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Launch teardown: pocketty

Unsolicited sample, not an endorsement. Ship Plainly made this as a portfolio example from public information only. The maker hasn't seen, asked for, or approved it, and isn't affiliated with us. Facts are from the sources below as read Oct 17, 2026 (~11:30 AM CDT).

Sources (public)

• Show HN post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50009634 ("Show HN: Pocketty – iPhone SSH terminal that pings you when an agent is blocked", posted Oct 8, 2026, 1:11 PM CDT. 32 points / 17 comments at time of reading)
• Site: https://pocketty.app/

What the public pages say:

• An SSH terminal for iPhone and iPad, "made for herdr", which keeps agent panes alive and knows when each one is working, needs you, or done.
• Notifications are sealed on your computer with HPKE (X25519, ChaCha20-Poly1305), and a stateless Cloudflare Workers relay forwards them to APNs.
• SSH keys live in the Secure Enclave. It has per-turn diffs, a file browser, and localhost previews.
• No account and no analytics.
• 14-day free trial, then a one-time purchase: $99 at launch, rising to $129 (site: "It goes up to $129 later").
• The site compares itself to Moshi in a detailed table.
• The maker built it during paternity leave ("nap traps").

What the HN thread raised (paraphrased):

• One user hit "herdr is not installed on this host" and asked, "What exactly should I pay 99 for?"
• Another pointed to a free, self-hosted alternative, herdr-web-ui.
• Others asked about iCloud Keychain key sync and how the app tells "thinking" from "blocked".
• Someone asked for trial-to-paid conversion numbers.

1. Teardown

Working:

• A sharp, specific hook ("pings you when an agent is blocked").
• A great human story (nap traps).
• An honest comparison table with "facts checked on" dates. That's exactly the plain, sourced style we like.

What we'd change:

1. Answer "$99 for what?" in one line above the fold. The value is spread across eight sections. Lead with the outcome: "Leave your desk. Your agents still reach you, and nobody else can read the alert."
2. Lead with the paternity-leave story on launch day. It's in the HN post but not on the site. People remember a story longer than a feature list.
3. Make the herdr dependency clear before people install. The first bug report was a herdr detection issue. A "Works with herdr X.Y+ / without herdr you get plain SSH" line plus a troubleshooting link would head that off.
4. Have a short, kind answer ready for "free alternative exists." Differentiate on sealed notifications and the native Pane view. Don't knock the free project.
5. The price change is a deadline. Use it calmly. "Launch price $99 until [date], then $129" (only with a real date).

7. Hero rewrite

• Headline: Know the moment your agent needs you.
• Subhead: An SSH terminal for iPhone and iPad that gets a sealed alert when a coding agent is blocked, then opens that exact pane.
• CTA: Try it free for 14 days
• Bullets: Only your phone can read the alert · Real keys, diffs, and previews · No account, no tracking

Full sample kit (Product Hunt set, X thread, Show HN notes): read it here.

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