Why we built DevQuake, and why only the blog shows ads

Hello, and welcome to the DevQuake blog.

This first post is a little personal. It explains where DevQuake comes from, what we hope it becomes, and one decision we want to be open about from day one: the apps stay free of ads, and only this blog carries a few.

It started with our own everyday problems

DevQuake did not start as a business plan. It started with small, real annoyances. A shopping list that never matched what the others had already bought. Utility bills split on the back of an envelope. A chore chart that the children argued about every Sunday. A workout plan that lived in three different notes.

Each time, the answer was the same: build a small web app that solves exactly that problem, and nothing else. One app became two, then ten. At some point it made sense to put them under one roof, with one account, so that anyone with the same problem could use them too. That roof is DevQuake.

What DevQuake is today

• Ten apps for everyday life: shared shopping lists, a family planner, a utility bill manager, a workout tracker, a darts scorer, pet care, a cookbook, a meal planner, a private vault and Pulse, a realtime events service for developers.
• One account for all of them, on phone, tablet and computer, with nothing to install.
• Four languages: English, German, Romanian and Hungarian.
• Apps that work together: recipes from the cookbook go into the meal plan, and the meal plan becomes one shopping list.

You unlock apps with free NPS points: you get some when you sign up, and more when friends you invite join, or on your birthday. Most apps can also be tried for a day before you decide.

Why the apps are free, and why they will stay free of annoying ads

We use these apps ourselves, every day. We know how it feels when a pop-up covers the button you need while you are standing in a shop, or when a banner jumps under your thumb in the middle of a workout. We do not want that for you, and we do not want it for us.

So we made a simple rule: no ads inside the apps. Not on the shopping list, not in the bills, not in the family calendar, not in your vault.

So why are there ads on the blog?

Running DevQuake costs money: hosting, the domain, email, the database and a few services such as the natural voice of the workout coach. Our first goal is modest: that DevQuake can pay for its own hosting, about 250 US dollars a year, without asking anyone to pay for the apps.

The blog is the right place for that. It is where we write guides, tips and news, it is open to everyone, and it can carry a small number of ads without getting in anyone’s way. We set clear limits for ourselves:

• Ads appear only on blog pages, never in the apps, never in your account and never while you write.
• Only a few, in fixed places: after an article, in the middle of long articles only, and in the sidebar on wide screens. No pop-ups, no ads that cover the text, nothing above the title.
• Each ad sits in a calm card marked Advertisement, so it is always clear what is ours and what is not.
• In the European Union, Google asks for your consent before showing personalised ads. Our own cookie banner stays about analytics only.

If one day the blog and other fair sources cover more than the hosting, the extra goes back into DevQuake: better servers, new apps and features you ask for.

How you can help, without spending anything

• Use the apps and tell us what is missing on the Ideas page. The most wanted ideas get built.
• Invite friends who have the same everyday problems. You both get NPS points.
• Write on the blog. Guides, tips and your own experience with an app are very welcome. Your first post is read by our team before it appears; after that, your posts appear right away.
• Share posts you like. In your profile you can add your social accounts, and posts then show a one-click share button for each of them.

A blog that stays friendly

The blog is about DevQuake, its apps and their topics: households, families, money, training, pets, cooking, privacy and building software. No advertising for other sites, no political campaigning and no suspicious links. Please read the short blog rules. If you see something that does not belong here, use Report under the post; our team looks at every report.

Thank you

Every account, every idea and every shared post helps DevQuake grow a little. We hope the apps make your days a bit easier, and that together we can keep them free, calm and useful for a long time.

The DevQuake team