Whether you use an iPhone or a Mac (or both), there never seems to be a shortage of high-quality apps made by independent developers. These indie apps often cater to a niche that may serve you really well, but not be worth the effort for bigger companies to explore. Every few months, these developers band together and put their apps on sale. We've previously covered Indie App Sales during Black Friday and now the sale is back with discounts on nearly 300 apps.
When you're checking out apps made by smaller developers, it's a good idea to see how the developer uses your data. For example, I went through the privacy nutrition labels on the App Store pages of all these apps and found that they collect very basic diagnostics and usage data, and in some cases, personal data such as your email address to maintain your account with the service. (The amount of data collected in these apps is far less than what apps such as Instagram collect, for example.)
Not every indie app is worth downloading, but the ones I've picked respect your privacy, are interesting enough to try at least once, and have a great sale price.
Track TV shows and movies
Film Noir allows you to keep a tab on the TV shows and movies you like. You can log content you've already watched and the app has great sorting options to help you find something to watch next. It organizes shows in neat sections that helps you keep an eye on upcoming episodes, shows that have concluded, or movies that are trending. You can use this to get an alert when new episodes of your favorite show are out, and use the JustWatch integration to find out where to watch content you like. You can use a Trakt.tv account to sync this data across devices. Film Noir's usual price is $12.99/year or $29.99 for a lifetime plan.
Discount: 50% off on the lifetime in-app purchase or 40% off on the annual plan
Duration: March 12-13
Get it here: Film Noir (iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Vision Pro)
Clean up duplicate photos
If it's time to clear the clutter in your library, you could consider using Photoscope. This app checks your library for duplicate photos, including multiple shots of the same scene, and lets you delete the unwanted ones quickly. The app groups similar looking photos for you and it will also pick what it finds the best among these shots. Normally, it costs $0.99.
Discount: Free
Duration: March 9-20
Get it here: Photoscope (iPhone, Apple Vision Pro)
Find the best servers on Mastodon
When you're joining a decentralized social network such as Mastodon, it's important to select the right server for your needs. Mastowatch lets you check details on any Mastodon server, such as blocked domains, the rules, trending posts, supported languages and upload types, along with other information. It's a free download with a one-time in-app purchase to unlock all features.
Discount: Unlock all features for $0.99
Duration: March 10-14
Get it here: Mastowatch (iPhone, iPad, Mac)
Quickly copy text from images
TextSniper lets you easily copy text from images on your Mac. Although newer versions of macOS have this feature built in, TextSniper is a lot faster at getting the job done. The default OCR tool in macOS requires you to take a screenshot, open its preview, press a button, select, and then copy text. With TextSniper, that's reduced to just two steps—press the hotkey and select the text. It's automatically copied to your clipboard after that. For some, that alone may make it worth the typical $8 asking price.
Discount: Use coupon code MARCH60 to get 60% off
Duration: March 11-15
Get it here: TextSniper (Mac)
Maximize your credit card rewards
The CardPointers app aims to keep you in the loop about all kinds of offers on your credit card. Its normal price is quite high—$60/year or $200 lifetime—but it's currently discounted by 50%. It also has a useful Safari extension that lets you pick the best card for purchases on any site you visit. The app also monitors the benefits and annual fees for your credit cards and recommends other cards that may offer better value. If you play your cards right (pun intended), you could easily save much more than the annual fee for this app, as long as most of your expenses are routed through your credit cards.
Discount: 50% off on annual and lifetime plans
Duration: March 12-14
Get it here: CardPointers (iPhone, iPad, Mac)
Get rid of unwanted subscriptions
Ever feel like you have too many recurring payments? If the answer is yes, you should try an app like Subtrack. It lets you add all of your subscriptions in one place and has nice widgets to let you track upcoming payments. It's a simple app that does what it's supposed to. The Pro unlock normally costs $4.99.
Discount: 50% off on Pro
Duration: March 12-13
Get it here: Subtrack (iPhone, iPad, Mac)