# Marcel R. G. Berger > Software architect and indie app developer for iOS with 20+ years: apps in Swift and Flutter, backends with Quarkus on Kubernetes. Author of Solopreneur. - Software architect, 20+ years - Last updated: October 15, 2026 (2026-10-15) - HTML version: https://marcelrgberger.com/ I build apps and run them myself. I build apps for iPhone, Android and Mac and the fast systems behind them, and I take every app all the way from design and build to operations. I hold the store accounts and signing keys of my own apps and ship every release myself. Behind that are more than 20 years building software that has to work, for banks, insurers, energy companies and public authorities: payments that clear in seconds, logins that only let the right people in, systems that run around the clock. Your app runs. I take care of the rest. As The App Architect, I build, take over or rescue apps for companies and then run them, fully looked after. The accounts stay in your name, and the code sits in your repository from day one. [Fully looked after: The App Architect](https://theapparchitect.com/) ## What I ship Everything I have shipped publicly: apps in the App Store and open-source tools on GitHub. New things show up here the day they go live. ### Apps in the App Store - [Sommelio – Wine Scanner & AI](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/sommelio-wine-scanner-ai/id6753221944?uo=4) (iOS, Food & Drink, https://sommelio.app/): Your pocket sommelier: AI wine recognition and recommendations matched to your taste. - [CivoCloudManager – Kubernetes](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/civocloudmanager-kubernetes/id6760776010?mt=12&uo=4) (macOS, Developer Tools, https://civo-cloud-manager.app/): Tired of MFA codes and browser tabs just to flip one firewall rule? CivoCloudManager fixes that. - [Photo Speed Quiz - SnapShots](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/photo-speed-quiz-snapshots/id6759857715?uo=4) (iOS, Games, https://snapshots-quiz.app/): Three photos flash on screen. Five seconds. They disappear. - [DokuAI – Site Documentation](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/dokuai-site-documentation/id6749177847?uo=4) (iOS, Productivity, https://dokuai.app/): Turns a 90-second voice memo and a photo into a structured site report. ### In development - Bucketeer (In Development): Native macOS object-storage browser for 9+ providers, with drag-and-drop, Finder mount and cross-provider sync. - PaperlessIQ (In Development): AI-native document management for iOS, integrated with the Paperless ecosystem. - Pourenzo (In Development): AI bartender: photograph the spirits you own and get cocktail recipes back. - Seaworthy (TestFlight Beta): Native iOS maintenance log for boat owners, with on-device AI. ### Open source on GitHub - [auto-brew](https://github.com/marcelrgberger/auto-brew) (Swift, Licence: MIT): Native macOS app for Homebrew: background auto-updates, a full Brew GUI for browsing and installing casks, and an AppSnapshot engine for backing up and migrating app data across Macs. - [numbers-cli](https://github.com/marcelrgberger/numbers-cli) (Shell, Licence: MIT): Claude Code plugin for full Apple Numbers control via AppleScript, create spreadsheets, manage data, format cells, export to PDF/Excel/CSV - [pages-cli](https://github.com/marcelrgberger/pages-cli) (Python, Licence: MIT): Claude Code plugin: Control Apple Pages from Claude, create, edit, format & export documents via /pages slash command. 100+ templates, PDF/Word/EPUB export, tables, images, REPL mode. - [xcode-cli](https://github.com/marcelrgberger/xcode-cli) (Python, Licence: MIT): Claude Code plugin: Control Xcode from Claude, build, test, run, clean, manage simulators, schemes, projects, and devices. 30+ commands via AppleScript + xcodebuild + xcrun. - [whatsapp-cli](https://github.com/marcelrgberger/whatsapp-cli) (Python, Licence: MIT): Claude Code plugin: Control WhatsApp from Claude, read chats, send messages, search, auto-reply, export conversations, monitor in real-time. macOS only. - [askapro-cli](https://github.com/marcelrgberger/askapro-cli) (TypeScript, Licence: MIT): Ask a Pro, AI-powered document analysis with 85+ expert consultation roles for legal, medical, tax, and professional advice - [inwx-dns](https://github.com/marcelrgberger/inwx-dns) (Licence: MIT): Claude Code plugin for managing domains and DNS records via INWX API - [civo-cloud-manager](https://github.com/marcelrgberger/civo-cloud-manager) (Makefile, Licence: Proprietary (EULA)): Civo Cloud Manager for Mac, native macOS app for Civo Cloud. Kubernetes live dashboard with pod logs, S3 