I will no longer be working on Mlem.
I started it a year and a half ago when I needed to take my mind off pain from surgery. And I always intended it to be a personal protect that would help me relax.
With the current development of the app, I no longer find being a part of the project relaxing or fun.
I’m not doing any coding anymore, since it’s all done by much more talented and experienced people. If I tried to contribute to my app now, as an outsider, I would be rejected. I’m also not doing much project management. I feel like I don’t have much voice in the development anymore.
I’m also getting backlash for trying to make the app accessible to the average person as opposed to just tech nerds, and it’s not worth the stress. This is happening mostly in my DMs (the other developers are not doing this, so please don’t go after them. They are very nice and would never do this), since some elements of this and Mastodon community don’t have the balls to face me in public.
These are just some of the many reasons I found working on the app for the last few weeks frustrating. Ever since the app exploded in popularity and the community grew, I can say that even thinking about working on Mlem made me instantly angry, annoyed and just overall pissed off.
It’s just not worth it anymore.
The current TestFlight version will keep working for two more days, after which I will erase the app from the App Store. Until then, someone from the team will have given you a new link. I have also transferred the app’s source code to a new owner.
I have released a new version just before posting this, and it’s the last version I have any influence on. The community will continue working on the app.
I will focus on my other apps, which will hopefully not become like Mlem.
Enjoy life, and don’t try to contact me.
Thanks for everything you’ve done. All the best
Sincerely, thank you.
Mlem has been great for me. I really appreciate the work you have done. I think Mlem was pretty clutch in helping me move from reddit and get cozy over here. I hope you are proud. Best of everything to you on your next endeavors!!!
Thank you so much for Mlem! As a developer myself, I was blown away by how good mlem was for version 0.0.1. I would hope that in the spirit of federated communities and open source software that people would be understanding of the time constraints and challenges of working on a personal project for the benefit of everyone. I’m truly saddened that a small minority of selfish users soured an otherwise great start to a sorely needed app. I am looking forward to your future projects and hope that this and other thank you messages show how much we appreciate you and what you selflessly gave to us.
Your words are exactly why Notch, the creator of Minecraft sold Minecraft, and stopped all of his ongoing projects.
Also the reason Eric, developer of Stardew Valley, said his new game Haunted Chocolatier isn’t coming to mobile, because the mobile community is so insanely toxic and entitled.
People suck.
Mobile in particular? Hmm. Are there perhaps relatively few children on PC? Is that why?
Yea, the mobile community sends him death threats because the updates take longer to come out on mobile. He’s been so beaten down by it, that he decided to not release Haunted Chocolatier on mobile.
Pretty much everyone has a phone, so I’d assume it’s mostly children who don’t understand development and think he just needs to push a button to release it to all platforms at once.
