Developer Case Study: Ben Mahr / Octologs

Background

We were joined by Ben Mahr to dive into Octologs, his scuba diving experiences logging app. We spoke about what he sees as the benefits of local-first, the importance of offline capability and data security, and why he decided to use PowerSync.

TL;DR

• Ben chose offline-first architecture because his diving log app’s users often lack internet access in remote locations.
• Local-first architecture was appealing due to user concerns about data privacy and storage, particularly in Europe.
• PowerSync was the only solution that met both technical and user needs, offering ease of implementation and strong support.
• Ben values PowerSync’s reliability, as it runs smoothly without crashes or issues.
• Ben highlighted challenges with local database debugging, but PowerSync’s new diagnostics app and CLI help to address those concerns.

App details

Interview

**PowerSync
** First question — why did you want to implement an offline-first or local-first architecture? You’ve mentioned using Supabase, and that they don’t have offline mode. What other factors, like speed or latency, played into this decision?

**Ben
** Honestly, it was purely about offline capability. For a diving log app, users are often on boats or in remote locations without internet. If it weren't for that, I wouldn't have bothered with offline mode at all.

**PowerSync
** That makes sense. Offline-first architecture has been gaining traction, but local-first is also emerging as important, especially for data ownership and protection. Was the appeal of local-first a factor for you at all?

**Ben
** Yes, particularly in Europe, where data protection is a big deal. Some users don’t like their data being stored on any server, even if it's in Europe. So, I’ve considered a pure offline mode version.

**PowerSync
** What options did you evaluate before settling on PowerSync? You mentioned previously looking into some solutions in a Supabase GitHub thread.

**Ben
** Yeah, I looked into a few but didn’t dig deep. PowerSync was the only one that fit my needs from both a technical and user perspective. The others seemed like too much work or didn't align well with what I needed.

**PowerSync
** When you say it fit your needs, are you referring to the ease of implementation?

**Ben
** Exactly. PowerSync had a company behind it, which meant I could get support. With other solutions, I would have been relying on online forums, and I didn’t want that.

**PowerSync
** From your experience so far, what stands out as the most valuable aspect of PowerSync?

**Ben
** Since launching Octologs with PowerSync in production, I don’t have to think about it. It just works, stays in the background, and gives me no issues.

**PowerSync
** So, stability and low maintenance are key for you?

**Ben
** Exactly. No crashes or weird error logs popping up — just smooth functionality.

**PowerSync
** Last question: Our vision is to make local-first and offline-first architectures easier to implement than cloud-first. Do you have any suggestions to help us achieve that?

**Ben
** Debugging the local database was tricky for me at first, especially on a Mac. There’s no straightforward way to inspect the local database. That’s an area where better documentation or tools would help.

**PowerSync
** We’ve since introduced a diagnostics app. It helps you view what’s being synced in real time. Have you heard of it?

**Ben
** No, I’ll have to check it out.

**PowerSync
** You also mentioned in the past that you wanted a local CLI for PowerSync. We’ve released that, as well as a self-hosted Open Edition.

**Ben
** Yes, that was my main request. Developing on a staging or production server was a big issue for me. Glad to see the CLI is now available.

**PowerSync
** Are you planning to try it out soon?

**Ben
** Definitely. I’ll give it a shot before I have to, just to be prepared.

**PowerSync
** That’s all from us. Any other feedback or questions?

**Ben
** Just want to shout out the support, especially from your team on Discord. It was really helpful.

**PowerSync
** Thanks, Ben! We appreciate your feedback and support.

**Ben
** Thank you. Have a great weekend!