How AI helped me ship my first Android app (Spensy) — a 2-min read

For years I wanted to build my own app. Always stuck at "I'll start tomorrow."

This year, AI coding tools changed that for me.

What I built:

Spensy — a private, offline expense tracker for Android. No login, no cloud, no ads. Live on the Play Store now.

How AI actually helped:

- Generated boilerplate I'd have spent weeks on (Compose layouts, DB schemas, repos)

- Helped me debug at 1 AM when I'd normally have given up

- Suggested edge cases I hadn't thought of

- Wrote the polish I usually skip — empty states, error handling, accessibility

What AI couldn't do:

- Make the architecture decisions

- Understand my actual users

- Care about the product the way I do

What I learned:

AI doesn't build apps for you. It removes the boring blockers between you and shipping. The dream still requires you to show up — but the path got shorter.

If you've been waiting to start your own thing, the time really is now.

Spensy: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.spensy.app