# Blake Crosley

> Designer, developer, and entrepreneur creating meaningful digital experiences. Former VP of Product Design at ZipRecruiter. Founder of 941 Apps.

For comprehensive information, see: [llms-full.txt](https://blakecrosley.com/llms-full.txt)

## About

Blake Crosley is a product designer and developer based in Pasadena, California. He is the founder of [941 Apps](https://941apps.com), a branding and development studio. Previously, he served as VP of Product Design at ZipRecruiter, where he led a team of 35+ creatives and helped grow the company from a 10-person startup to a NYSE-listed company.

## Professional Background

- VP of Product Design at ZipRecruiter (12 years, grew from 10 to NYSE)
- Led design team at Trailer Park, collaborating with Apple, Disney, Marvel
- Built and led teams of 35+ designers
- Companies worked with: Apple, Disney, Penguin Random House, Marvel, ZipRecruiter, Instacart, HarperCollins

## Skills & Expertise

- Product Design & Strategy, Design Systems, User Research
- iOS Development: SwiftUI, SwiftData, iOS 26+
- Backend: FastAPI, Python, SQLAlchemy, Pydantic
- Frontend: HTMX, Alpine.js, Bootstrap 5
- AI/LLM: Integration, Prompt Engineering, AI Product Design

## Services

941 Apps offers:
- Branding & Identity Design
- Product Design & Strategy
- iOS Development (SwiftUI)
- Web Development (FastAPI)
- Design Consulting

## Featured Work

- [Get Bananas](https://blakecrosley.com/work/get-bananas): Shared shopping list for iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac, synced over iCloud. Also lives inside Claude Desktop as an MCP server bridged through a JSON file in iCloud Drive, so an agent can read and update the family list. $0.99. Live at https://apps.apple.com/us/app/get-bananas/id6756241534
- [941 Reps](https://blakecrosley.com/work/reps): Fast, private workout log for iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. Handwritten notebook design, seventeen languages, automatic personal records, and a CLI + MCP connector so Claude can read training history and plan sessions through one validated write path. Free with optional Pro subscription.
- [Return](https://blakecrosley.com/work/return): Zen meditation & focus timer across five Apple screens (iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Apple TV, Mac). Twenty-seven languages including Arabic and Hebrew. HealthKit mindful-minutes sync from any device via iCloud. Built end-to-end in SwiftUI for iOS 26 with zero external dependencies. $2.99, no subscriptions, no analytics.
- [Vision Sprint](https://blakecrosley.com/work/vision-sprint): Design sprint exploring the future of work using LLMs and natural language job matching
- [Project eLLMo](https://blakecrosley.com/work/ellmo): LLM-based career matching tool using voice AI and embeddings
- [Introl Branding](https://blakecrosley.com/work/introl): Brand identity for GPU cluster and AI infrastructure company
- [Ace Citizenship](https://blakecrosley.com/work/ace-citizenship): iOS app for USCIS naturalization test preparation
- [Tappy Color](https://blakecrosley.com/work/tappy-color): iOS game created with Chris Greer, now Tappy Color Remastered

