Blog · Category
Apps
36 essays in this category. In reverse chronological order.
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01
July 7, 2026
6 min read
Apps that work without asking permission for what they do not need
If you have to keep one phrase about BLA, it is this one. It sums up the whole line: the radicalism, the lightness, the respect for whoever uses it. And it fits in an opened app.
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02
July 6, 2026
6 min read
BLA walks on two legs
BLA is not only a line of its own apps, and it is not only a studio for commissioned development. It is both things, and each one sustains the other.
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03
July 5, 2026
6 min read
Software has an author too
A book has an author. A magazine has an editor. Software, most of the time, has neither. BLA treats its apps as signed work, and that changes what they are.
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04
July 4, 2026
6 min read
Apps that give something back
Inclusion, childhood, sensory touch. Lines that look distant on the map, united by a single idea: they are apps that give something back to whoever uses them, instead of asking for more.
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05
July 3, 2026
6 min read
BLA is not answering a market, it is building one
There are few Brazilian apps thought out for the domestic market with editorial care. BLA is not disputing that small space. It is betting that it can be much bigger than it is today.
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06
July 2, 2026
6 min read
Goiânia is not an address, it is a perspective
Goiânia shows up in the story of the first app of BLA as a counterpoint to Silicon Valley and to Faria Lima. But it is not the address of one app. It is the lens of the whole line.
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07
July 1, 2026
6 min read
The consistency that makes the family look like a family
Whoever opens a second BLA app recognizes the form before reading the name. That consistency is not coincidence or chance. It is the decision that turns separate apps into a family.
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08
June 30, 2026
6 min read
Design is about saying no
The phrase is from Steve Jobs and it organizes the way BLA decides what goes into each app. It is not about adding until the app is complete. It is about pruning until it is doable.
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09
June 29, 2026
6 min read
The 6 product lines of BLA were not planned, they were noticed
BLA organizes its apps into six product lines. But they did not come from a plan drawn beforehand. They came from noticing, afterward, a pattern that was already there.
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10
June 28, 2026
6 min read
An editorial decision, not a dashboard decision
BLA apps do not measure you. No analytics, no funnel, no A/B test. What looks like a renunciation is what keeps every decision about the app editorial instead of statistical.
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11
June 27, 2026
6 min read
Why a BLA app is under 5 MB
Most apps weigh hundreds of megabytes, some pass a gigabyte. BLA apps are under five. It is not a technical detail, it is the consequence of a decision about what an app should be.
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12
June 26, 2026
6 min read
The rule does not kill the idea, it redraws the app
Every BLA app passes a rule before it exists: would someone use this as the main app for that function? When the answer is no, the rule does not discard the idea, it rewrites the app until the answer becomes yes.
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13
June 25, 2026
6 min read
The first app was the proof of concept for the whole line
Before the app line existed as a line, it was just a bet. The first published app was what turned the bet into a plan. What a single app proved, and why that unlocked all the others.
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14
June 24, 2026
6 min read
BLA always made apps, it just did not call them that
Programming is not a recent chapter at BLA. It is the oldest skill of its director, going back to 1996. The app line was not a pivot, it was a new name for a practice that came from far back.
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15
June 23, 2026
8 min read
Notas BLA, Apple Notes, Bear, Obsidian: what each one is for
Four notes apps on the iPhone, four different purposes. When Notas BLA fits and when it does not. An honest comparison, no demonization, no miracle promises.
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16
June 22, 2026
7 min read
Flashlight app, native iOS flashlight, physical flashlight: when each one makes sense
Is a flashlight app worth it when the iPhone already has a native one? Yes, if your routine asks for what the native does not do. Three objects with three different purposes. When each one fits and when it does not.
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17
June 16, 2026
6 min read
Same note on iPhone, iPad and Mac
Notas BLA is universal by design. One-time purchase, three screens, automatic sync via iCloud. How each device changes the use, without changing the app.
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18
June 15, 2026
7 min read
How a flashlight turns on inside the iPhone, and why the app asks for camera
How many lines of code does an iPhone flashlight really need? Three turn the LED on. The other two hundred do everything that separates a Swift exercise from an editorial product. The Lanterna BLA back story.
