>... my wife's sourdough starter living on the counter and getting fed when she remembers. The app reminds her; she ignores the app; the starter survives anyway because sourdough is remarkably forgiving.
That's so great about sourdough starter, you don't have to babysit it at all. We'll, that is, once I figured out that I should ignore the "hydration hydration hydration" and "add blah percentage water and 1.618034 grams of flour" advice. Instead, I just add lots (yes, that's a measure, like pinch and scoop) of fresh flour to my starter and just add water until it's a gooey sticky mess. Leave it alone and it'll do its thing.
tip: take a kitchen brush and "paint it" thick (have to stick your tongue out as far as you can when you say the ˈθ sound, i do not make the rules) on parchment paper. put it in oven, and turn on the oven light. Wait till it dries. Collect the dry flakes and store in dark, airtight jar. Keeps 'forever'-ish. Take it anywhere, and to re-awaken, just rehydrate and feed. 2-3 days and baaam! you got your progenitor starter's baby in a jar.
This is also a typical approach from the chefs I know: they don't care about precision in most recipes (eg. dishes like soups, or pasta, or salads...), but then sometimes there are dishes where precision is absolutely crucial, and baking is one place where precision is really important.
With sourdough, if you don't measure, you may still get good results, but you will have to babysit the dough and try to figure out when it's ready by checking frequently. Some people can afford it time-wise, and to some this would be prohibitively inconvenient.
That's so great about sourdough starter, you don't have to babysit it at all. We'll, that is, once I figured out that I should ignore the "hydration hydration hydration" and "add blah percentage water and 1.618034 grams of flour" advice. Instead, I just add lots (yes, that's a measure, like pinch and scoop) of fresh flour to my starter and just add water until it's a gooey sticky mess. Leave it alone and it'll do its thing.