nothing phones home and there is no backdoor. Updates are delivered directly to the app without touching your database. There is also an option to export your entire history at any time as JSON or CSV—both universal formats that you can inspect, translate, or back up yourself.

I’m American. That’s not sarcasm—I can learn advanced systems engineering, but I couldn't seem to pass Spanish 101. With that said, I am building an easy way for people to contribute community translations. Best of all, you won’t need to be a programmer to help. More on that soon.

"It’s ready when it’s ready" is the honest truth, but that's too vague when you're backing a project. Since I’m a solo developer and designer, I’m using a phased rollout instead of an arbitrary all-or-nothing deadline. Backers get early access to test builds and help shape features with direct feedback. Once those real-world tests are solid and we graduate to version 1.0, the full release goes live to the public. Updates will be posted on my blog and social media channels for complete accountability. For the record, I’ve been burned by crowdfunding campaigns before, so I take backer trust seriously.

Here is the planned release progression:

• Self-Hosted Docker Image: For homelabbers, tinkerers, and privacy purists who want to run Kinetic Current on their own hardware with total data sovereignty.
• Web App / Managed Setup: If you don't run a server and just want it to work, the core web app will be available free of charge for offline use, with updates pushed directly to the browser. Down the road, there will be an optional paid tier for automated cloud backups, multi-device syncing, and managed maintenance—paying for hosting infrastructure, never for the software itself.
• Native Companion Apps: Sideloading Android APKs works right now, but the roadmap includes packaging native wrappers and app store builds for Pulse. That brings home screen widgets, background sync, and native notifications directly to your phone.
• Full Native Desktop Apps (Windows & Linux): Standalone desktop installs designed for single-device offline use, with optional multi-device sync bridges.
• Apple Support: Requires acquiring dedicated Apple hardware to compile and sign builds. This sits at the end of the roadmap… unless someone donates both an iPhone and a Mac (a Hackintosh won't pass App Store code signing).

Kickstarter holds all pledged funds until a 30-to-60-day campaign concludes, takes an 8–10% platform cut, and enforces an all-or-nothing funding rule. I have immediate operational runway needs. By using Ko-fi, contributions go directly to my PayPal with zero platform cut, giving me immediate stability so I can put my head down and ship code.

No, it will not.

Let’s be realistic: this is a utilitarian app designed to help you measure your energy levels and understand yourself better by tracking how you feel day to day, hour by hour. But it won’t magically generate executive function. The app runs on behavioral models and mathematical rules, but those must be calibrated to your personal baselines over time. As you learn your patterns, it helps you make informed pacing choices before hitting a wall and how to recover once you hit it. It can help you maintain and get yourself back on track at your own pace. While it helped pull me out of burnout, I can only speak to my own experience. If using it daily helps you notice a subtle nervous system pattern you were previously blind to, it has done its job.

As an added bonus, it doubles as a lightweight interstitial journal, providing concrete data on your pacing habits. It works when you do.

That is completely optional. It is designed to work in conjunction with manual logs, but automatic baseline estimation requires extensive calibration and may not make the initial 1.0 cut if the math isn't 100% deterministic and reliable.

That project is currently on the backburner while its core architecture gets refined. My focus is strictly locked on Kinetic Current right now. It will return down the road.

No. Journalism is one of my core crafts. I will still be reporting and producing news content alongside building software.