u/slimysludge

I’ve tried a lot of random side hustles over the last few years, but this is probably the most unexpected one so far. I get paid to make short videos for a Christian app that helps people pray, follow guided prayers and build a more consistent daily routine around their faith.

I found the campaign through SideShift, a platform where apps post UGC opportunities for creators. I applied bc I’d never seen a brief for a prayer app before. The videos are usually pretty simple, sometimes I’m talking directly to the camera about feeling stressed, lost or disconnected from prayer and other times I film small skits around situations like struggling to sleep, needing guidance or wanting to start praying again but not knowing where to begin. The app sends me a brief or a general concept, then I film and edit the video so it feels like a normal TikTok I don’t post the videos on my own account either, I send them to the company, that uses them on its social pages or runs them as ads It’s one of the stranger ways I’ve made money online, especially because I never imagined there was much demand for creators in a niche like this, but apps need content in basically every category now

So I spent some time building Heartbeat.
Live link

Instead of tables full of transactions, I wanted something that feels alive.

Every live Solana transaction becomes part of a 3D scene:

• Votes appear as ambient particles.
• Transfers and swaps stream through space.
• Whale transfers arrive as massive golden comets that spiral into the core.
• Every ~400ms, when a real slot closes, the accumulated energy collapses inward, a shockwave ripples across the scene, and a new block is forged into the chain.

The interesting engineering challenge wasn't just rendering particles—it was making real blockchain data lightweight enough to stream while keeping the visualization smooth.

Some numbers:

• ~60 FPS on live mainnet
• ~2 KB/s per connected client after server-side aggregation
• Single upstream connection fans out to every viewer
• Automatic fallback to hybrid/synthetic modes so the experience never goes blank

The goal wasn't to replace explorers.

It was to build something that makes you feel the heartbeat of the network.

I'd genuinely appreciate feedback from people who build on Solana or enjoy creative visualizations. What would you visualize differently?

So I spent some time building Heartbeat.
click to open live link

Instead of tables full of transactions, I wanted something that feels alive.

Every live Solana transaction becomes part of a 3D scene:

• Votes appear as ambient particles.
• Transfers and swaps stream through space.
• Whale transfers arrive as massive golden comets that spiral into the core.
• Every ~400ms, when a real slot closes, the accumulated energy collapses inward, a shockwave ripples across the scene, and a new block is forged into the chain.

The interesting engineering challenge wasn't just rendering particles—it was making real blockchain data lightweight enough to stream while keeping the visualization smooth.

Some numbers:

• ~60 FPS on live mainnet
• ~2 KB/s per connected client after server-side aggregation
• Single upstream connection fans out to every viewer
• Automatic fallback to hybrid/synthetic modes so the experience never goes blank

The goal wasn't to replace explorers.

It was to build something that makes you feel the heartbeat of the network.

I'd genuinely appreciate feedback from people who build on Solana or enjoy creative visualizations. What would you visualize differently?

That question got stuck in my head a few months ago.

Imagine opening an app at the end of the year and seeing:

❤️ Days together

🔥 Longest streaks

📸 Favorite memories

🎵 Songs you shared

💌 Journal entries

✨ Moments you completely forgot happened

So I ended up building it.

It's called Us:

👉 https://wearesocuteomg.vercel.app/

Besides the yearly "Us, Wrapped" feature, it also includes:

• Shared journals
• Mood tracking
• Memory timeline
• Time capsules
• Shared countdowns
• Couple games
• Long-distance features like presence indicators and little "thinking of you" nudges

The goal wasn't to make another messaging app.

The goal was to help couples actually remember their relationship.

I'd love honest feedback from this community since you're exactly the people I built it for.

If you could add ONE feature to a relationship app, what would it be?

Hey everyone ❤️

I've been in a long-distance relationship and one thing that always bothered me was how easy it is to lose memories over time.

Photos end up buried in galleries, chats disappear into thousands of messages, and you forget so many little moments that once felt important.

So over the last few weeks I built something called Us:

👉 https://wearesocuteomg.vercel.app/

It's a private app for couples where you can:

• Save memories together
• Keep a shared journal
• Track relationship milestones
• Create countdowns
• Send little "thinking of you" moments
• Write time capsules to your future selves
• Generate a Spotify-Wrapped-style recap of your relationship

No followers.
No feeds.
No algorithms.

Just two people and their story.

I'd genuinely love feedback from people who understand long-distance relationships better than anyone.

What feature would make an app like this actually useful for you?