Murphy's CountDown is the kind of software whose value is obvious only after performing the underlying task repeatedly. Closing a cash register requires simple arithmetic, but the repetition, denomination handling, and need to leave the correct starting drawer make small mistakes easy.
Employees enter the count of each bill and coin denomination in a drawer; the app calculates the total and explains what to remove or keep for the next shift.
The aim. Remove repetitive cash-register arithmetic from a real workplace routine.
01The problem behind the project
It solved a concrete problem Josiah experienced firsthand while closing a register and became his first shipped app.
The app was designed from inside that workflow. Instead of behaving like a general calculator, it asks for the count of each bill and coin, totals the drawer, and converts the result into exact instructions about what should be removed or retained.
Cash-handling employees doing a standard register countdown. The project is independent and should not imply endorsement by Papa Murphy’s.
02How it took shape
First prototyped in Python, then converted into a SwiftUI iOS app through an early copy-and-paste AI-assisted programming workflow in Xcode with ChatGPT.
The earliest version was prototyped in Python and then translated into a SwiftUI iOS application through an early ChatGPT-assisted workflow. That progression matters because the app predates integrated coding agents: Josiah defined and tested the behavior while moving code, errors, and corrections between tools.
Josiah identified the workflow, defined the calculation and instructions, iterated the interface, tested it at work, and shipped the application.
The app reached the App Store and was used by some coworkers for a period of time.
03What the project means now
Its scale is modest, but its product logic is strong. It replaced a repetitive workplace calculation with a purpose-built instruction, reached the App Store, and was used by coworkers—evidence that a very small tool can still complete the full path from observed friction to real handoff.
Current usage and listing status are unknown, and the exact relationship between Murphy’s CountDown and an older Register Countdown artifact needs to remain merged and clearly explained.
The best first software project can be a small piece of friction you understand better than anyone else.
Capture the listing, screenshots, build decisions, current status, and employer-brand boundary.