About Contura

Why I Built This

I'm Liang Dongjing, an indie iOS developer based in China. Contura started from a personal frustration: I could never see what my body actually looked like. Mirrors only show your front. Photos depend on lighting, angle, and who's taking them. I had no objective way to track how my body was changing over time.

I noticed that video games let you customize a character's body shape with sliders — height, weight, muscle, proportions. I wondered: why can't I do that with my own body? So I built it. I needed a tool that could turn my measurements into a 3D model I could rotate and examine from every angle, compare over time, and project into the future. That tool became Contura.

I am Contura's first user. Every feature starts with a problem I personally have.

One Person, One App

Contura is built entirely by me — the 3D parametric engine, the SwiftUI interface, the AI prediction system, the health metrics, the website you're reading right now. I'm a solo developer, not a startup with venture funding. This means:

• Every design decision goes through one person who cares deeply about getting it right.
• No growth hacks, no dark patterns, no engagement metrics to optimize for investors.
• Your data stays on your device because I don't have — and don't want — servers to store it on.
• Bug fixes and features ship fast because there's no committee.

Why Privacy Is the Default, Not a Feature

I chose to make Contura measurement-based instead of photo-based for a simple reason: I wouldn't want to upload photos of my own body to a stranger's server. So I don't ask you to either. Your measurements are numbers. They don't reveal your face, your surroundings, or anything beyond the metrics you choose to track.

Contura doesn't require an account because I don't need to know who you are to provide a good tool. iCloud sync uses your Apple account, not mine.

Development Journey

Contura launched in July 2025 as a simple measurement tracker. Within 8 months, it grew to 100 paying users — enough signal that the problem was real and the solution was valued. In February 2026, I shipped version 2.0 with the full 3D body model, comparison tools, and AI prediction engine. The app now has over 1,000 monthly active users with steady 25–45% day-7 retention.

Every update is driven by user feedback and my own experience as the app's most frequent user. I ship updates regularly — sometimes weekly — because when you find a bug in something you use every day, you fix it immediately.

Connect

• Personal website — my other apps and photography
• GitHub
• X (Twitter)
• Discord — join the community
• Email — for questions, feedback, or just to say hi