About

Software that's made for humans.

I'm Jay, a lead web developer at iRacing, where I've been helping build software since 2009. More than fifteen years later, I'm still happiest when I'm creating things that people love to use.

Some people unwind by watching TV. I tend to unwind by working on projects. Building software has always been how I explore new ideas, learn new technologies, and satisfy a creative itch that never really goes away.

In a world of engagement algorithms, endless subscriptions, and products designed to capture and monetize attention, it's easy to feel like we've become the product.

I think software can be better than that. It can be respectful, delightful, and genuinely useful without being addictive or exploitative.

Xetabit is my nights-and-weekends software studio: a place to explore those ideas and build apps that respect your attention, protect your privacy, and leave you in control of your own data.

All while feeling totally seamless on Apple platforms.

Newsbin is simply one expression of those ideas. The principles behind it—thoughtful design, privacy, ownership, and respect for users—have guided my work for many years and continue to shape everything I build.

Built on a few simple principles

Native, not adapted

Built with Apple's own frameworks and platform conventions.

Apps that aren't web apps wrapped in a native shell. They're designed specifically for iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Vision Pro — so they feel at home wherever you use them.

Private by default

Your habits are yours.

Apps sync through your own iCloud account. I don't run advertising networks, build user profiles, or track you across the web. The site uses only privacy-friendly, cookieless analytics with no personal data — and in most cases I couldn't see your data even if I wanted to.

No lock-in

Your content belongs to you.

Open standards whenever possible. Your data stays under your control, and you're never trapped inside a proprietary ecosystem. Software should earn loyalty by being useful, not by making it difficult to leave.

Built for the long term

Good software should respect the people who use it.

That means thoughtful design instead of endless features. Clear ownership instead of dependency. Privacy instead of surveillance. Native experiences instead of lowest-common-denominator apps.

Technology changes quickly. Good principles don't.

Those principles guide every project I take on.

Why start with an RSS reader?

I've been using RSS since the Google Reader era. Back then, following the web felt simple. You chose the sites you cared about, subscribed once, and read on your own terms.

Over time, the experience changed. Google Reader went away, replaced by services like Feedly and others. More and more of the web became shaped by algorithms, recommendations, and systems designed to decide what deserved attention.

Click a link these days and you're often bombarded with ads. Pop-ups interrupt articles. Newsletters ask for your email before you've even finished reading. And many of the apps I loved either disappeared entirely or shifted toward subscriptions and cloud services I didn't really need or want.

So I spent a year building an RSS reader I actually wanted to use.

One that felt native on every Apple device I owned. One that synced through my own iCloud account. One that respected my privacy and didn't require another account.

That became Newsbin.

What's next

Newsbin is the first Xetabit product, but it won't be the last.

A couple more apps are already in development, built around the same ideas that shaped Newsbin: native experiences, privacy by default, and software that puts users first.

If that sounds like your kind of software, I'd love to have you along for the journey.

Explore Newsbin →