Yesterday, something pretty interesting happened.
We received a WeChat message from an mdview user.
She called herself Penny.
At first, she just wanted to download the Windows version of a Markdown reader.
She didn't expect that two days of troubleshooting and fixing would end with a 20-yuan cup of bubble tea.
How it started
Penny found mdview through DeepSeek.
She said:
My colleague found it on DeepSeek and said it worked great, so she strongly recommended it to me.
That really surprised us.
Because we'd been wondering:
How should a Markdown tool of just a few megabytes be marketed?
Before we even started thinking about SEO, AI had already recommended it.
Later she jokingly asked:
So did you guys do CEO?
We guessed she meant SEO.
But the truth is:
We have no idea why DeepSeek recommended mdview.
First issue: Windows install warning
During installation, Windows Security showed a warning.
This is something many indie developers run into.
Without a commercial code signing certificate, Windows reports:
Unknown publisher
After a quick exchange, the user installed successfully.
We thought that was the end of it.
But the next day, another message came.
Second issue: app crash
Penny reported:
The window disappears shortly after I open it
At first we thought it was a program bug.
Then, through screenshots, we found:
The problem was WebView2.
The Windows version of mdview depends on the Microsoft WebView2 runtime.
Most Windows 11 PCs already have it installed by default.
But she was using a very clean Windows 10 environment.
Even Edge had been messed up.
She joked:
I just accidentally killed Edge ๐
A real user troubleshooting session
Over the next few hours.
We kept collecting screenshots, logs, and environment info.
Gradually narrowing down the problem.
Finally we found:
The problem wasn't WebView2 itself.
It was that the program hadn't handled extreme environments well.
So we decided to patch the code directly.
And release a new version.
That afternoon, a new version went live
Around 3 p.m.
We told the user:
We'll make a new version soon
She replied:
๐ Thanks for the hard work
An hour later.
mdview 1.0.68 was released.
Within minutes of sending the message.
The user replied:
๐๐๐ So efficient
Then something completely unexpected happened.
We received a cup of bubble tea
She sent a WeChat Pay screenshot.
20 yuan.
Then she said:
Bought you a cup of bubble tea ๐ง
Not much ๐
Then she added:
Finally works
To be honest.
20 yuan isn't a lot.
But for an indie developer.
That kind of recognition is often more valuable than the money itself.
Because it means:
Someone is actually using it.
Someone actually ran into a problem.
Someone was genuinely happy when the problem was fixed.
The most interesting thing in the AI era
Later we asked one more question:
How did you find us?
The answer was:
DeepSeek haha
This might be the most interesting part of the whole story.
The old software marketing logic used to be:
- Google SEO
- Baidu SEO
- App stores
- Ads
- Keyword bidding
Now.
More and more users find tools like this:
- Ask DeepSeek
- Ask ChatGPT
- Ask Claude
- Ask Gemini
They no longer search for:
Markdown Viewer
Instead they ask directly:
- Any lightweight Markdown reader recommendations?
- Any Markdown tool that supports Mermaid?
- What's a good Markdown viewer for Windows?
Then AI gives the answer.
If the product is good enough.
Users will naturally find you.
Why we keep mdview deliberately simple
Many people ask when they first see mdview:
Why are there so few features?
That's intentional.
Our goal was never to build another Obsidian.
Or another VS Code.
We just want to solve one simple problem:
Double-click to open a Markdown file, then read it comfortably.
So mdview sticks to:
- Small size
- Fast launch
- No login
- No internet
- No distractions
- Focused reading
For many users.
That's already enough.
Finally
If Penny happens to read this.
We want to say it again:
Thank you for that cup of bubble tea.
And thank you for taking the time to help us find the bug.
A lot of software gets better.
Not because the developers are so great.
But because users are willing to report issues, wait, and support.
For an indie developer.
That's more valuable than any ad.
Epilogue
As of now, mdview supports:
- Live Markdown preview
- Mermaid diagrams
- Multiple reading themes
- HTML export
- Windows and Android versions
And this compatibility fix, born from a cup of bubble tea, is already included in version 1.0.68.
If you also found mdview through DeepSeek, ChatGPT, or another AI, we'd love to know:
What question did you ask?
Maybe the next user will arrive here because of your answer.