## Guides

- [Claude Code CLI: The Complete Guide — Hooks, MCP, Skills](https://blakecrosley.com/guides/claude-code): The complete Claude Code guide: configuration, permissions, hooks, MCP, and subagents, plus the settings and commands that change how it actually works.
- [Building iOS Apps with AI Agents: The Practitioner's Guide](https://blakecrosley.com/guides/ios-agent-development): Build iOS apps faster with AI agents. Claude Code, Codex CLI, Xcode 27 agents, MCP, CLAUDE.md patterns, hooks, lessons from 8 apps.
- [Midjourney 8.2 Guide: Prompts, Omni Reference & Parameters](https://blakecrosley.com/guides/midjourney): Midjourney 8.2 prompt guide: new default model, Omni Reference (--oref), --hd and --sd, --raw, V8.1/V7 compatibility, video costs, and every parameter that changed.
- [Suno Guide: Tags, Meta Tags & Prompts (V5.5)](https://blakecrosley.com/guides/suno): Every Suno tag and meta tag that works in V5.5: style prompts, structure tags, [no vocals], the style-of-music field, and MILO-1080 — with copy-paste examples.
- [FastAPI + HTMX: The No-Build Full-Stack](https://blakecrosley.com/guides/fastapi-htmx): Build production web apps without React or webpack: FastAPI, HTMX, Alpine.js, Jinja2, plain CSS, Bootstrap patterns, i18n, deployment, SEO and performance.
- [Obsidian MCP Guide: AI Search & Retrieval (2026)](https://blakecrosley.com/guides/obsidian): Wire Obsidian into Claude and other agents over MCP: server setup, hybrid BM25 + vector retrieval, and indexing a 16,894-file vault — with working configs.
- [Mac Shortcuts Automation: The Practitioner's Reference](https://blakecrosley.com/guides/shortcuts): Apple Shortcuts on macOS: the actions catalog, automation triggers, the shortcuts CLI, signing, App Intents, and running shortcuts from scripts and agents.
- [Agent Architecture: Building AI-Powered Development Harnesses](https://blakecrosley.com/guides/agent-architecture): The complete system for building production AI agent harnesses: skills, hooks, memory, subagents, and the orchestration patterns that make agents reliable.
- [Codex CLI Guide 2026: Setup, Sandbox, AGENTS.md & MCP](https://blakecrosley.com/guides/codex): Complete Codex CLI reference: install and auth, models and pricing, sandbox and approval modes, AGENTS.md, MCP, skills, and cloud tasks. Updated for v0.154.0.
- [Design Principles for Software Engineers](https://blakecrosley.com/guides/design): Design fundamentals for software engineers: typography, color, spacing, animation, AI interface patterns, design tokens, and 48 product case studies today.
- [Hermes Agent: The Practitioner's Reference (2026)](https://blakecrosley.com/guides/hermes): A practitioner's reference to Hermes Agent, the open-source self-improving AI agent from Nous Research: provider auth and OAuth, the config files, the skills system, and running it as a multi-platform messaging gateway.
- [Claude Code Cheat Sheet 2026: Shortcuts, Commands & Flags](https://blakecrosley.com/guides/claude-code-cheatsheet): Fast-lookup Claude Code cheat sheet updated for v2.1.220 — CLI flags, slash commands, keyboard shortcuts, permission modes (Manual rename), models (Opus 5 premium default, Sonnet 5 standard), hooks, plugins, Agent View, Workflow, and env vars.
- [Loop Engineering: Claude Code Loops, Routines & Workflows](https://blakecrosley.com/guides/loop-engineering): The practitioner's reference for loop engineering: Claude Code loops, goals, Ralph loops, routines, and dynamic workflows — and the verification doctrine that decides whether they converge.