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19
June 9, 2026
7 min read
The open folder in iCloud Drive: anti-lock-in by design
Why Notas BLA keeps your notes in .md files in iCloud Drive instead of a proprietary database. An editorial and technical decision, with real consequences.
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20
June 1, 2026
7 min read
The six Lanterna BLA presets, in concrete scenarios
When does a flashlight app really matter? The six curated presets of Lanterna BLA, explained in concrete scenarios. Late-night bathroom, Don’t wake anyone, Looking for something, Dark room, Emergency, SOS.
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21
June 1, 2026
7 min read
The editorial typography of Sudoku BLA
Why Sudoku BLA uses Literata for the numbers, IBM Plex Mono for the eyebrow and Derina for the logo. The typographic decisions that make the board feel like a book page instead of an app screen.
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22
May 31, 2026
7 min read
How Sudoku BLA was built
Behind the scenes. Pure SwiftUI, no UIKit, no third-party dependency. Algorithmic generation of eight thousand puzzles, Canvas instead of view hierarchy, design system extracted into Modelo BLA.
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23
May 30, 2026
6 min read
The editorial silence of Sudoku BLA
Steve Jobs said focus is about saying no. Every thing Sudoku BLA does not do is a deliberate decision, not an oversight. An editorial manifesto on what is missing from the app, and why.
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24
May 26, 2026
6 min read
Invisible markdown: how Notas BLA hides the symbols
You type two hashes followed by a title, and the screen shows a large title in serif. How Notas BLA’s editorial rendering works and why it changes who can use the app.
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25
May 25, 2026
6 min read
Sudoku in the morning, Sudoku at night
Two opposite rituals using the same app. In the morning, waking the brain before coffee. At night, closing the day without infinite scroll. How each Sudoku BLA theme fits each moment.
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26
May 24, 2026
6 min read
Sudoku on the subway, on the plane, in the line
There is a category of app that deserves its own name: waiting app. Why Sudoku BLA was built for those moments, and how the automatic save changes everything.
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27
May 20, 2026
6 min read
Why Sudoku BLA has 4 difficulty levels
Some Sudoku apps have three levels, five, seven. Why Sudoku BLA has exactly four. The design philosophy behind an app that says no to excess.
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28
May 19, 2026
6 min read
Automatic Carousel: from text to Instagram in one tap
How the Carousel button in Notas BLA works, and why it turns structured notes into three sizes ready for Instagram. The center feature of the app.
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29
May 18, 2026
7 min read
Why the SOS blinks in real Morse code
The Lanterna BLA SOS follows the international Morse standard, with the timing of recommendation ITU-R M.1677-1. Three short, three long, three short, in loop. Not a decorative blink.
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30
May 14, 2026
7 min read
The best Sudoku app on the App Store
Why the standard "the best Sudoku app on the App Store" is not a marketing line, it is a product test. The five editorial decisions behind Sudoku BLA.
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31
May 13, 2026
7 min read
The best markdown editor on the App Store
Why the standard "the best markdown editor on the App Store" is not a marketing line, it is a product test. The five editorial decisions behind Notas BLA.
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32
May 13, 2026
7 min read
Notas BLA, notes ready to post
The story of Notas BLA. A universal iOS and Mac app, with invisible markdown for the common user and a Carousel button that turns what you wrote into three image sizes ready for Instagram. Made in Goiânia by BLA.
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33
May 13, 2026
6 min read
Lanterna BLA, the simplest possible flashlight
The first app in BLA’s line of single-purpose apps. A nighttime flashlight for iPhone, fixed charcoal theme, six curated presets, real Morse code SOS. No ads, no login, no data collection, no subscription.
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34
May 13, 2026
6 min read
Flashlight without noise
Why a flashlight app can be editorial. The five decisions that organize Lanterna BLA, from the choice of six presets to the real Morse code SOS, by way of commercial silence.
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35
May 13, 2026
7 min read
Sudoku BLA, from Goiânia to the world
The story of BLA’s first app. A Sudoku built in Goiânia, available on the App Store worldwide, with the standards of someone who wanted a Sudoku app that simply worked.
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36
May 15, 2026
5 min read
Comet Tail BLA, a one-finger arcade
The first arcade game in BLA’s family. You drag, the comet follows. Lift your finger and it runs away. iPhone, no ads, no data collection.
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