Conversations, my federated instant messaging client for Android, started as an open-source project in January 2014 in my student dormitory. I began dogfooding it immediately and released it publicly on March 24, 2014—exactly twelve and a half years ago today—with the goal of turning it into a business. Over the decade, it became my primary source of income, initially through paid development for companies wanting custom or mainline features, server setup, consulting, and later grants.

A steady income stream has always been Play Store revenue, which I said paid my rent. However, my relationship with Google has deteriorated: app updates are frequently rejected for unclear reasons, Conversations has been removed twice from the Play Store, and review times have worsened, with one update pending for 14 days. Google takes a 15% cut on sales, amounting to over 1000 Euro annually—more than my internet or notebook costs.

When Google fails, there is no recourse. This imbalance led to the decision to make Conversations free, ending reliance on Play Store revenue despite its importance.