Ben McCarthy

I'm Ben, a 28yo non-binary designer and app developer based in Dublin.

Obscura’s 10th Anniversary

I don’t think anyone is more shocked than I am that it’s been 10 years since Obscura launched.  I went to college to study graphic design, and while our course covered a broad range of design skills and applications, I always knew that user interface design was what

Introducing Obscura Studio

The Studio If you’ve heard me talk about Obscura before, you’ve probably heard me mention that my dad is a professional photographer. For most of my childhood, he worked out of a former 18th century police station, affectionately known as The Studio. Many afternoons were spent there. While

Fuck Left AirPods

Last November I had an issue where my left AirPod (second generation Pro) would occasionally fail to charge in the case and I’d wake up to find it dead. Not every day, but it was happening enough that it was becoming a real nuisance.  I contacted Apple support, who

Contabulation

For a long while, I’ve felt that the design of iOS is too top heavy. While our phones seem to grow larger every year, our hands do not and so interface elements are pulled ever further out of reach. It’s a real micro-annoyance to have to shuffle your

Personal

I Bought an iPad mini

I didn’t want to, but it happened. It’s been a while since I last bought a new iPad (a 2018 12.9" iPad Pro). The iPad is a really fascinating device, in many ways the most capable device Apple makes, and in others, the most lacking.  That

Croissant

I’m very pleased to announce Croissant, a brand new app for cross-posting to Bluesky, Mastodon, and Threads. Over the summer, I began helping Aaron Vegh with the design of his blogging platform. One of its features was the ability to post directly to Mastodon in addition to your own

SF Botanicals

I spent Saturday afternoon walking around Golden Gate Park, taking over 1200 photos, all using Obscura. It was a really great experience and I just felt in the zone from start to finish. The only downside was shooting a whole lot of ProRAW photos under the heat of the midday

Ketchup

Hello there! Welcome to the world of Ketchup! I’ve been playing Pokemon games for about as long as I can remember. It all started for me with a copy of Pokemon Yellow on a translucent purple GameBoy Colour, and I’ve been hooked ever since. The Pokemon games are

Sneak Peek: Untitled Project

Agile 3

When I first began teaching myself to code in 2014, I needed a project that was small, and easy to wrap my head around. Agile was inspired by the carnival game Whack-a-Mole, a simple game that tests your reflexes. All you need to do is tap the circles as quickly

Personal

I’m Feeling a Bit Stuck

Obscura 4 has been doing pretty well since its launch in August. Sales didn’t stop off a cliff and the fact that at least some income is guaranteed this autumn is a huge relief, and is allowing me to consider working on some more experimental projects for the next

A Site for Sore Eyes

(I’m pretty sure I’ve used that title before) I spent much of the last two weeks working on a new personal site. I was feeling like my web presence was being stretched a little thin, and I wanted to unify all my projects under one roof. I also

News

Freckle

Freckle on the App Store I’ve had the idea of a Polka Dot generator app sitting in my list of app ideas for a number of years. After spending the last year working on Obscura 4, I felt like I could with a little break to work on something

Freckle - Sneak Peek

Obscura 4 - Highlights

There are so many changes and improvements in Obscura 4, on top of many great features already in the app, and I wanted to call attention to some of my favourites. The Exposure Dial When I show Obscura to someone, the first thing I get them to try is the

Obscura

Obscura 4

Introducing Obscura 4, a premium camera app built for pros and designed for everyone. It’s been redesigned and rebuilt from the ground up to create a gorgeous, intuitive and delightful experience every time you take a photo. Obscura on the App Store Refined Design Obscura combines pro camera features

Personal

Look But Don’t Touch

I haven’t yet had the opportunity to try the headset out for myself, but I’ve been having a lot of thoughts over the past few days that I wanted to write down while they’re fresh. The first is that everyone I’ve spoken to who has tried

Having Lots of Photos is a F**king Nightmare

I’m currently in the process of moving my photos out of Lightroom (Classic), and into Apple Photos. It’s taking a long time, and leaving me with plenty of opportunity to think about how photo management could be greatly improved. Lightroom is feature packed, and great at what it

Personal

Copenhagen

My partner Sara and I spend the past few days in Copenhagen and had an excellent time. It’s a wonderful city to just be in, everything is clean, it’s easy to navigate. Things just work. It’s hard not to notice the shortcomings of your own city after

California, Here I Come

I’m very excited to be heading back to San Jose for Apple’s developer conference in June (even if most of it is more online than in person). It’s been far too long since I had the opportunity to hang out with friends in this community. I am

Paid-members only

Obscura: Sneak Peek 4

Paid-members only

Obscura

Obscura: Sneak Peek 3

Paid-members only

Obscura

Obscura: Sneak Peek 2

Aether: Launch Sales

Aether Reception

I just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone who purchased, shared, and complimented Aether. It was an absolute joy to ship something new again, and a lot of fun to surprise people with something unexpected. The biggest surprise to me of the launch was the difference in