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Mudu: The Beginning<br>May 19, 2026
TL;DR
I finally built Mudu, an end-to-end encrypted private space for couples, families and close friends.
Probably all of us have some kind of list. A list of things we want to build. A list of things we want to try. A list of places we want to see. A list of ideas that keep coming back once in a while, but somehow never quite become the next thing.<br>One of my favorite lists is the one where I keep ideas that excite me. Every now and then I come back to it. Some ideas already feel like they belonged to a different version of me. Others still pull me in.<br>For years, one of those ideas was a home for the little bits of shared life that do not really belong anywhere else.<br>Not a calendar. Not a notes app. Not a task manager. Not another place to optimize everything until it becomes joyless. More like a quiet corner for plans, memories, feelings, places and all the tiny things that make a relationship feel alive.<br>For a long time I kept dismissing it. It would take too much time. It would not make sense without Android. It would need a backend, end-to-end encryption and solid sync. The scope would probably explode. Every reason felt reasonable enough to leave it alone for a bit longer.<br>But then the question became very obvious: if not now, then when? Do I really want this idea to stay another decade on the list of things I really want to build but keep finding excuses not to?<br>The answer was clear. I had to build Mudu, a private app for couples, families and close friends. A shared space for the small things that help people feel closer, more understood and more connected.<br>Even the app name was clear to me from the beginning. It comes from the Lithuanian word “mùdu”, which roughly means “the two of us”. To me, that is the whole idea. A private space built around closeness.<br>Idea
Mudu started with a question: what would a private space for the people closest to you look like?
The core idea was simple: use technology to help people hold onto the small things that make them feel close.<br>That can sound a bit abstract, but in practice it means very small things. A plan you both keep returning to. A place one of you wants to visit someday. A list that slowly becomes a record of your shared life. A moment that should not be lost. A small way to say how you feel when saying it directly feels harder than it should.<br>None of this is impossible with existing technology. In fact, shared Apple Notes did most of this for me for a while. It was hacky and sometimes awkward, but it worked. I still remember the small excitement of adding a new shared plan, a bucket list item or some silly idea into that shared chest.<br>It felt magical in a very simple way. Not because the tool was special, but because the act itself was. There is something quite warm about having a tiny shared place where future plans and half-formed ideas can live before they become real.<br>Ever since then, I wanted to bring those concepts into a dedicated app. But I did not want to just put shared fun stuff into an app and call it a day. I wanted to push it a bit further. I wanted to build a set of tools that could help people build stronger and healthier relationships.<br>Something that helps you express how you feel.<br>Something that helps resolve friction in a calmer way.<br>Something that makes small shared plans easier to hold.<br>Something that feels personal instead of transactional.<br>And on top of all that, the most important requirement was privacy.<br>Everything had to be encrypted. There was no version of this app where I would feel comfortable asking people to put intimate relationship context into it while the app quietly treats that data as something to collect.<br>I wanted Mudu to be the kind of app where, if you knew exactly how it worked, you would feel calmer, not worse. Nothing creepy. Nothing weird. Nothing that would make me feel like I betrayed the idea or the people using it.<br>That is where Mudu started to take shape.<br>Shape<br>Turning the idea into an actual app was harder than expected.<br>There were too many ideas. Way too many for an MVP. Every note had another note attached to it. Every feature had three different versions. And every simple thing became less simple once privacy, encryption and sync entered the room.<br>After many iterations, I decided to split Mudu into a few core parts:<br>Signals : share emotional and intimate states with less friction<br>Places : save places, plan trips and make the world feel like something you are exploring together<br>Lists : keep shared plans, bucket lists, tiny tasks and long-running context in one place<br>Moments : remember important dates, memories, anniversaries and the small events that matter<br>Tools : lower emotional load and make small decisions or hard conversations a bit easier<br>That structure made the app feel possible. Not small exactly, but contained enough that each part had a clear reason to exist.<br>Signals
A small signal can sometimes...