Kite · Stillcraft

What's inside

Everything Kite does.

A tug you can't guess

3, 5, 7 or 9 times a day, spread evenly over the hours you pick and never in a bunch, yet never when you'd expect it. A soft buzz with no sound, and a notification: "Where are you?"

Here, in one tap

If you're here, answer right from the notification and carry on. If not, say where the mind was: in the past (replaying what happened), in the future (plans, worries, what-ifs) or in cares (tasks, lists, who to message). There's no right answer; the point is to notice.

Reel in, in fifteen seconds

Hold the wooden spool three times while you find one thing you see, one sound and one feeling in your body: something blue near you, the quietest sound around you, your feet on the floor. Each turn lowers the kite; the third lays it in the grass.

I drifted off

Caught yourself without a tug? A big button in the app and a widget on the home screen let you reel in right away.

The day's sky

In the evening every tug is a small kite placed by the hour: green ones lie in the grass, dusk-blue drifted into the past, sunrise-orange into the future, rose into cares. Reeled-in kites have their string to the ground; let-go ones, a loose end. One line in words, and the week's skies below. No scores, streaks or percentages.

Small, quiet things

Quiet for an hour, for meetings and films. Light spool clicks under your finger while you reel. The sky follows the clock: dawn, midday, dusk and stars at night. All drawn in code: a red paper kite on rice paper.

Screens

Captured in Kite.

Kite: The string — **The string**Quiet tugs from 9:00 to 21:00, and "I drifted off".

Kite: Where was the mind? — **Where was the mind?**Here, the past, the future or cares.

Kite: Reel in — **Reel in**Hold the spool while you look.

Kite: The day's sky — **The day's sky**Every tug a kite, placed by the hour.

Kite: Settings — **Settings**How many tugs, and between which hours.

Kite: Welcome — **Welcome**Your mind is a kite.

Where the mind goes

Answer	What it's like	In the sky
Here	In what I'm doing.	Green, lying in the grass
In the past	Replaying a conversation, going over what happened.	Dusk blue
In the future	Plans, worries, what-ifs.	Sunrise orange
In cares	Tasks, lists, who to message.	Rose

Get it

Get Kite.

Install

Version: v1.0.0
File: Kite.apk
Requires: Android 9.0 (API 28) or newer. No Google services needed.
Permissions: Notifications and vibration, for the tugs. No internet.
License: MIT

Download the APK on your phone.
Open it and allow installs from this source when Android asks.
Pick how many tugs a day and between which hours, then wait for the first one.

Download APK All releases

Build from source

JDK 17+ (Android Studio's bundled JBR works) and the Android SDK. The sky, the kites and the spool are drawn on a Compose canvas.

git clone https://github.com/bigdevwhale/kite.git
cd kite
./gradlew testDebugUnitTest             # the tug plan, the day's sky
./gradlew assembleDebug                 # app.kite.dev, installs next to a release
./gradlew assembleDebug -Pdemo          # app.kite.demo, three weeks of made-up tugs
./gradlew testDebugUnitTest -Prender --tests '*RenderArtScreens*'  # every screen to app/build/art

Good to know

Questions people ask.

What if a tug comes at a bad moment?

Let it pass, or tap "Not now": nothing is lost and nothing is held against you. Quiet for an hour silences tugs for meetings and films, and you can switch them off altogether.

Why no sound?

A tug is for you alone, in the middle of a meeting, a queue or a conversation. A soft buzz is enough to notice; a chime would pull everyone else's attention too.

The tugs don't arrive. Why?

Some phones stop apps to save battery. Settings → Let tugs through opens the right page for your phone.

What does it keep?

Only the time of each tug, where you said you were and whether you reeled in. On the phone, with no account, no internet permission and no analytics.

Why no scores or streaks?

Because drifting off isn't a failure; it's what minds do. The practice is noticing and coming back, and a score would turn that into one more thing to worry about.