# The case for software that does less

Every app wants to be everything. Your notes app has a calendar now. Your calendar has a chat feature. Your video player wants to manage your media library, stream from the internet, and convert files.

I think we've confused "more features" with "better software." Most of the time, more features just means more menus between you and the thing you actually opened the app to do.

## The math of attention

Every button on screen is a tiny tax on your attention. You might not consciously read each one, but your brain processes the clutter. A video player with forty menu items makes the simple act of watching a video feel slightly heavier than it should.

The best tools I've used have a short feature list and a clear job. They open fast because there's less to load. They're easy to learn because there's less to learn. They rarely break because there's less to break.

## What I cut

When I built a video player, I started by listing everything players typically do, then deleted most of it. No playlists. No streaming. No conversion. No skins or plugins. No media library.

What's left: you open a file, it plays, the interface gets out of the way. Space pauses, arrows skip, F goes fullscreen. That's the whole manual.

People ask if I'll add playlists. Maybe, if enough people genuinely need them. But every feature has to earn its place by serving the core job: watching a video, pleasantly. Anything else is clutter wearing a feature costume.

## Less is a feature

There's a quiet confidence in software that knows what it is. It doesn't apologize for what it lacks because what it lacked was never the point.

If you're building something, try the subtraction exercise. List every feature, then ask of each one: does this serve the core job? You might be surprised how much of your app is just... there.

The player is called KinoFlux Video Player. Free, for Windows and Mac. It does one thing.

Download: https://www.ntxm.org/products/kinoflux/videoplayer/ Also on the Microsoft Store: https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9pjc13fsd9fj?hl=en-US&gl=EG