01 SMALLER BY DESIGN
Matters is designed to feel instant and stay tiny: on your phone, across the network, and on the servers behind it. Our goal is simple: make Matters as small as an app can possibly be.
No photo or video uploads means less storage, less transfer, and less processing every time you share or catch up.
Short text updates and change-based syncing keep routine refreshes small instead of downloading an entire social world again.
A few minutes to read, an emoji to show you care. Conversations continue in your messenger; Matters does not try to keep you here.
We are aiming for the smallest possible app. Our current compressed iOS test package is 14.4 MB—about 34× smaller than Facebook, 42× smaller than Instagram and 64× smaller than TikTok. Test builds and store downloads are not perfectly equivalent; figures checked September 2026.
02 TWO MINUTES · ILLUSTRATIVE ESTIMATES
The same two minutes, the same network assumptions. Data, electricity and CO₂e below are estimates for data transfer only.
Matters reference · 1×
≈27–53× as much data as Matters
≈40–80× as much data as Matters
≈67–120× as much data as Matters
Ratios compare with the unmeasured Matters target. The same ratio applies to network energy and CO₂e, using an illustrative 400 g CO₂e/kWh for every app.
Matters: a design target of 0.25 MB for a two-minute text catch-up. This is an assumption awaiting measurement, including verification of total network traffic.
Other apps: Roamless’s standard-use estimates of 200–400 MB/hour for Facebook, 300–600 for Instagram and 500–900 for TikTok, divided by 30. These are planning ranges, not independent app tests or guaranteed limits.
Network electricity = data in GB × 0.12 kWh/GB (Traficom, Finnish networks, 2021). CO₂e = that electricity × an illustrative 400 g CO₂e/kWh. This carbon factor is a shared scenario assumption, not a measured electricity mix for these services.
All figures use the same network-only boundary. They exclude the phone, servers, manufacturing and app installation. Network energy is allocated per GB, not a prediction of electricity saved by each avoided download. Content, caching, settings and the electricity supply change real results. Multipliers compare with the Matters target; they do not establish a total app carbon advantage.
03 WHAT’S THE CATCH?
Matters is free during the beta. If it becomes a paid service, the goal is a simple, accessible annual subscription that keeps the app independent.
The people using Matters should be the customers—not an audience sold to advertisers.
No photo or video hosting and careful infrastructure help keep both the running costs and the price low.
A small annual payment would fund the app, its maintenance, and continued privacy work.
THE PRICE AND TERMS WILL BE ANNOUNCED BEFORE ANY PAID LAUNCH.