The story behind the app

I started coding at eleven and never stopped. I taught myself, kept adapting as the internet changed, and over the years I worked in almost every corner of software, from the everyday code to the table where the decisions get made. Today I lead technology for a living. But O Amigo Secreto didn't come from work. It came from spare time and a bit of stubbornness: I wanted to prove to myself that one person can still take a real product from nothing to live. It started as an experiment and kept growing. At some point I realized the draw was never the point. The point was what it does to people: they get closer.

How it all happened

1. Dec 2025

   Day one

   By the end of the first day there was already something running on screen: the backend up and the app opening. Within 48 hours there was a website, email, and the first features. And that day I made a call that became a rule for the whole project: no separate test environment. Everything I wrote at night went live the same night. It was nerve-racking, but that's how it kept moving fast from the start.

2. Dec 2025

   More than Christmas

   Early on it clicked: Secret Santa doesn't have to be only in December. There's the summer party, children's day, the office get-together, the birthday that's begging for a surprise. The app stopped being about a date on the calendar and became about any good excuse to bring people together. So it grew to handle all of them.

3. Jan–Feb 2026

   Ready for the world

   Time to open it up to everyone. I put it on iPhone, on Android, and right in the browser, so it would work wherever the person was. I added three languages and sign-in with Google, Apple and Facebook, so no one would get stuck at the front door. And I took privacy and security seriously from the start, not as some detail to fix later. It was a small product, but finally standing on its own.

4. May 2026

   The turning point: the 30 Magic Days

   After the launch the project sat still for a while. Life got busy and for a few months I barely touched it. When I came back, so did the idea I like most in the whole project: what if Secret Santa didn't end at the draw? I built a calendar that runs from the draw to the reveal, and each day opens a new surprise: one day a hint, the next a quiz, the next an anonymous confession. One click turned into a 30-day countdown. The game got more fun, and a reason to come back every day.

5. May 2026

   Fairness and trust

   Every draw carries a weight: if people don't trust it was fair, the rest doesn't matter. I didn't want a draw that asked for faith. I wanted one anyone could open and check for themselves. I added clear rules (a couple never draws its own partner), moderation to keep the space healthy, and I kept the draw's logic out in the open. Trust isn't something you fix with a nice banner. It comes with time, one draw after another.

6. Jul 2026

   Today

   Today what started as an app has turned into a lot of things at once: the app, the website, an installable web version, a gift store, and a blog in three languages. Eight fronts that talk to each other. In the middle of all of it there's a promise I don't plan to break: the essentials stay free, without that ad that gets in the way right at the good part. And it's not finished. Almost every day I come back to make something a bit better. I'm also still looking for people to join in: support, partnerships, anyone who wants to help carry this little game closer to more people.

7. tomorrow

   The next little door

   The world feels heavy and rushed these days, and maybe that's exactly why this little game makes more sense than it seems. Deep down it's just an excuse to remember there's someone on the other side, someone who deserves to be remembered and surprised once in a while. I don't know how big this project will be tomorrow. But I know what I don't want it to stop doing: bringing people closer, in a time that keeps pushing everyone apart. That's the next little door, and it's still waiting to be opened. Maybe by you.