Trust me, after dealing with patchy WiFi in Mumbai locals and Bangalore traffic, I finally get why this matters

Yaar, I was sitting in a coffee shop in Koramangala last week, trying to finish some work before a client call. The WiFi was being typical Bangalore WiFi - working one minute, gone the next. My Google Docs kept throwing errors, Slack wouldn't load, and I was getting properly frustrated.

Then I remembered this concept I'd been reading about - local-first software. You know, apps that actually work when the internet decides to take a break (which, let's be honest, happens way too often here).

The more I dug into it, the more I realized this isn't just some fancy Silicon Valley trend. It's actually solving real problems that we face every day in India - unreliable internet, data costs, privacy concerns, and the constant worry that some US company might just shut down their servers tomorrow.

What's This Local-First Business About?

Simply put, local-first software: a set of principles for software that enables both collaboration and ownership for users. Local-first ideals include the ability to work offline and collaborate across multiple devices, while also improving the security, privacy, long-term preservation, and user control of data.

Matlab, it's quite simple actually. Instead of your app constantly talking to some server in California, your data lives right there on your phone or laptop. But here's the clever bit - it can still sync with your teammates and work across all your devices when you do have internet.

Think about it like this:

• Old desktop software: Super fast, works offline, but sharing was a nightmare (remember emailing Word documents back and forth?)
• Modern web apps: Great for collaboration, but useless without internet
• Local-first apps: Best of both worlds, yaar!

As they say: In local-first software, "the availability of another computer should never prevent you from working"

Why Should We Indians Care?

Dekho, I'll be straight with you. We've all been there:

Scenario 1: You're in the Delhi Metro, no network, and your note-taking app just shows a blank screen because it can't "sync with cloud."

Scenario 2: Working from that small town where your parents live, internet is patchy, but your client expects the presentation to be ready.

Scenario 3: Your startup is bootstrapped, and those AWS bills are killing your runway, but you need real-time collaboration.

Local-first solves all of these problems. Plus, there's something satisfying about not depending on some American company's servers for your daily work, no?

Who's Actually Doing This?

It's not just theory, bhai. Big companies are already building this way:

Figma - The Speed Demon

You know how Figma feels instant? That's because it's essentially local-first. Your design changes happen immediately on your machine, then sync quietly in the background. As examples like Figma, Linear and Superhuman have shown, apps build on a local-first architecture provide a significantly better UX.

Linear - The Productivity Beast

When you create an issue in Linear, it shows up instantly. No spinning wheels, no "please wait while we save." It's there immediately, and syncs when it can.

Even Apple Notes

Haan, even Apple uses CRDTs (more on this later) to handle the case where you edit the same note on your iPhone and MacBook simultaneously.

The Technical Magic: CRDTs

Now, here's where it gets interesting. The secret sauce is something called CRDTs - Conflict-Free Replicated Data Types. Conflict-Free Replicated Data Types (CRDTs), which allow multiple users to edit documents offline and reconcile changes automatically upon syncing. This concept, initially developed by French theorist Marc Shapiro over two decades ago, found new life in the local-first movement.

Don't let the fancy name scare you. The idea is simple: special data structures that can automatically merge changes from different people without conflicts.

Like, imagine you and your colleague both edit the same document while offline. Traditional systems would say "conflict! choose one version!" CRDTs say "no problem, let me merge these smartly."

A Simple Example

// Using Yjs for a todo app (don't worry, I'll explain)
import * as Y from 'yjs'

// Create a shared document that lives locally
const ydoc = new Y.Doc()
const todos = ydoc.getArray('todos')

// Add a todo - works even when offline!
todos.push([{
  id: generateId(),
  text: 'Buy samosas for team',
  completed: false,
  createdAt: Date.now()
}])

// When you come back online, this automatically
// syncs and merges with your teammate's changes

Pretty neat, right?

How to Actually Build This Stuff

Alright, enough theory. Let's talk about how to actually implement this.

The Popular Libraries

Automerge: Automerge is a Conflict-Free Replicated Data Type (CRDT), which allows concurrent changes on different devices to be merged automatically without requiring any central server.

Think of it like a JSON object that automatically syncs across devices:

import * as Automerge from '@automerge/automerge'

// Create a document
let doc = Automerge.init()

// Make changes (works offline)
doc = Automerge.change(doc, 'Add expense', doc => {
  if (!doc.expenses) doc.expenses = []
  doc.expenses.push({ 
    item: 'Chai', 
    amount: 20, 
    date: new Date().toISOString() 
  })
})

// Later, merge with changes from other devices
const mergedDoc = Automerge.merge(doc, remoteDoc)

Yjs: This one's particularly good for text editing. Conflict-free replicated data types (CRDT) for collaborative editing are an alternative approach to operational transformation (OT)

import * as Y from 'yjs'

const ydoc = new Y.Doc()
const sharedText = ydoc.getText('notes')

// Multiple people can edit simultaneously
sharedText.insert(0, 'Meeting notes:\n')
sharedText.insert(15, '- Discuss Q4 targets\n')

// Automatically handles conflicts!

The New Player: Turso

Turso is a modern database service built on SQLite. It now supports Offline Sync, which enables true local-first experiences. You can sync databases between local and remote sources with bidirectional sync and built-in conflict detection.

