Prillikivi
Side project. 2015–
content blocking, in-app subscriptions, CloudKit, StoreKit
Brief
Build an iOS content blocker for Estonian media.
What I did
With iOS 9 in 2015, Apple made it possible for developers to build content blockers for Safari, the iOS system browser. Many blockers emerged for general use and English-language media. Seeing that nobody else came forward to implement a blocker for Estonian media, I went ahead and built it myself.
Initially, the app was a one-time purchase, but I later switched to a subscription model.
The two technically interesting pieces in the app are the filter distribution with CloudKit, and the in-app subscription UI. This was a first time I built such subscription in iOS, and it involved quite a bit of back and forth with App Store app review teams to meet all their requirements.
Outcome
Prillikivi remains an active side project. Since I haven’t seriously distributed or marketed it, there’s not much community and revenue around it at this time. However, I am my own most important customer—I honestly just want to have a better experience with Estonian media, and that’s the mindset of continuing to maintain it.