Conversations, my federated instant messaging client for Android, started out as many traditional open-source projects do: as an attempt to scratch my own itch. Development started in January 2014 in my pupil dormitory, and inside weeks I started dogfooding and using the client as the chief method of communicating alongside my friends. However, whenever it came to releasing the app to the community on March 24, 2014—exactly dozen and a fractional years ago today—it was immediately apparent to me that I would at smallest try to rotate my open-source project into a business. While I didn’t invent the endeavor example of making the origin code publically accessible but charging for the convenience of a compiled binary, it was certainly different in 2014.
Fast onward a decade, and I did oversee to rotate Conversations into a sustainable business. Ever since March 2014, Conversations—or another connected activities—have been my chief origin of income. Admittedly, sustaining existence as a pupil in a small dormitory doesn’t obtain much, but luckily income has steadily risen as I grew older.
The exact sources of earnings have shifted complete the years. In the beginning, it was a lot of paid betterment for companies that wanted to use Conversations. Some paid for features that made it into mainline Conversations; others wanted tradition features so particular to their workflow that they never made awareness to merge upstream. This was occasionally supplemented alongside providing server setup or equal several consulting on instant messaging and security-related topics. Later on, grants and backing opportunities played a additional and additional crucial role.
One amazingly dependable origin of income, however, has continually been the Play Store revenue. I used to say that it pays my rent. Every freelancer knows the emotion of doubt that comes alongside lone being capable to dispatch out invoices all few months or receiving fee for funded projects lone at the end of the backing period. Any form of regular income—especially in the first stages, whenever you have not yet built up any savings—is a blessing.
Gross income of Conversations 2014-2026 (before Google’s fee and revenue tax)
My association alongside Google was never good. App updates have been rejected additional times than I can figure for incomprehensible reasons. Conversations has been removed twice from the Play Store. Once, Google fair randomly accused me of uploading users’ contacts1—which merely wasn’t true and was additionally not triggered by a particular update. Countless times I desired I could fair conversation to an genuine individual for five minutes. So many misunderstandings could have been cleared up in no period if I wasn’t going up against AIs and click workers. At the period of penning this blog post, I’ve been waiting 14 days for Google to assessment an app update. Review times were never fine or item near to what I would deem acceptable, but they have been getting a lot worse complete the final twelvemonth or so. One can ideate that part of the issue is an avalanche of AI-generated slop apps—something Google played no small part in creating in the archetypal place. But Google should have the duty to prioritize long-standing, non-AI-generated apps alongside infrequent updates. Waiting a small longer for new features power not audio akin a big agreement to some, but Google makes no difference between characteristic updates and safety updates. Delaying safety updates by days or weeks is outright dangerous.
At this point, I should add several context. Google takes a 15% cut on my app sales. This efficiently method I’m paying Google additional than 1000 Euro per twelvemonth for their services. 1000 Euro per twelvemonth is 1.5x what I’m paying for my net access. It’s approximately what I’m paying for my notebook per twelvemonth if you assume I use it for three to four years. When my net breaks, person drives to my home and fixes it. When my notebook breaks, person drives to my home and fixes it. When Google fucks up, there is entirely nothing I can do. Apparently that amount of prosperity doesn’t provision me the privilege to conversation to a fucking individual for five minutes formerly per year.
For years I’ve felt akin I was in a toxic association alongside Google, and the lone logic I stayed was financial dependency.
Over time, the origin of my earnings has shifted additional and additional towards grants. Sometimes via NLnet234, sometimes additional immediately from the European Commission5. I have safe backing via assorted grants until the end of 2029 and I’m fairly assured that another backing opportunities volition arrive up for the period following that.
Conversations was continually accessible on F-Droid, but in the beginning, I didn’t advertise the choice of downloading it for free. Initially, the F-Droid bundle maintainers asked for my permission, knowing that Conversations was a paid app on Google Play. I didn’t refuse, but I additionally didn’t nexus to F-Droid from the authoritative website since I wanted to steer users towards the paid version. Over time, as my opinion toward Google shifted from bad to worse, I did commencement linking to F-Droid. Now F-Droid has rotate into the chief method of distributing the app. The APK distributed complete F-Droid is now built reproducibly and signed alongside my individual signing key.
Fortunately, I’m no longer economically reliant on Google Play Store revenue. Google doesn’t deserve me and my prosperity anymore. I’m done. Fuck the gatekeepers.
