Dibs: Simple Debt Tracker

Dibs is a small app I built to explore a simple question: can tracking shared debts be made lightweight enough that people actually keep using it?

The goal wasn’t to build a comprehensive finance tool, but to remove just enough friction to make informal debt tracking less awkward and more reliable.

The problem

In many everyday situations — shared trips, group expenses, small recurring debts — people rely on memory, notes, or messaging apps to keep track of who owes what.

This usually leads to:

• Forgotten or disputed amounts
• Social friction when bringing the topic up
• A system that works briefly, then breaks down

Existing solutions often felt too heavy for the problem they were meant to solve.

What I built

Dibs is a minimal app focused on clarity and ease of use.

It allows users to:

• Record debts quickly
• See balances at a glance
• Avoid unnecessary features that slow things down

The design intentionally favors simplicity over flexibility. The app does one thing, and does not try to grow beyond that.

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What I learned

• Shipping something small forces clearer product decisions
• App store review processes influence scope more than expected
• Simplicity is harder to maintain than to design initially
• A finished product still requires ongoing attention

Current state

Dibs is finished and in maintenance mode.

It’s stable, usable, and available, but there is no active feature development planned. Updates are limited to fixes or small adjustments when necessary.