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Nico Verbruggen

@nicoverbruggen.be
208 followers 306 following 126 posts

🇪🇺🇧🇪 I build software, like 🚛 phpmon.app and ⚡️ calodin.app. 💻 Hardware & 👨🏻‍💻 software tinkerer, 🏃🏻 daily runner, 🧠 mental health advocate, 📖 typography nerd. Read my blog on nicoverbruggen.be.

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Nico Verbruggen @nicoverbruggen.be · 29/09/2026
The plan is to bring all sorts of delightful interactions to the app. One is how links and dictionaries work. Links don't just navigate you away without a confirmation. Here you need to long-press to follow a link. But if you intended to look up a word instead, you can choose that too.
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Nico Verbruggen @nicoverbruggen.be · 29/09/2026
Currently working on making Kobalt a world-class reader app. I've already got an Android build working, too. Getting the design language and UI just right is quite the undertaking. Lots of iterating going on. It's also hella fast, of course.
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Nico Verbruggen @nicoverbruggen.be · 06/06/2026
🚀 PHP Monitor 26.05 is now available with a brand-new onboarding flow! PHP Monitor can now guide you through installing Command Line Tools, Homebrew, PHP, Composer, and optionally Laravel Valet. Super convenient!
A screenshot of PHP Monitor's new Setup Assistant, highlighting the different steps of the installer.
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Nico Verbruggen @nicoverbruggen.be · 29/04/2026
The upcoming version of PHP Monitor makes it easier than ever to set up your PHP on your brand new Mac! You're fully guided through a simple onboarding flow. Installing Homebrew is simply copy-and-paste, and the rest is fully automated. Super convenient. Coming soon.
Screenshot of PHP Monitor's onboarding flow, with four key steps outlined: install command line tools, install Homebrew, install PHP & Composer, and install Valet.
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Nico Verbruggen @nicoverbruggen.be · 10/04/2026
I've been working on a cross-platform writing app for plain text. Electron, because I wanted it to work on Linux. It's not a traditional text editor. It's intended for projects that you're writing (for e.g. a novel or manuscript) with snapshots and integrates with Git. Should I open source this?
A screenshot of my new minimalist writing app that displays a part of a text file, and notes writing time, word count, last save date.
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Nico Verbruggen @nicoverbruggen.be · 11/03/2026
Recently, I've been replacing batteries in some of my older devices (or getting my devices serviced when I lack the tools) which means they last longer. Manual repair makes for a fun experience, too. Pictured: me doing a battery replacement for my original 2017 Switch.
A photo of a Nintendo Switch (2017), opened for servicing and placed on a magnetic mat to house all of the different screws and SD card reader. The project name written in the corner of the mat says "Switch v1 battery replacement".
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Nico Verbruggen @nicoverbruggen.be · 09/03/2026
I turned the OFL licensed font Newsreader into my own customized alternative to Amazon's Bookerly, and here's how I did it: nicoverbruggen.be/blog/creatin...
A comparison of Newsreader 9pt and Readerly
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Nico Verbruggen @nicoverbruggen.be · 03/03/2026
PHP Monitor 26.02 releases later this week! Here's what's new: - Automatic Fixes, which helps you fix issues at startup - Command History, which lets you audit what PHP Monitor runs in the background There's also some UX improvements and bugfixes included.
"PHP is not correctly linked" modal with an "I Fixed It" and "Fix Automatically" button. The modal also displays what will be executed.a Command History window, displaying various commands with checkboxes next to them and their execution time.
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Nico Verbruggen @nicoverbruggen.be · 02/03/2026
This was so much fun to build! It really nicely showcases potential open source font options for e-readers. ebook-fonts.nicoverbruggen.be I plan on expanding the mini-site so people can just download the fonts via here, and include more information about the fonts, licensing etc. here as well.
A screenshot of the desktop version of the ebook-fonts showcase by Nico Verbruggen, displaying the v3.x branch in a convenient viewer.
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Nico Verbruggen @nicoverbruggen.be · 27/02/2026
Here's one of the things that's coming to PHP Monitor in a couple of days... On the left: PHP Monitor today. On the right: what I'm shipping soon, an improved onboarding / troubleshooting flow with automatic fixes.
On the left: a simple alert displaying a message that PHP is not correctly installed. 

