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Tools that translate hardware data the system already has but users can't read into plain language (USB-C cables, Bluetooth codecs, display links, Wi-Fi, chargers): open-source core, add a one-time-purchase Pro within two weeks, launch on Show HN
Watching Inspirational · a playbook worth copying First spotted 2026-11-01 · Last updated 2026-11-02
- Status
- Watching (only WhatCable as a strong sample so far, and Pro revenue isn't public; upgrade once a second similar product proves it makes money)
- Why now, and how long the window lasts
- The data is already in macOS (IOKit), and AI-assisted coding lets one person ship a menu bar app in two weeks. WhatCable shows that the "HN plus tech media" channel works for this kind of tool. There's no event window, so early builders claim the name first.
- Confidence
- Low to medium. What would overturn this: WhatCable's Pro revenue is confirmed to be small (e.g. it's on indie and shows monthly revenue under $500); or a Windows equivalent ships and HN gets under 100 points or GitHub under 500 stars. What would upgrade it: a second "hardware info plus one-time Pro" product appears and earns over $2,000/month on indie, or a Show HN tops 300 points.
Evidence
Grouped by store. Each group starts with the charts that can be graphed (real curves, data dates below the chart), then the scanner's original notes and source links.
GitHub3 evidence · 7 products with curves
GitHub · created 2026-05-01 · 9,091 stars · 7 days +29 · see product profile
macOS menu bar app that tells you, in plain English, what each USB-C cable plugged into your Mac can actually do
Data 2026-08-28 → 2026-11-08 (73 days, 15 observations). Points before 10-28 come from deeply / archive backfill, not every day has one
GitHub · created 2026-05-20 · 91 stars · 7 days +0
Experimental - WhatCable Windows
Data 2026-10-28 → 2026-11-08 (12 days, 12 observations). Points before 10-28 come from deeply / archive backfill, not every day has one
GitHub · created 2026-05-19 · 75 stars · 7 days +1
macOS menu bar utility showing real-time USB-C port status (protocol, speed, power). Apple Silicon only.
Data 2026-10-28 → 2026-11-08 (12 days, 12 observations). Points before 10-28 come from deeply / archive backfill, not every day has one
GitHub · created 2026-09-05 · 2,023 stars · 7 days +536
See what is really inside macOS System Data and delete it item by item. A free menu bar app that explains every category and shows each command before it runs.
Data 2026-10-09 → 2026-11-08 (31 days, 31 observations). Points before 10-28 come from deeply / archive backfill, not every day has one
GitHub · created 2026-09-12 · 1,723 stars · 7 days +550
Status Trio — a native macOS app that combines Wi-Fi, battery, and volume into one compact, configurable status icon for the menu bar, the Dock, or both, inspir
Data 2026-10-09 → 2026-11-08 (31 days, 31 observations). Points before 10-28 come from deeply / archive backfill, not every day has one
GitHub · created 2026-09-10 · 472 stars · 7 days +20
An iPhone battery, charging and thermal instrument built on private iOS APIs — real charger watts, what actually reaches the cell, all 30 temperature sensors, a
Data 2026-10-09 → 2026-11-08 (31 days, 30 observations). Points before 10-28 come from deeply / archive backfill, not every day has one
GitHub · created 2026-09-15 · 4,382 stars · 7 days +172
Receive-only Wi-Fi and Bluetooth LE observer for Android. MIT.
Data 2026-10-02 → 2026-11-08 (38 days, 32 observations). Points before 10-28 come from deeply / archive backfill, not every day has one
- GitHub (11-02 check): darrylmorley/whatcable at 9,069 stars (report 9,062), gaining +2–8 per day; the same author's darrylmorley/whatcable-windows at 91 stars and darrylmorley/whatport at 74 stars, neither growing.
- Web (GitHub Releases API, reported numbers, 11-01): 138 releases with 436,508 cumulative downloads, v1.5.0 (released 10-13) got 59,628 downloads in 19 days; Pro is a £9.99 one-time purchase, a paid tier added two weeks after launch, main development moved to a private repo, Pro plugins closed-source. It's not on indie, so revenue is unknown.
- GitHub (adjacent, 11-02 check): Jarvis322/macos-sysdata (exposing macOS "System Data") +652 in 1,614,7 days; lingyired/status-trio (Wi-Fi, battery, and volume combined into one menu bar icon) +447 in 1,259,7 days, accelerating; ResistanceTo/MiniWatts (iPhone battery, charging, temperature) 455; OffGridPete/Fieldwatch (Android Wi-Fi / BLE observation) 4,220. In the Bluetooth codec, display link, and charger handshake areas, I couldn't find any new library with ≥200 stars.
Hacker News1 evidence items
- HN (11-02 check): 2026-05-01 Show HN "WhatCable, a tiny menu bar app for inspecting USB-C cables" 566 points, 168 comments (id 47972511); 08-14 a second one at 110 points, 79 comments, where the discussion turned to "reading an e-marker is not the same as testing a cable."
Mac App Store 1 pieces of evidence · 1 products with curves
USB Connection Information Daniel Gauthier
App Store · launched 2025-06-27 · US store rating 3 · charted in 11-04 of 2 stores
SwitzerlandIsrael
Data 2026-10-28 → 2026-11-03 (7 days, 6 observations). Lower rank is higher; gaps mean it wasn't charted that day
Number of ratings 3
Data day 2026-11-04, only 1 days so far. Apple doesn't give download counts, so rating growth is the proxy
- Mac App Store (11-02): similar apps are all small in the store. USB Connection Information (6747853674, $9.99,40 ratings) ranks best in the de category at #21; DriveVitals (6824374323, disk health, $4.99,10-26 launch) is #104 on the us paid overall chart.
Already doing it
On macOS, USB-C is occupied by WhatCable, WhatPort, and WhatBattery; the store has USB Connection Information and DriveVitals; open source has macos-sysdata, status-trio, and MiniWatts. Windows / Linux only has whatcable-windows (91 stars, labeled "experimental").
In our product dossiers: WhatCable
The hardest step
The copy has to be honest. The software can only read what the device claims about itself; it can't measure the actual signal. If users treat it as a cable tester and get burned by fake cables, word of mouth turns against it (the second HN thread's 79 comments are already arguing about exactly this). Second, the paywall: casual users are satisfied with the free version; Pro is for enthusiasts and repair shops.
Who it's for
Individuals who know Swift (or C# / Rust on Windows). Open-source core, a $10–20 one-time Pro added within two weeks, sold direct from the website. This is an HN-style product, not a PH-style one.
Should every product builder know this?
No, only useful to people who build desktop tools.
Change log
2026-11-02
Backfill check: whatcable 9,062 → 9,069 (+7); whatcable-windows still at 91 stars, so Windows is still empty; the Mac App Store showed two in-store equivalents for the first time (USB Connection Information, DriveVitals), both in the long tail.
2026-11-01
First logged (backfill: from ph-dossiers/whatcable.md, the "Product Hunt Roundup v1" 4.1 item 3, Stringers §3.6 / §7, data as of 11-01).
Original: Scanner opportunity library #052 (updated daily, 06:00); this page was generated on the 2026-11-08 edition.