About Zen Magpie
Zen Magpie is an independent studio of one, working out of Scotland, making things worth having. Apps, games, tools, art - whatever seems worth making. Some useful. Some beautiful. Some completely daft. The medium doesn’t matter. The idea does.
No venture money, no growth team, no dark patterns. Every product is built and maintained by one person, shipped when it is good and fixed when it is not. The collection is the business, and the business exists for one thing: the freedom to keep making.
What we make
Right now that means Stoic Mind, a daily Stoic quotes app; Monk Mode, a habit tracker for building discipline; ArtTrails, a GPS art generator for runners and walkers; Pomomethod, a free Pomodoro timer for focused work; Doodle Days, a drawing journal for one good thing a day; and Cone the Duke, a daft wee game about Glasgow’s most famous statue.
How we work
Most things made today are built to win your attention. We build things made to deserve it. One set of hands, no committees, no engineered FOMO. If something stops earning its keep, it gets fixed or it goes.
Serious about the work, never about ourselves. Discipline is not reverence - one of the things we ship is a game about putting a cone on a statue, on purpose.
Questions
- What is Zen Magpie?
- Zen Magpie is an independent studio of one, based in Scotland, making things worth having. Some useful, some beautiful, some completely daft. Right now that means apps and games for discipline, focus, movement, creativity and calm. No venture money, no growth team, no dark patterns.
- Does Zen Magpie only make apps?
- No. Right now it's apps and games, but the studio makes whatever seems worth making - tools, games, art, music and whatever comes next. The medium doesn't matter. The idea does. The collection is the business, and the business exists for the freedom to keep making.
- Who makes Zen Magpie?
- A studio of one. Every product is designed, built and maintained by the same hands - no team, no investors, no committees.
- Where is Zen Magpie based?
- Scotland.
- What products does Zen Magpie make?
- Six: Monk Mode (a habit tracker for building discipline), Stoic Mind (a daily Stoic quote and a memento mori life-in-weeks calendar), ArtTrails (a GPS art generator for runs, walks and rides), Pomomethod (a free browser Pomodoro timer), Doodle Days (a drawing journal for one good thing a day, on iOS and Android) and Cone the Duke (a daft wee game about Glasgow's coned statue).
- What makes Zen Magpie different?
- It is genuinely independent and run by one person, so there is no committee, no investors and no growth team chasing engagement. The products are built to be used and then put down - calm, private, no tricks - and the work runs on a few honest threads: movement and the outdoors, focus and discipline, a clear Stoic head, and a bit of Glasgow humour.
- How can I contact Zen Magpie?
- The best way to reach the studio is through the support links on each app’s App Store or Google Play page.