file browser, Object Store Pause/Resume, menu-bar firewall, Touch-ID-protected credentials. Swift 6, SwiftUI, zero dependencies. ## On YouTube On my YouTube channel I show how production-ready apps get built and how real systems are designed. - YouTube: [@marcel.berger.official](https://www.youtube.com/@marcel.berger.official) - [Discovered Agentic Coding in Xcode 26.3, Surprised Me Twice](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8yqibGd07g) ## What I work in I am a software architect and indie app developer for iOS: backends with Quarkus on Kubernetes, apps in Swift and Flutter. Over twenty years of apps and the systems behind them. - iOS Native: Swift and SwiftUI on the current Apple platform stack. App Store releases. - Cross-Platform Mobile: Flutter and Dart for shipping iOS and Android from a single codebase. - The systems behind the app: Fast backends with Quarkus, natively compiled via GraalVM as well, on Kubernetes with GitOps. Operated and monitored around the clock, so the app keeps running. - AI Integration: Claude, OpenAI, on-device ML. AI features inside production apps. - Architecture: Event-driven systems with Kafka, PostgreSQL, S3-compatible storage. Patterns that scale. ### Background More than 20 years building software that has to work, from systems that regulated industries rely on to apps I build and run myself: - Systems that grow with the business, for banks, insurers, energy companies and public authorities (microservices): Microservice and event-driven architectures for banks, insurers, energy companies, public authorities and financial services, built for high availability and horizontal scaling. - Logins that only let the right people in, for regulated industries (identity and access): Roles, permissions, single sign-on and segregation of duties, set up so that every access can be traced and reviewed. - Payments that clear in seconds (instant payments): Real-time payment processing with low latency, built for round-the-clock operation. - Apps in the App Store and Play Store: B2C and B2B apps for iOS, Android and macOS, built, published and run myself, from the first screen to the store listing. - Every change tested automatically and shipped safely (CI/CD): Automated build, test and release pipelines through to store delivery, so every release runs the same way. - Running and updating from one hand (DevOps): Containers, Kubernetes, GitOps and monitoring in my own production, so the person who builds your system also knows how to run it. - Process automation: Long-running business processes modelled in BPMN and automated, instead of manual steps between systems. - Technical leadership: Founded and ran a software company: team, budget and client delivery from requirements to production. ## What I'm building now - Sommelio: wine recommendations on iOS and Android - PaperlessIQ: paperless document organisation for iOS, in progress - Open-source CLI tools for Claude Code - Native macOS utilities - More writing, including follow-ups to the book ## Book: Solopreneur: The Art of Working Alone - Amazon (Kindle, English, ASIN B0GQB68PCG): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GQB68PCG An ebook by Marcel R. G. Berger about building products alone. You left the corporate world for freedom. Nobody warned you about the silence. This isn't another book telling you to quit your job and hustle until you make it. This is the story of what actually happens when you build products alone, told by someone still in the middle of it. Marcel Berger spent over a decade working independently. He used to run a company with twenty-one employees and millions in revenue; it no longer exists. After that he went back to working alone. That is how he started: building apps and SaaS products in three-hour evening blocks after his day job at the time, aiming for full independence within a year. Solopreneur is the honest account of that journey: the freedom and the loneliness. The automation that replaces teams and the 3 AM debugging sessions nobody shares on LinkedIn. The marketing struggle that humbles every developer. The inner work that makes or breaks you. The infrastructure failure that wiped out 100 % of his paying subscribers in a single week, and what it taught him about trust. ### What this book covers - Why routine creates more freedom than chaos ever will - The systems, automation, and technical stack that let one person do the work of many - How to market products when your instinct is to hide behind code - Managing impostor syndrome, self-doubt, and the fear that never fully sleeps - Building meaningful connections without the noise of corporate