Ink & Switch's manifesto for software that works offline, syncs when connected, and keeps your data on your devices. CRDTs, P2P, and the future of collaboration.
“This paper changed how I think about software architecture. The cloud-first default is a choice, not a necessity. Local-first gives users real ownership without sacrificing collaboration.”
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The CRDT section is the key. Once you solve conflict resolution, the rest of local-first falls into place. The challenge is that CRDTs are hard to implement correctly for complex data types.
We switched our team's notes to a local-first app last year and the difference is night and day. No loading spinners, no 'connection lost' errors, no data hostage situations. The UX improvement alone justifies the architectural complexity.