This is exciting because it brings local-first to SQL databases, which most of us are comfortable with.

The Reality Check: It's Not All Roses

Let me be honest - building local-first isn't as simple as adding an offline mode to your React app. There are some genuine challenges:

1. Complexity

Local-first is no silver bullet. It introduces tricky distributed-data challenges like conflict resolution and schema migrations on client devices.

You need to think differently about data flow. Instead of "send request → get response," you're dealing with "update locally → sync in background → handle conflicts."

2. Storage Issues

CRDTs need extra metadata to work their magic. For text documents, this overhead can be quite substantial.

3. Learning Curve

Your team needs to learn new patterns. It's not rocket science, but it's definitely different from traditional client-server development.

4. Tooling

The ecosystem is improving fast, but it's still not as mature as traditional web development tools.

The Business Benefits (That CFOs Will Love)

Now, here's where it gets interesting for Indian startups:

1. Reduced Server Costs

The biggest benefits we've seen from local-first development in commercial products at scale are improved developer productivity (and thus higher shipping velocity), and lower hosting costs due to needing much less server-side compute.

When most of your data lives on user devices, your server bills become much more manageable.

2. Better Performance

Your app works even when your servers don't. Your server availability may still be important, but in the event of an outage your users can still access the app and continue working.

No more angry customer calls during server outages!

3. User Experience

The user experience with offline work is splendid. The process of going offline, continuing to work for as long as you want, and then reconnecting to merge changes with colleagues worked well.

This is huge in India where internet connectivity can be inconsistent.

Getting Started: A Practical Approach

Alright, if you're convinced and want to try this, here's my advice:

Start Small

Don't rewrite your entire app. Pick one feature and make it work offline first.

// Simple offline-first pattern for Indian developers
class OfflineFirstStore {
  constructor() {
    this.localData = new Map()
    this.pendingSync = []

    // Sync when network comes back
    window.addEventListener('online', () => this.syncNow())
  }

  async updateExpense(id, data) {
    // Always work locally first
    this.localData.set(id, data)
    this.pendingSync.push({ action: 'update', id, data })

    // Try to sync if online
    if (navigator.onLine) {
      await this.syncNow()
    }
  }

  async syncNow() {
    if (this.pendingSync.length > 0) {
      try {
        await this.sendToServer(this.pendingSync)
        this.pendingSync = [] // Clear after successful sync
      } catch (error) {
        console.log('Sync failed, will retry later')
      }
    }
  }
}

Choose Your Tool

• Building a note-taking app? Go with Yjs
• Need JSON-like data? Try Automerge
• Want to stick with SQL? Check out Turso

Plan for Conflicts

Even CRDTs can't solve every conflict automatically. Design your UI to handle cases where manual intervention is needed.

The Indian Advantage

Here's something interesting - We Indians might actually have an advantage in adopting local-first:

1. We're used to unreliable internet - We already build apps thinking about offline scenarios
2. Cost consciousness - We naturally think about reducing server costs
3. Data sovereignty concerns - After all the privacy discussions, keeping data local appeals to Indian users
4. Mobile-first thinking - Most local-first principles align well with mobile development

Should Your Startup Go Local-First?

Definitely yes if:

• You're building collaborative tools (like a Notion competitor)
• Performance is critical (trading apps, gaming)
• Your users often work offline (field workers, travel apps)
• You want to reduce server costs (bootstrapped startups)

Maybe not if:

• Simple CRUD app with mostly read-only data
• Team is new to complex architectures
• Tight deadlines (there's a learning curve)

The Future Looks Local

For smaller orgs, local first can represent the exact kind of path-less-traveled advantage you'd expect, though even larger organizations are starting to reap the benefits.

I think we're at an inflection point. The technology is mature enough, the benefits are clear, and the tools are getting better every month.

Plus, there's something philosophically appealing about building software where users own their data, especially in the current climate of data privacy concerns.

My Recommendation

If you're a developer in India, spend a weekend building a simple local-first app. Maybe a expense tracker that works offline, or a note-taking app that syncs across devices.

You don't need to rewrite your production apps immediately, but understanding these concepts will give you an edge. Trust me, when your clients ask "Can this work without internet?" you'll be the one with answers.

The resources are all there - Yjs documentation is excellent, Automerge has great tutorials, and the community is quite helpful.

Wrapping Up

Local-first isn't just another Silicon Valley buzzword. It's a practical solution to real problems we face every day - unreliable internet, high server costs, and the desire for responsive software.

The technology is ready, companies are proving it works at scale, and the benefits are clear. Key benefits include increasing privacy by keeping data locally, avoiding recurring fees for cloud storage and enabling uninterrupted functionality offline or in areas with poor internet connectivity.

Whether you're a startup founder looking to reduce costs, a developer tired of dealing with network issues, or just someone who believes users should own their data, local-first offers a compelling alternative to the current cloud-everything approach.

Give it a try. Build something small. See how it feels. I have a feeling you'll like what you discover.

Want to get started? Check out the Yjs documentation, read the Ink & Switch papers on local-first, and maybe join the Local-First Web community. And hey, if you build something cool, do share it with the community!