## Blog

- [Multiseat Subscriptions: What to Build Before Winter](https://blakecrosley.com/blog/multiseat-subscriptions-storekit-2): Apple's multiseat purchases, Group Purchases and Volume Purchasing, read from the StoreKit 2 and App Store Server API documentation as of October 2026: a seat is a quantity on a transaction, entitlement stays on the transaction, removal arrives as a revocation, and four server endpoints refuse assigned seats.
- [What App Review Looks For, as Far as We Know: October 2026](https://blakecrosley.com/blog/app-review-what-reviewers-look-for-2026): Apple's App Review as of October 2026, from the public record: who reviews, how long it takes, what gets apps rejected and the exact words, the 2025–2026 rule changes, and a card-collector app red-teamed against the checklist before its first submission.
- [Prepare Your App for iPhone Duo: A Worked Example](https://blakecrosley.com/blog/prepare-your-app-for-iphone-duo): Prepare and submit an app for iPhone Duo: the SDK stamp that switches the layout on, a real app walked through every pose, screenshots, and App Store rules.
- [Pixel-Art Structures: Houses, Halls and Interiors on iPhone](https://blakecrosley.com/blog/pixel-art-structures-on-iphone): How Pokémon, the SNES RPGs and Stardew build houses, interiors and floors, measured from source, and how Kiradex's town got real buildings on iPhone.
- [Pixel-Art People: Characters and a Creator on iPhone](https://blakecrosley.com/blog/pixel-art-characters-on-iphone): How the best pixel-art games build and dress their people, measured, and how we rebuilt Kiradex's collector, its wardrobe and its creator screen on iPhone.
- [Pixel-Art Worlds on iPhone: What the 16-Bit Masters Knew](https://blakecrosley.com/blog/pixel-art-world-on-iphone): How Final Fantasy VI, Pokémon and today's best pixel-art games were made, the rules that follow, and a tested recipe for crisp pixels on iPhone and iPhone Duo.
- [macOS 27 Golden Gate Is Out: What Changes for Developers](https://blakecrosley.com/blog/macos-27-golden-gate-release): macOS 27 Golden Gate shipped September 14, Apple silicon only: Rosetta's last general release, installers defaulting to arm64, and the GA notes to read.
- [Xcode 27 Is Out: Requirements, Targets, and What Broke](https://blakecrosley.com/blog/xcode-27-release): Xcode 27 (27A266a) shipped September 14: macOS 26.6 and Apple silicon required, Swift 6.4, higher deployment floors, ld64 gone, PreviewProvider deprecated.
- [iOS 27.0 Release Notes: Deprecations, Breaks, and Fixes](https://blakecrosley.com/blog/ios-27-release-notes): iOS 27.0 (24A437) shipped September 14. The notes, read for developers: 11 deprecations, what fires when you build with the 27 SDK, and one fix I verified.
- [arm64e.x1: Apple's Checked Pointer Arithmetic Slice](https://blakecrosley.com/blog/arm64e-x1-checked-pointer-arithmetic): iOS 27 RC notes add arm64e.x1: checked pointer arithmetic (CPA2) on A20 Pro, M6, and S11. What clang emits, the four Xcode switches, and the hardware list.
- [iPhone Duo, Day Two: The Assets That Appeared in 24 Hours](https://blakecrosley.com/blog/iphone-duo-day-two): Apple's iPhone Duo bezel pack and App Store Connect's screenshot sizes, plus mock-ups, SwiftUI examples, agent skills, and questions from the first 24 hours.
- [Designing for iPhone Duo: What Moves, Splits, and Stays](https://blakecrosley.com/blog/designing-for-iphone-duo): Apple's iPhone Duo design guide and three Tech Talks, read as rules: two size classes instead of poses, displacement at the fold, arrangements, and side bars.
- [Five-Second Heart Rate: What Changes for HealthKit Apps](https://blakecrosley.com/blog/five-second-heart-rate-healthkit): Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 read heart rate every five seconds and HRV as often as every five minutes. What Apple said, what reaches HealthKit, and fixes.
- [iPhone Duo for Developers: The 1.42 Problem and the SDK Gap](https://blakecrosley.com/blog/iphone-duo-for-developers): iPhone Duo for developers: inferred display points from App Store Connect screenshots, two display shapes, Split View, Touch ID, SDK timing, and six Tech Talks.
- [Apple's September 2026 Event, Verified on Apple's Pages](https://blakecrosley.com/blog/apple-event-september-2026): Apple's September 9, 2026 keynote as it happened: each announcement logged as it landed, with the Apple page it was checked against, plus the developer drops.
- [Install and Update Codex CLI: Mac, Linux, Windows](https://blakecrosley.com/blog/install-update-codex-cli): Every way to install, update, pin, and uninstall the OpenAI Codex CLI -- the install script, npm, Homebrew, winget -- on macOS, Linux, WSL, and Windows.

