Jan Früchtl

Product and design lead, indie iOS developer

I design and build software from Frankfurt am Main, Germany. As Head of Product & Design at Cubby, I lead product and design for a self-storage management platform that operators run their business on.

Before Cubby, I worked at Shopify on Markets Pro, a 0→1 product that laid the foundation for Managed Markets, helping merchants expand across borders. Earlier, I led the design systems team at BRYTER and worked with startups at different stages of growth.

On the side, I design and ship iOS apps like CouchTimes and Friendzone, staying close to the craft and building products end to end. I also spend time on photography and share selected works on my photo blog.

Projects

Shopify Markets Pro
I led UX from zero to launch. I focused on the critical path: application, activation, onboarding. The work laid the foundation for Shopify’s Managed Markets offering today. One store. One setup. Global selling handled end to end, including compliance, payments, and logistics.
CouchTimes ↗
My first indie iOS app, launched in May 2023 and still active with thousands of monthly users; version 2.2 landed in November 2026. It started as a focused TV-show tracker and now covers movies too, with a wishlist, custom library views and countdown widgets. Designed and built end to end in Swift and SwiftUI.
Friendzone ↗
My second iOS app, a personal CRM for friendships. Reminders, notes and conversation history help people stay in touch without the noise. Since version 1.4 it is completely free, with no account required.
Bliss Design System
I led the design system work at BRYTER with a small team of engineers. We built a complete design system and component library from scratch using web components. The outcome was a shared foundation across teams, with accessible, reusable components that improved consistency and speed of delivery.