You download a new puzzle app, tap it open, and... “Create an account to continue.” Sign in with this, verify that, here's a permissions form, would you like notifications (no), can we have your email (no), are you sure (yes). All before you've so much as seen a grid.
I find that genuinely rude. You came to do a puzzle. The app's job is to give you a puzzle. Everything between those two things is a toll booth somebody bolted on to harvest your details. So GridJoy doesn't have one: open it and you're playing.
THE SIGN-UP WALL IS A DARK PATTERN
Let's call the forced-account screen what it is: a way to hold your fun hostage until you pay a ransom in personal data. It exists for the company, never for you. Nobody has ever thought “what a relief, a registration form” on their way to a Sudoku.
And it works against the company too, honestly — a huge chunk of people take one look at “sign up to start” and just leave. Can't blame them. I've done it myself, plenty of times. Why would the first thing a calm puzzle app asks of you be paperwork?
HOW IT ACTUALLY WORKS
In GridJoy you're a guest by default. Your progress, your ghost, your stats — all saved right there on your phone. No account, no email, nothing asked of you. You can play for as long as you like and never see a sign-in prompt you didn't go looking for.
Signing in exists — but it's entirely optional, and it's there for exactly one reason: so your progress follows you to a new phone or a second device. That's it. It's a convenience you can opt into, not a gate you have to clear. Most people never need it, and that's completely fine.
AND NO, YOU DON'T NEED SIGNAL EITHER
Here's the other half of it. Because every puzzle is built on your phone from a seed — not fetched from a server — you don't need a connection to play. On a plane, down the Tube, in the back of beyond with one bar of nothing: open GridJoy and there's a fresh puzzle, same as ever.
That's the bit I'm quietly proud of. Your puzzles aren't hostage to a login or a network. They're just there, the moment you want them, wherever you are. The app belongs to you, not to a server somewhere deciding whether you're allowed in today.
JUST LET PEOPLE IN
It sounds almost too obvious to write down, but it's rare enough that it's worth saying: the most respectful thing an app can do is let you in. No wall, no form, no “not so fast.” You wanted a puzzle; here's a puzzle. Sort the rest out later, or never. That's the whole policy.
Go on then — today's puzzle is right here, no sign-up required, obviously. Or browse all eighteen types and just start one. The ghost doesn't need your email either.
— the (toll-booth-allergic) dev behind GridJoy 👻