Independent iOS studio

Small apps, carefully made.

Small Trail Studio is an independent iOS studio making thoughtful apps for everyday life. Each app starts with a real need, then gets polished until it feels right in anyone’s hands.

See the apps

The apps

From the studio, to your home screen.

Five apps are in the works. No names yet — each one steps into the light as it arrives on the App Store.

Lifewheel screenshot: eight life areas rated on a pastel wheel, above a life average of 7.5
Lifewheel app icon — a wheel of eight pastel segments

Lifewheel

See your whole life at a glance.

A calm check-in for the eight areas that matter most to you. Rate each one from 1 to 10, watch them bloom into a pastel wheel, then keep checking in and play the whole journey back as the wheel slowly morphs.

  • 8 life areas
  • Journey playback
  • Stays on your device

Coming soon to the App Store

InSeason

Know what’s fresh, right where you are.

A location-aware guide to seasonal eating. InSeason maps your spot to one of seven US growing regions and shows which of 170+ ingredients are in season right now — with peak windows, nutrition highlights, pairings, and prep ideas for each one.

  • 170+ ingredients
  • Location-aware
  • Liquid Glass design
Visit the InSeason site

Coming soon to the App Store

InSeason screenshot: today's seasonal ingredients
InSeason app icon — a leaf with a sparkle
Scratchbook screenshot: the national parks grid with collected scratch-off badges
Scratchbook app icon — a scratch-off national park badge

Scratchbook: National Parks

Collect all 63, one scratch at a time.

A keepsake passport for the U.S. national parks. Visit a park, scratch the foil off its hand-styled badge, and watch your map to all 63 fill up — with wildlife sightings, visit notes, and a shareable passport card along the way.

  • All 63 parks
  • Scratch-off badges
  • Wildlife log
Visit the Scratchbook site

Coming soon to the App Store

FitZones

Your heart-rate zone, spoken into your ears.

Zone training with AirPods Pro 3 or Powerbeats Pro 2 — no Apple Watch needed. FitZones reads your live heart rate, shows your zone in full-screen color, and quietly tells you “Moving up. Now in zone 3” while your music keeps playing.

  • AirPods Pro 3
  • Voice announcements
  • No watch needed
Visit the FitZones site

Coming soon to the App Store

FitZones screenshot: live heart-rate zone display
FitZones app icon — five colored heart-rate zone bars
ValueStudy screenshot: a photo reduced to flat values
ValueStudy app icon — a half-black, half-white circle with an orange center

ValueStudy

See like a painter.

A pocket tool for value studies and notan. Pick any reference photo and reduce it to 2–6 flat values, merge small shapes into big masses, and study where the light really lives — before you ever touch a brush.

  • 2–6 values
  • Notan & color modes
  • For artists

Coming soon to the App Store

The tip jar

Made with care,
fueled by coffee.

Our apps have no ads, no subscriptions, and collect nothing. They exist because a small idea felt worth making — and they’re better because people use them. If one has earned a spot on your home screen, a coffee keeps the studio lights on.

Support the studio

About

Small ideas,
thoughtfully made.

We make thoughtful iOS apps from everyday ideas. We care about products that do one thing well, feel native to the platform, and respect the person holding the phone. Want to say hi? Get in touch.

Larry Chen

larry@smalltrailstudio.com Threads @larry.chen
Yichen Wang

Yichen Wang

yichen@smalltrailstudio.com
Isometric render of Larry's desk in daylight: a wooden desk with a monitor, laptop, mechanical keyboard, shelves of model cars and trinkets, and plants
Where the ideas take shape. The light switch is yours.