Shashank Bhardwaj runs a content company, not a software shop. But this year, he started building apps with AI, and within months he had made six of them. The same tools that made him an app
Shashank Bhardwaj runs a content company, not a software shop. But this year, he started building apps with AI, and within months he had made six of them.
The same tools that made him an app maker also let others copy his work within days.
Bhardwaj, founder and CEO of content firm yMedia, started experimenting with vibe coding around March-April. Vibe coding is the practice of building software by describing it to an AI model rather than writing the code by hand.
One early result of his effort was Edgebar, a Mac app that turns a MacBook trackpad into sliders for volume and brightness. He finished it, set it aside and kept building.
By October, Bhardwaj was on his fifth app. That’s when he decided to ship Edgebar, the one that had been sitting dormant.
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The launch took off faster than he expected. His posts on Reddit and X drew roughly 400,000 to 500,000 impressions, he said, and more than 400 downloads from over 50 countries, including Iraq and Vatican City.
“I don’t know why that happened,” Bhardwaj told TheStreet Roundtable in an episode of "Against the Odds." He credits his marketing background and a launch video for the app's success.
Launched my first MacOS app on Reddit and got 200+ orders on the first day 🚀 | https://t.co/bdlHRiVAYjEdgeBar turns your trackpad edges into volume and brightness sliders, with music control and haptic feedback. pic.twitter.com/EP1MHE1Vt1
— Shashank Bhardwaj (@bhardwajshash) November 1, 2026
The tools that built and shipped Edgebar were available to everyone else too. Within a week, Bhardwaj counted 6-7 versions of his app, many released as free, open-source alternatives. Each day, he saw nearly two duplicate apps get launched.
Some developers credited him. Others replied to his posts telling people not to pay because a free version existed. On X, the clones set off an argument: was an app this easy to rebuild ever a real business, or does copying cross an ethical line even when it’s legal?
Bhardwaj sides with the first view. “Ethics is not law,” he said. The speed that let him build six apps in three months lets others copy them just as fast, and he accepts that trade.
“Anyone with access to an LLM can do it,” he said. “It’s a reality as a developer. You have to just accept it.”
An LLM, or large language model, is the type of AI system behind tools such as Claude and ChatGPT.
He draws the line at intellectual property, such as a celebrity’s likeness. He also called the data AI companies train on a gray area that needs debate. App ideas are different.
“Unless they’re IP, they can and will be copied.”
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When anyone can build the first version, the edge goes to whoever keeps improving it. Bhardwaj has shipped six updates since launch, adding music controls and Magic Mouse and Magic Trackpad support at users' request.
"You can one-shot a prompt to get 90% of it, but the last 10% is super hard to get," he said.
A viral open-source clone from an Indian developer tested that idea. Bhardwaj expected his India downloads to drop. They didn't: India still makes up about 8% of his users, the same as on day one.
AI has accelerated the process of app development, even for first timers"People are willing to pay for an app if someone's maintaining it," he said. "They don't want the headache of running their own variant."
Bhardwaj’s experience is a small version of what’s happening across the industry.
He said he regularly sees reports that app submissions to Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store have grown tenfold in the past year, though he did not cite a specific source.
“That’s only happening because it’s possible to ship apps faster. Developers who used to make apps are making several more, and those who didn’t make any apps at all are now making them for the first time.”
He has felt the crowding firsthand. Another app, a free one he hasn’t announced, took 30-35 days and two escalations to clear Apple’s review, he said, after he was told to wait 2-3 days. Apple told him reviewers were overloaded, not that the app had a problem.
“That’s a sign that it’s exploded,” he said. “It’s still on an upward trajectory. It’s not slowing down.”
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The same shift is reshaping his main business. Bhardwaj once planned to grow yMedia and hire over 3-5 years. Now he expects it to stay small.
“I can already get so much done without having to hire people. My company may remain small for a while because I don’t need them.”
His team is closing deals faster and producing better proposals, projections and demos, he said, with fewer people than before.
“It’s a wild time,” he said.
When building, shipping and copying all happen in days, few advantages last. “If it’s any edge right now, it won’t be for long,” Bhardwaj said, adding that people are already reverse engineering Photoshop and other large enterprise apps.
He sees two defenses: the drive to keep building, and taste, meaning a sense of what people want and what looks good. Even taste is eroding, he said, as models such as Anthropic’s Claude Opus 5.5 get better at design.
He isn’t worried about his clones.
“It’s inevitable,” Bhardwaj said. “It’s better you adapt.”
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