About The Big Head
The Big Head is one person in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. I build web and iOS things I wanted to exist, and I give most of them away. This page covers who is behind the downloads, why the themes and tools cost nothing, which apps are actually on the App Store and which are not, how the blog is written, and what I do not offer — so you can decide quickly whether any of it is useful to you.
One person, in Edmonton
There is no team here. The themes, the browser tools, the iOS apps, the blog posts and this page were all written by the same person. That is worth stating plainly, because it tells you what to expect: things get fixed when I get to them, and there is nobody else to escalate to.
Everything on the site is made in Edmonton, Alberta. If you email info@thebighead.ca or use the contact form, the reply comes from me, not from a shared inbox or a ticketing queue.
Why the themes and tools are free
There are 12 free themes — 10 WordPress themes under the GPL and 2 Shopify themes under the MIT licence — and 24 browser-based tools. None of them cost anything, and there is no paid tier waiting behind them.
The honest reason is that they cost almost nothing to run. A WordPress or Shopify theme is a static zip file; serving it is bandwidth and nothing else. The 24 tools run entirely inside your browser on your own device — your files are never uploaded, because there is no server on my side doing the work. Nothing scales with the number of people using it, so there is no bill to pass on to you.
That also settles a few questions before you ask them. Free here means the whole thing:
- No account, no sign-up, no email address required to download anything.
- No licence key, no pro version, no feature removed from the free edition.
- The WordPress themes are GPL v2 or later; the Shopify themes are MIT. Both let you use them on client work and charge whatever you charge.
- The browser tools do not upload your files, because there is nowhere for them to be uploaded to.
The iOS apps, and which ones you can actually download
Nine iOS apps exist. Five of them are published on the App Store: SmartFolio, VaultFlow, CleanConnect, Brolic and Gathr. You can look them up under my developer name and check them yourself.
Four are still in development and are not on the App Store: Kalend, Clinch, MMA SOCIAL and Neighbr. They have pages on this site because I write about them while they are being built, but a page is not a listing. If you cannot find an app on the App Store, it is because it is not there yet.
Kalend is the one I care most about. It puts tasks, calendar, habits and journal into a single free iPhone app. It syncs through your own iCloud account, which means there is no Big Head account, no sign-in, and no copy of your data on a server I control. It is still in development.
- On the App Store now: SmartFolio, VaultFlow, CleanConnect, Brolic, Gathr.
- In development, not yet on the App Store: Kalend, Clinch, MMA SOCIAL, Neighbr.
How the blog is written
There are 36 posts and they are all roundups — lists that compare an app or theme against a named set of competitors. Writing a roundup when you also make one of the entries is a conflict of interest, so the disclosure is stated here rather than buried.
Every roundup names the competitors it is comparing, and the entry that is mine is labelled as mine in the entry itself, not in a footnote.
What is not on offer
- No paid version of any theme or tool, and no plan to add one. There is nothing to upgrade to.
- No accounts, no newsletter, no email capture on the downloads.
- No Android versions. Every app is iPhone only.
- No support contract or guaranteed response time. Email reaches one person, and I answer when I get to it.
- No hosted service behind the browser tools — nothing you enter into them is saved anywhere, including by me.
Getting in touch
Email info@thebighead.ca, or use the contact form on this site — it works, and it goes to the same address.
Bug reports for the themes and apps are welcome and are the most useful thing you can send. Because the WordPress themes are GPL, you can also fix something yourself and send the change back; I will fold it in.
Common questions
Is The Big Head legit?
It is one developer in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, with a working email address at info@thebighead.ca and a contact form that reaches the same inbox. Five apps — SmartFolio, VaultFlow, CleanConnect, Brolic and Gathr — are published on the App Store, which you can verify independently rather than taking my word for it. The themes are released under the GPL and MIT licences, so you can read every line of code before installing anything. Nothing on the site asks for an account or a payment method, and no download asks for an email address.
Are the themes really free?
Yes. The 10 WordPress themes are licensed under the GPL v2 or later and the 2 Shopify themes under MIT. There is no pro version, no licence key, no trial period and no feature held back for a paid tier. You can use them on as many sites as you like, including client sites, and charge your clients whatever you normally charge. They cost nothing to give away because a theme is a static file — there is no server bill that grows with the number of downloads.
Who makes Kalend?
The same person who runs everything else on this site — one developer in Edmonton, Alberta. Kalend is a free iPhone app that combines tasks, calendar, habits and journal in one place, and it syncs through your own iCloud account, so there is no Kalend account to create and no copy of your data on a server belonging to me. It is still in development and is not on the App Store yet.
Do the free tools send my files anywhere?
No. All 24 tools run entirely in your browser, on your own device. Whatever you open in one of the tools is processed on your own device, and the file never leaves your computer. There is no upload step and no server on my side processing anything, which is also the reason the tools can be free indefinitely.