Mela

Wolf Falke built Mela as a solo developer in Vienna, Austria in 2020. The app filled a specific gap: a beautifully designed, native Apple platform recipe manager that felt like it belonged in Apple's own app lineup. Mela had a clean one-column layout, smart ingredient scaling, an integrated shopping list, a built-in browser for importing recipes from any website, and iCloud sync across all Apple devices. Wolf's background in design was evident in every detail — the app consistently won praise for its craftsmanship and earned features from Apple on the App Store. Mela launched on iOS and expanded to Mac and Apple Watch. It generated revenue through a freemium model: free to try, with an annual subscription (~$10/year) for unlimited recipes and all features. The app became a darling of the Apple design community and was recommended in dozens of "best apps" roundups. Wolf ran Mela essentially solo, building and shipping updates on a steady cadence, generating an estimated $5k+/month from a passionate cooking community.