Episode Description
In this episode of On Rails, Nadia Odunayo, founder and solo developer of The StoryGraph, joins us to share what it really takes to build and maintain a Rails application used by over four million readers across web and mobile.
We discuss lessons from launching a PWA, shifting to Turbo Native for cross-platform support, and navigating challenges like in-app purchases and data syncing between systems. Nadia also talks about the bold decision to move from Heroku to YugabyteDB to support growing workloads, and why she decided against hiring a team to manage it.
We also explore what it means to remain a solo developer by choice, the value of the Rails community, and why Ruby on Rails continues to be the framework that powers her entire business.
Platforms & Distribution
- The StoryGraph – Nadia’s solo-built reading and book tracking platform
- Apple App Store – The StoryGraph
- Google Play Store – StoryGraph
- Progressive Web Apps (MDN) – Alternative mobile delivery method initially explored
Tools, Libraries & Services
- Ruby on Rails – The primary framework powering The StoryGraph
- Turbo / Hotwire Native – Used to support mobile apps with shared Rails backend
- Devise (GitHub) – Authentication library for Rails
- Sidekiq – Background job processor
- Makara (GitHub) – Database proxy for master/replica load splitting
- Heroku – Former hosting platform for The StoryGraph
- YugabyteDB – Postgres-compatible distributed database chosen for scaling
- CTEs (Common Table Expressions) – Used for optimizing queries across distributed data
- Linear – Project management tool currently used by Nadia
Books
- Ruby Under a Microscope by Pat Shaughnessy – A deep dive into Ruby internals
On Rails is a podcast focused on real-world technical decision-making, exploring how teams are scaling, architecting, and solving complex challenges with Rails.
On Rails is brought to you by The Rails Foundation, and hosted by Robby Russell of Planet Argon, a consultancy that helps teams modernize their Ruby on Rails applications.