## Series: Apple Ecosystem

Production patterns for shipping SwiftUI apps across Apple platforms in 2026. Hub: [https://blakecrosley.com/writing/series/apple-ecosystem](https://blakecrosley.com/writing/series/apple-ecosystem).

- [Multiseat Subscriptions: What to Build Before Winter](https://blakecrosley.com/blog/multiseat-subscriptions-storekit-2): Apple's multiseat purchases, Group Purchases and Volume Purchasing, read from the StoreKit 2 and App Store Server API documentation as of October 2026: a seat is a quantity on a transaction, entitlement stays on the transaction, removal arrives as a revocation, and four server endpoints refuse assigned seats.
- [What App Review Looks For, as Far as We Know: October 2026](https://blakecrosley.com/blog/app-review-what-reviewers-look-for-2026): Apple's App Review as of October 2026, from the public record: who reviews, how long it takes, what gets apps rejected and the exact words, the 2025–2026 rule changes, and a card-collector app red-teamed against the checklist before its first submission.
- [Pixel-Art Structures: Houses, Halls and Interiors on iPhone](https://blakecrosley.com/blog/pixel-art-structures-on-iphone): How Pokémon, the SNES RPGs and Stardew build houses, interiors and floors, measured from source, and how Kiradex's town got real buildings on iPhone.
- [Pixel-Art People: Characters and a Creator on iPhone](https://blakecrosley.com/blog/pixel-art-characters-on-iphone): How the best pixel-art games build and dress their people, measured, and how we rebuilt Kiradex's collector, its wardrobe and its creator screen on iPhone.
- [Pixel-Art Worlds on iPhone: What the 16-Bit Masters Knew](https://blakecrosley.com/blog/pixel-art-world-on-iphone): How Final Fantasy VI, Pokémon and today's best pixel-art games were made, the rules that follow, and a tested recipe for crisp pixels on iPhone and iPhone Duo.
- [Five Apple Platforms, Three Shared Files: How Return Actually Ships Cross-Platform SwiftUI](https://blakecrosley.com/blog/shipping-swiftui-app-five-apple-platforms): Return runs on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Apple TV. Three Swift files are shared across all five targets out of 40 total. The rest is duplicated, and that is on purpose.
- [Liquid Glass in SwiftUI: Three Patterns From Shipping Return on iOS 26](https://blakecrosley.com/blog/liquid-glass-swiftui-patterns): Apple's Liquid Glass is a one-line SwiftUI API. Three patterns from Return go beyond .glassEffect(): glass on text via Core Text glyph paths, mirror reflection, and HUD overlays.
- [HealthKit + SwiftUI on iOS 26: Authorization, Sample Types, and Cross-Platform Patterns](https://blakecrosley.com/blog/healthkit-swiftui-patterns-ios-26): HealthKit + SwiftUI production patterns from two shipped iOS 26 apps: authorization UX, HKQuantitySample vs HKCategorySample, async wrappers, watchOS variants.
- [MCP Server Alongside an iOS App: Two Agent Ecosystems, One List](https://blakecrosley.com/blog/mcp-server-living-alongside-ios-app): Get Bananas runs on iOS, macOS, watchOS, and visionOS. It also lives inside Claude Desktop as an MCP server. Bridge: iCloud Drive plus a JSON file.
- [App Intents Are Apple's New API to Your App](https://blakecrosley.com/blog/app-intents-are-apples-new-api-to-your-app): I shipped an App Intent in Water on Feb 8, 2026. Here's what Apple Intelligence wants from third-party apps in iOS 26, and why App Intents are the contract that matters.

## Cluster: AI Agent Infrastructure

Claude Code, Codex, AGENTS.md, skills, hooks, approvals, and quality philosophy as production infrastructure.

