Communify was a React Native mobile application developed by Jan Wilmake between 2017 and 2019, designed to help members of co-working spaces discover, connect with, and engage their communities. The project represented Wilmake's first serious attempt to build a venture-scale mobile product and coincided with his digital nomad period.[1]
The concept arose in 2017 during Wilmake's attendance at the DNX conference in Lisbon, Portugal — a gathering for digital nomads and location-independent professionals.[1] Observing the fragmented nature of co-working community tools, he set out to build a unified mobile platform for co-working space operators and their members.
The project was developed while Wilmake was spending extended periods at co-working spaces across Europe and Southeast Asia, giving him direct access to the target user base.
The choice of React Native and GraphQL reflected the emerging best practices of 2017–2018 and established these technologies as the foundation of Wilmake's subsequent mobile development career.[2]
| Period | Location | Activity |
|---|---|---|
| Mid-2017 | Lisbon, Portugal | Concept at DNX conference |
| Late 2017 | Tarifa, Spain | Initial development; EAT CODE KITE REPEAT community |
| Jan–Apr 2018 | Canggu, Bali | Heavy development at Dojo co-working; pitching to operators |
| 2018–2019 | Amsterdam | Continued alongside MYPO and DYME freelance work |
The Bali phase (January–April 2018) was the most intensive development period: Wilmake worked from the Dojo co-working space in Canggu, simultaneously developing the app and attempting to sign co-working space operators as early customers.[1]
Communify did not achieve commercial traction. The project was suspended in 2019 following Wilmake's return to the Netherlands. The technical learnings — particularly in React Native architecture and GraphQL API design — were directly applied in subsequent commercial freelance work.