3weeks Dev Log #6 — After 1.1.3, Four Years of Silence

Last Updated: May 2, 2023

May 2, 2023, 6:26 AM.

Version 1.1.3 shipped. That was 3weeks' last update for a very long time.

I didn't know at the time it would be the last. I assumed I'd come back to it. The pause just stretched longer than expected.

Why I Let It Go

It wasn't intentional neglect.

I was focused on other apps. 3weeks was running without issues — no crash reports, no critical bugs, stable user numbers, reasonable ratings. "Don't fix what isn't broken" was the mental model.

SMART LOTTO was in a similar state at the same time. Both apps were "stable enough to leave alone," which quietly became "abandoned."

The App Kept Getting Downloaded

While I wasn't touching it, 3weeks stayed on the App Store and kept serving users.

Downloads were consistent. Every January they spiked — new year resolutions bringing people to search for habit trackers. "This year I'll exercise every day." "I'll study consistently." The app found those people.

I watched the January numbers climb and thought "I should build something better for these people" — but didn't act on it immediately.

Ideas Kept Accumulating

Four years without updates didn't mean four years without ideas.

"A badge system would make this more engaging." "Statistics would give better motivation." "Android users deserve this too."

These went into notes, were forgotten, were rediscovered. Thought about, not acted on.

What Eventually Moved Me

Two things converged.

The SMART LOTTO rebuild in Flutter showed me the path: same concept, cross-platform, cleaner architecture. What I learned rebuilding SMART LOTTO applied directly to what 3weeks needed.

And a growing conviction that the app could be genuinely fun — not just functional. A habit tracker where the process of building habits felt engaging rather than dutiful.

Four years of accumulated ideas had a clear destination now.