- [Claude Code to Codex Migration Guide 2026](https://blakecrosley.com/blog/claude-code-to-codex-migration): Claude Code to Codex migration guide: move AGENTS.md, skills, hooks, profiles, MCP, public-writing gates, and verified CLI notes from real local data.
- [AGENTS.md Patterns: What Actually Changes Agent Behavior](https://blakecrosley.com/blog/agents-md-patterns): Which AGENTS.md patterns actually change agent behavior? Anti-patterns to avoid, patterns that work, and a cross-tool compatibility matrix for 8 tools.
- [Claude Code vs Codex CLI 2026: Decision Reference](https://blakecrosley.com/blog/claude-code-vs-codex): Claude Code vs Codex CLI, current to June 2026: Opus 4.8 vs GPT-5.5, hooks vs kernel sandboxing, AGENTS.md portability, and 36 blind duel results.
- [Codex CLI vs Claude Code 2026: Architecture, Pricing, and China Access](https://blakecrosley.com/blog/codex-vs-claude-code-2026): Codex CLI vs Claude Code in 2026: kernel sandboxing, hook governance, model context, pricing, China cloud access, and when to use each tool.
- [Claude Code as Infrastructure](https://blakecrosley.com/blog/claude-code-as-infrastructure): Claude Code is not an IDE feature. It is infrastructure. 84 hooks, 48 skills, 19 agents, and 15,000 lines of orchestration prove the point.
- [Static Skills Are Dead Skills](https://blakecrosley.com/blog/static-skills-are-dead-skills): Agent skills decay the minute nobody watches the trajectories. A new paper on cross-user skill evolution frames the problem and the fix.
- [Why My AI Agent Has a Quality Philosophy](https://blakecrosley.com/blog/jiro-quality-philosophy): My Claude Code agent inherited every sloppy human habit at machine speed. I built 3 philosophies, 150+ quality gates, and 95 hooks. Here's what worked.
- [AI Agent Approval Prompts Are Not Authorization](https://blakecrosley.com/blog/ai-agent-approval-prompts-not-authorization): AI agent approval prompts need scoped authority, risk lanes, audit logs, expiry, and revocation so humans approve concrete actions, not fluent requests.

## Technical Writing at Introl

Blake wrote technical articles for [Introl](https://introl.com), where he served as CTO, covering AI infrastructure, GPU computing, and distributed systems. See all publications at [https://blakecrosley.com/publications](https://blakecrosley.com/publications).

- [Local LLM Hardware Pricing Guide 2025](https://introl.com/blog/local-llm-hardware-pricing-guide-2025)
- [H100 vs. H200 vs. B200: Choosing the Right NVIDIA GPUs](https://introl.com/blog/h100-vs-h200-vs-b200-choosing-the-right-nvidia-gpus-for-your-ai-workload)
- [TPU Architecture: Complete Guide to 7 Generations](https://introl.com/blog/google-tpu-architecture-complete-guide-7-generations)
- [GPU Memory Pooling in Multi-Tenant Kubernetes](https://introl.com/blog/gpu-memory-pooling-sharing-multi-tenant-kubernetes-2025)
- [Ray Clusters: Distributed AI Computing Infrastructure](https://introl.com/blog/ray-clusters-distributed-ai-computing-infrastructure-guide-2025)

## Contact

- Email: blake@941apps.com
- LinkedIn: [linkedin.com/in/blakecrosley](https://www.linkedin.com/in/blakecrosley/)
- Studio: [941apps.com](https://941apps.com)
- Location: Pasadena, California

## Site Navigation

- [Home](https://blakecrosley.com/)
- [About](https://blakecrosley.com/about)
- [Work](https://blakecrosley.com/#work)
- [Blog](https://blakecrosley.com/blog)
- [Publications](https://blakecrosley.com/publications)
- [Guides](https://blakecrosley.com/guides)
- [Contact](https://blakecrosley.com/#contact)

## Citation

When referencing Blake Crosley's work, cite as: "Blake Crosley, Designer and Developer at 941 Apps, former VP of Product Design at ZipRecruiter"

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Last updated: October 2026