---
title: "Ghost Apps LLC and Gizz Tapes"
date: 2026-09-27
author: "Andrew Reitz"
description:
  "How Ghost Apps LLC came about, how the Gizz Tapes apps got started, what they
  cost to run, and where Patreon and Buy Me a Coffee support goes."
featured_image: "/images/gizz-tapes-logo-debug.png"
featured_image_caption: "The Gizz Tapes debug app icon"
---

This post is an attempt to explain how Ghost Apps LLC came about, how I got
involved with Gizz Tapes, what my role with Gizz Tapes is, how much it costs to
keep the Gizz Tapes apps out there, and what I will do with any funding from
Patreon or Buy Me a Coffee.

## The Beginning

Ghost Apps LLC came about because of some app store rules. The big one: if you
publish as an individual, your tax address is shown publicly. Addresses are not
secret, but I don’t need mine that easy to find. Some other benefits of having a
company are that you get around some of the restrictions Apple and Google’s
stores place on individual developers.

So, with a small fee, a made-up name (based on a Phish song; I’m not good at
naming), and some paperwork, Ghost Apps LLC was born.

## KGLW and Gizz Tapes

While browsing Reddit one day, I noticed a post about a website for streaming
all of King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard’s live shows, called [Gizz
Tapes][tapes]. This website was similar to [Phish.in][phishin], whose API I was
using at the time for my Android app, Never Ending Splendor. I reached out to
the developer of the website through GitLab about being able to use their API.
That’s how I met [Jamie][jamie], who built the website and the API, and how I
got connected with the rest of the [KGLW.net][kglw] crew.

## The Apps

I built the original app just for Android; I functionally forked Never Ending
Splendor and made the changes I needed to get an app out there pretty quickly.

After making the Android app, I thought we’d maybe find an iOS developer, but
after a year or so I figured I should try my hand at converting the project to
Kotlin Multiplatform, allowing me to use mostly the same codebase to make
Android, iOS, and desktop apps. Fast-forward about a year and we finally had an
iOS app! Desktop is there too, but I don’t think anyone actually uses that; we
sort of get it for free, so I figured I might as well make it.

## Costs

The cost to keep an app published in Apple’s App Store is $99 a year. To publish
to Google’s Play Store, it was a one-time $25 fee. On top of that, dealing with
both of these stores is an absolute headache, which is why my other apps are
free on GitHub but paid on the Play Store. There are other costs here and there,
like needing a Mac to actually build the iPhone app, which was one of the
hurdles I ran into. I’m happy to pay these costs out of Ghost Apps’ pocket, but
really do appreciate any support the community provides.

I'm not familiar with what it costs to keep [KGLW.net][kglw] or the [Gizz Tapes
website][tapes] running, but I imagine it's a lot more than the app store fee.

## Patreon & Buy Me a Coffee

If I do receive over $100 combined from Patreon and Buy Me a Coffee over the
course of the year, which covers the cost of the Apple Developer Fee, I’ll try
to figure out how to use that money to help other areas of Gizz Tapes or
KGLW.net. That could be anything from helping pay for server costs, to hosting
our entire collection on our own servers, to donating to [Archive.org][archive],
which hosts all of the shows right now (seriously, if you can, donate to them).

I don’t have any subscribers on Patreon right now, but if I do get any, I’ll
probably let them decide what to name the releases. I’ll try to come up with
other fun stuff too, but we’ll cross that bridge if and when it happens.

## Thanks

I just want to give a HUGE thanks to [Jamie][jamie] for creating the API and
website we use! Without you we wouldn’t have Gizz Tapes at all.

I also want to shout out all the people at [KGLW.net][kglw] who help maintain
the list of shows we can stream, maintain all the data on dot net from setlists
to posters, and those of you who tape the shows and upload them.

And lastly, thanks to [Archive.org][archive] for hosting all of the shows.

Thanks to everyone who makes this community great, and huge thanks for all the
kind words about the app. It’s what helps me keep going.

[tapes]: https://tapes.kglw.net
[phishin]: https://phish.in
[jamie]: https://bsky.app/profile/jamiedownsworth.co.uk
[kglw]: https://kglw.net
[archive]: https://archive.org/