On the right: a more expanded alert with an automatic fix and the "Fix Automatically" button highlighted by default.
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Nico Verbruggen @nicoverbruggen.be · 17/02/2026
And here's another thing I'm working on to make resolving PHP issues easier: automatic fixes for crucial issues at startup... If PHP Monitor won't start, I hope to include automatic fixes for most issues. (Depending on what needs to run, macOS will put up a password prompt. UX not final!)
A startup message from PHP Monitor, with instructions on how to manually fix an issue but also with a new button "Fix For Me" which now fixes the problem automatically.
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Nico Verbruggen @nicoverbruggen.be · 17/02/2026
Not a fan of the new icon dense menus in Tahoe? Perhaps still on macOS Sequoia? In the upcoming update for PHP Monitor I've added a little setting that lets you disable icons in the menu altogether. It's a tiny addition, but yet another option to further tweak the app to your own taste!
A screenshot of PHP Monitor, with the preferences window open and the "Hide menu icons" checkbox marked. As such, the menu, which is also displayed, does not display any icons next to the menu items.
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Nico Verbruggen @nicoverbruggen.be · 06/12/2025
🚀 PHP Monitor 25.12 is now OUT and comes with better app integrations, improvements to how alerts are displayed, and various bug fixes. Many subtle crash bugs have been addressed, so upgrading is highly recommended. Plus, there's now icons in the context menu! ⬇️
The main Domains window of PHP Monitor, displaying a right-click context menu, now with icons for third-party apps.
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Nico Verbruggen @nicoverbruggen.be · 21/11/2025
🚀 PHP Monitor 25.11 is OUT with official support for PHP 8.5, pre-release builds of PHP 8.6, Homebrew 5.0, and comes with various bug fixes! 🔗 github.com/nicoverbrugg... (This one fixes a crash bug that you may be seeing today as Homebrew rolls out PHP 8.5. A temporary issue, but my apologies!)
An image displaying PHP Monitor, its main menu, manage PHP versions window, manage PHP extensions window and the domains list, all updated for macOS Tahoe.
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Nico Verbruggen @nicoverbruggen.be · 07/11/2025
🚀 PHP Monitor 25.10 is now available, and it's a big one. Major architectural changes under the hood, certificate expiry checks, automatic (opt-in) crash reporting, many bug fixes...
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Nico Verbruggen @nicoverbruggen.be · 01/07/2025
📖 I'm going to share my FREE customized fonts for e-readers here again, since there's a big update coming soon and I wanted to do a bit of a signal boost.
A picture of my Kobo Libra Color with some sideloaded fonts from the collection.
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Nico Verbruggen @nicoverbruggen.be · 27/06/2025
To celebrate 100k downloads, PHP Monitor 25.06 is now available with a few fresh visual touches and some minor bug fixes. And yes, I've also changed the version numbering system! Linked below is a brief blog post about this release with screenshots.
A screenshot of PHP Monitor with "100K downloads" to emphasize the milestone.
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Nico Verbruggen @nicoverbruggen.be · 20/06/2025
tinkering again! menu bar item icons, coming to phpmon later this month.
The main PHP Monitor menu, this time with icons next to each menu bar item coming in an update to phpmon soon.
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Nico Verbruggen @nicoverbruggen.be · 10/06/2025
Good news: if you love the bleeding edge and are on macOS Tahoe, the current version of PHP Monitor should work correctly. 👍
PHP Monitor running on macOS Tahoe's first developer build.
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Nico Verbruggen @nicoverbruggen.be · 09/06/2025
Apple is doing *what* to their UI? 😱
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Nico Verbruggen @nicoverbruggen.be · 20/02/2025
I also pushed out a mini update to calodin.app that adds a widget, so you can see your consumed calories for the day! apps.apple.com/be/app/calod...
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Nico Verbruggen @nicoverbruggen.be · 26/11/2024
🚀 PHP Monitor 7.1 is now available with support for the latest PHP version. This update also contains additional startup checks, lets you add domains as favorites (yay!) and contains a few QoL improvements to the extension manager. Learn more ⬇️
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