Press Kit

Company Overview

Ugly Computer is an iOS development studio based in New York's Lower East Side. We build opinionated, unconventional apps that prioritize user experience over growth metrics. Founded in 2025 by Robert Lord, we focus on shipping creative, practical apps that solve specific problems in unexpected ways.

Our philosophy: perfect is boring. Interesting is better.

Standard Boilerplate: Ugly Computer LLC is an iOS development studio based in New York City. The company builds opinionated mobile apps that challenge conventional design patterns, including Habit Garden (a gentle habit tracker with mood tracking), Uptown (a NYC subway app with probabilistic arrival predictions), and Mono (a single-note note-taking app). Founded in 2025, Ugly Computer focuses on shipping creative, practical software that prioritizes user experience over growth metrics.

Quick Facts

Founded

December 2025

Location

New York, NY

Team Size

3 people

Platform

iOS / iPadOS

Apps in Development

3 (all launching 2026)

Funding

Bootstrapped

Our Apps

Habit Garden (Spring 2026)

A habit tracking app that visualizes habits as growing plants. Features homescreen widgets and a mood calendar. No gamification, no guilt—just honest progress tracking.

Uptown (Summer 2026)

A NYC subway app that rotates the map 17° so uptown is actually up. Features probabilistic arrival predictions with confidence intervals instead of false precision.

Mono (Fall 2026)

A note-taking app with exactly one note. Everything goes into a single infinite, scrollable document. No folders, no tags, no organization system to maintain.

The Team

Robert Lord, Co-founder & iOS Engineer
Former Apple engineer with expertise in SwiftUI and iOS platform development. Builds the core infrastructure for all Ugly Computer apps.

Sam Okoye, Co-founder & Design Lead
Product designer focused on interaction design and user experience. Leads visual design and believes most apps are too polished.

Riley Martinez, Data & ML Engineer
PhD dropout specializing in probabilistic modeling and machine learning. Builds the data systems behind Uptown's arrival predictions.

Media Assets

High-resolution logos, app screenshots, and team photos available upon request. We're still in development, so visual assets are limited for now.

Company logo (SVG, PNG)
App icons (coming soon as apps near launch)
Screenshots (coming soon)
Team photos (available on request)

Key Themes & Story Angles

Opinionated design: Apps that make strong choices rather than trying to please everyone
Anti-growth hacking: No dark patterns, no manipulative notifications, no surveillance capitalism
New York influence: Lower East Side scrappy energy applied to software
Embracing imperfection: Shipping interesting ideas over polished mediocrity
Data honesty: Uptown's probabilistic predictions as an alternative to false precision
Minimalist philosophy: Mono's single-note approach to note-taking

Press Contact

For press inquiries, interviews, or media assets:

Email: contact@uglycomputer.net

Phone: (510) 306-2079

We typically respond within 24 hours.