Small tools, real usefulness
Not every useful app needs a funding round or a Product Hunt front-page finish to be worth your time. These three showed up in our research this week for the same reason: each solves one specific annoyance well, and none of them try to be a platform.
PhoneDeck: your old iPhone, repurposed
[PhoneDeck](https://questloops.com/tools/phonedeck) turns a spare iPhone into a wireless Mac controller, essentially a free Stream Deck. It connects over local WiFi using the same Multipeer Connectivity tech behind AirDrop, so there's no account, no pairing code, and no monthly fee. You get 16 built-in Mac controls out of the box (volume, brightness, screenshot, Mission Control) and can drag any URL onto a tile to open it with one tap. The catch is obvious: you need an iPhone you're not otherwise using, and it only works with a Mac.
CentryAI: catching subscriptions you forgot about
[CentryAI](https://questloops.com/tools/centryai) scans your Gmail or iCloud inbox for recurring charges instead of asking for your bank login, which is a meaningfully smaller ask than most subscription trackers make. It scores each subscription by how likely you are to have forgotten it, and its Cancel Finder jumps straight to the right cancellation page. The free plan tracks up to 3 subscriptions; Pro is $7.99/month for unlimited. If you've ever found a $12 charge for an app you deleted eight months ago, this is built for you.
Termi Protocol: watching your coding agent work
If you run Claude Code, Codex, or Gemini CLI and find the scrolling terminal log hard to parse during a long agent session, [Termi Protocol](https://questloops.com/tools/termi-protocol) renders the whole thing as a live 3D scene instead: your agent walks to a cabinet to read files, sits down to write code, and runs commands in a little rendered room. It's a one-time $6.99 purchase, no subscription, though there's no free trial to test it first.
How they compare
| Tool | Category | Price | Free tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| PhoneDeck | Mac utility | Free | Yes, fully free |
| CentryAI | Subscription tracking | $7.99/mo Pro | Yes, up to 3 subs |
| Termi Protocol | Dev tool visualization | $6.99 one-time | No |
The takeaway
None of these are essential the way a mainstream productivity suite is. They're the kind of tools you install because they fix one specific thing that's been bugging you, and none of them ask for a subscription just to find out if they work for you, aside from Termi Protocol, which at least keeps the ask to under seven dollars. We'll keep tracking indie tools like this as they show up.
