SpinCost

Stops Electron apps from burning battery on spinners over static content

Problem

Apps like VSCode, Chromium, Firefox, and Thunderbird keep spinning loaders on otherwise static content, burning CPU/GPU cycles and making laptops hot and sluggish. Developers just want a loading state, but default to the most expensive smooth spinner — and users pay for it.

Solution

A minimal open-source component kit plus a detection tool: low-FPS, pausable loading components that respect prefers-reduced-motion, available for major frontend frameworks; and a dev-time overlay that detects continuously running animations and points to the code that causes them.

Users

Electron and web frontend developers, performance-sensitive open-source maintainers, and users who care about battery life.

MVP

Low-FPS spinner components for React/Vue/Svelte; automatic prefer-reduced-motion fallback; a browser DevTools panel that highlights persistent animations and where they first appear; copy-paste migration examples.

Revenue

Open-source components free, paid Pro version of the DevTools performance panel (one-time or subscription); or internal performance audits and training for companies.

Why now

Electron apps are everywhere and users are vocal about heat and battery drain, yet popular component libraries still ship costly default animations. This is a low-tech, high-impact developer tool opportunity.