PocketPB is getting adverts

Michael on 30 Sep 2026

PocketPB is my fitness/exercise/running planner app for iOS, and despite what I thought were rigid principles, it’s about to include adverts. Why?

Principles

I don’t like adverts. I hate them, in fact. Stealing our attention, our data, our time! I did not, still do not, want that in PocketPB. So, if I’m abandoning my principles, what exactly am I abandoning? Will my adverts steal your attention; no. Will they steal your data; no! What about your time; no. Ok, not stealing data is good, but without the other two, surely the adverts are pointless. Maybe, but I realised that what I hated was a certain type of advert. PocketPB will be using the Kickstart Exchange indie app network, which is a privacy-focussed service enabling indie app developers to get cross-app exposure without tracking people. I don’t pay for adverts and I don’t get paid for showing them. Instead, each indie app advert that appears in my app gains me a point, and when I get enough points PocketPB will start appearing in the apps of other developers who are part of the network.

Let’s be honest

Ok, let’s! I don’t want adverts, but I am going to put them into my app. There, I’ve said it. If I want to make a success of this then I need people to at least know PocketPB exists. I am comfortable that Kickstart Exchange can deliver this without compromisng on the things I really hate about adverts. Am I just deluding myself? Should I be cancelled and hounded off social media? I don’t think I’d notice if I was, to be fair.

Realisation

There was one. And it was that I don’t think adverts are bad. I think certain types of advert are bad. Data-stealing, content-hiding, hyperbole-screeching pieces of shit? Yeah, they can do one. But, you know, some adverts are good because they tell you about something that might be of interest to you. This is the compromise I have made with PocketPB; if someone is using an indie app for generating exercise plans, then maybe there are some other indie apps they might find useful.

PocketPB Pro

PocketPB Pro is the one-time purchase pro version which includes the Sessions editor. When PocketPB 2026.5 launches, the Pro unlock will also switch off adverts.

Time will tell if this decision pays off. Will it generate downloads? Will it cause Mastodon to freak out for a day or two? I’m pretty convinced it won’t do either of those things, but you gotta try, right?