ABOUT
Drift began as a sketchbook.
Drift began as a sketchbook.
A way of asking what an app could feel like if it were unhurried. I wanted something that behaved less like software and more like a book left open by a window.
ABOUT
A way of asking what an app could feel like if it were unhurried. I wanted something that behaved less like software and more like a book left open by a window.
If there was a starting point, it might be Electroplankton—a music game for Nintendo DS created by Toshio Iwai in 2005. But instead of making music, I kept wondering: what if things just unfolded on their own? What if an app could be ambient, patient, generative? Or something designed for a world that rarely is?
I came to this from classical music, where everything is composed and fixed. Creating Drift meant learning to work differently, designing with parameters instead of notes and letting sounds and visuals find their own shape. Nothing in the app is a traditional asset. What you see and hear is made as you watch. Some of it changes slowly, in ways that are easy to miss.
I also wanted to leave behind the conventions I'd grown tired of. No scores, no streaks, no badges for showing up. No handholding, either. Just a place that trusts you to find your own way.
There's no single way to use it. You can interact with a scene, or you can just watch. Either way, the scenes have a life of their own and the longer you spend in one, the more you might notice.
The app won't push you. It won't make you feel like you're falling behind.
It's just there for you when you need it.
Drift was made by a solo developer. If you want to say hello, suggest a scene, or report something gone awry, please write to helpfordrift@gmail.com. I read everything.