The latest articles on DEV Community by iQiosk (@iqiosk). https://dev.to/iqiosk https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F4227039%2F23c51182-e577-4ae2-80e3-f4d1ae2127ab.png https://dev.to/iqiosk en iQiosk Thu, 05 Nov 2026 00:59:07 +0000 https://dev.to/iqiosk/i-built-a-news-extension-that-shows-you-less-on-purpose-5cof https://dev.to/iqiosk/i-built-a-news-extension-that-shows-you-less-on-purpose-5cof <p>Most news products compete on how much they can show you. I built iQiosk to compete on how little.</p> <p>It's a free Chrome extension that turns the news into a short list: every story as a short headline plus a one-sentence summary, one click from the toolbar. That's the whole product. Here's what I cut to get there, and why.</p> <h2> Cut 1: Images </h2> <p>News images are chosen to make you feel something, not to inform you. They also make a feed heavy and slow to scan. iQiosk has no images at all. A story has to earn your click with its headline and one honest sentence.</p> <h2> Cut 2: The infinite feed </h2> <p>The feed refreshes on a cycle and only keeps the last 24 hours of stories. When you've seen the list, you've seen the list — there is no "load more" and no algorithm deciding you should keep scrolling. It's built for people who check the news in the gaps of their day: legible in seconds, dismissable in one click.</p> <h2> Cut 3: Breaking-news noise </h2> <p>No push alerts, no red banners, no live blogs. A small signal tells you when new stories are ready; you look when you choose to.</p> <h2> What stayed </h2> <ul> <li>12 topics to pick from on the free tier, no account, no card</li> <li>Three ways to read the same feed: a toolbar popup, a side panel docked next to your work, or a full page</li> <li>4 themes and adjustable density, including a compact table view</li> <li>Your choice of sources, plus search and saved stories</li> <li>A privacy stance that is a feature, not a policy page: no ad trackers, it never reads your browsing history, and it never sells data</li> </ul> <h2> The one Pro idea: a sentence instead of settings </h2> <p>Pro replaces the topic picker with a prompt. You describe what you follow in your own words — my favourite example is "AI regulation in the EU, no opinion pieces" — and a digest arrives daily at the time you choose, in your language (7 supported, including right-to-left layouts). Plus boost/mute keywords and sync across Chrome.</p> <h2> The unglamorous part: selling it as a solo builder </h2> <p>I'm bootstrapped — no investors. My previous project taught me that tax and compliance for a tiny product can become a second job, so payments run through Paddle as merchant of record: they handle sales tax and VAT, and I handle the product. Pro is $19.90/year or $2.99/month, and the first 100 monthly users get their first 3 months for $1 in total while I learn what people actually want from it.</p> <p>iQiosk is live and free: <a href="https://qlarkstudio.com/iqiosk/" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://qlarkstudio.com/iqiosk/</a></p> <p>If you check the news ten times a day and hate that you do — I'd genuinely like to know what you'd cut next.</p> ai buildinpublic chrome productivity