networking - The art of stillness: why rest is strategy, not weakness - Using AI as a force multiplier without losing accountability ### What this book is not No three-step formulas. No passive income fantasies. No beach laptops. No survivorship bias. Just a developer building real products, sharing real lessons, ugly parts included. For developers, solopreneurs, indie hackers, and anyone who has ever sat in a meeting thinking: “I could build this myself.” ## Frequently asked questions ### Who is Marcel R. G. Berger? Marcel R. G. Berger is a software architect and indie app developer with more than 20 years of experience building software for banks, insurers, energy companies and public authorities. He builds apps for iPhone, Android and Mac, runs them himself and holds their store accounts and signing keys. He works remotely and is the author of the book “Solopreneur: The Art of Working Alone”. ### Which apps has Marcel R. G. Berger published? Marcel R. G. Berger has 4 apps in the App Store, published under DigitalFreedom Global LLC: CivoCloudManager for macOS, and DokuAI, SnapShots and Sommelio for iPhone. Sommelio is also available on Google Play. 4 more apps are in development: Bucketeer, PaperlessIQ, Pourenzo and Seaworthy. ### What is the book “Solopreneur: The Art of Working Alone” about? “Solopreneur: The Art of Working Alone” is an ebook by Marcel R. G. Berger about building products alone and about how routine, systems and self-discipline give developers real freedom. It covers 7 topics: routine, automation and the technical stack, marketing, self-doubt, building connections, rest as strategy and AI as a force multiplier. The book is in English and available on Amazon under ASIN B0GQB68PCG. ### Can I hire Marcel R. G. Berger for an app project? Yes, client projects run through The App Architect, the brand under which Marcel R. G. Berger builds, takes over or rescues apps for companies and then runs them. Services and prices are on theapparchitect.com, and project inquiries go to hello@digitalfreedom.co.za. The free 30-minute dev chat on this site is a technical conversation between engineers, not a project call. ### Which technologies does Marcel R. G. Berger work with? Marcel R. G. Berger builds iOS and macOS apps in Swift and SwiftUI, and apps for iOS and Android in Flutter and Dart. His backends run on Quarkus, also natively compiled with GraalVM, on Kubernetes with GitOps via ArgoCD. For data and messaging he uses PostgreSQL, Kafka and S3-compatible storage; for AI features, Claude, OpenAI and on-device models. ### Which company operates marcelrgberger.com, and why is it a US LLC? marcelrgberger.com is operated by DigitalFreedom Global LLC, a limited liability company under the laws of the State of Wyoming, USA, registered with the Wyoming Secretary of State under filing ID 2026-002048530. It is a US LLC because the company works internationally: clients in many countries have one contracting party, and invoices to businesses in the EU carry no VAT under the reverse-charge procedure. The servers stay in Frankfurt am Main and London. The page “Why is the provider a US LLC?” at marcelrgberger.com/why-llc/ explains the details. ## Let us talk shop Engineer-to-engineer chat, thirty minutes, free A free 30-minute video call between engineers, not a project call: no pitch, no slides. Two engineers talking about what they are building and which decision is currently giving them trouble. - Architecture and system design - Java and Quarkus on Kubernetes - Native iOS and Flutter - Identity, access and security - AI in development: where it helps and where it only adds noise No preparation needed. Just bring whatever you are working on. Client projects are not part of this call; they run through The App Architect. The call runs through Cal.com. Pick a slot and the video link arrives by email. No account needed. [Open on Cal.com](https://cal.com/marcelrgberger/talk-with-marcello) ## Contact - Email: hello@digitalfreedom.co.za - Dev chat (Cal.com): https://cal.com/marcelrgberger/talk-with-marcello - For companies: [The App Architect](https://theapparchitect.com/) - GitHub: https://github.com/marcelrgberger - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcel-r-g-berger - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@marcel.berger.official - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marcel.berger.official/ ## Legal - [Imprint](https://marcelrgberger.com/imprint/) - [Privacy](https://marcelrgberger.com/privacy/) - [Terms](https://marcelrgberger.com/terms/) - [Why is the provider a US LLC?](https://marcelrgberger.com/why-llc/) - © 2026 DigitalFreedom Global LLC