I was a patient at a queer specialty clinic in San Francisco before I was a founder.
For years before XtrkR existed, I went there. I originally had a primary care provider, but the mismatch of being a queer Latino guy paired with a straight white man became quite apparent. He was a good doctor, but I felt like I had to translate everything from queer speak to straight talk. The moment it really landed was when I tried to set up monthly testing. The lady on the other end told me I should stop doing that, and that I was making it more expensive for everyone else. I hung up feeling like I'd done something wrong, like wanting to stay on top of my own health was a burden. None of it felt built for someone like me. So, based on a friend's recommendation, I went over to the Castro.
And there I found the kind of structured sexual-health care where I felt understood. Here, I had multi-site STI screening and PrEP-aware testing rhythms. But more than that, I felt supported and seen. When I couldn't afford PrEP, they worked hard to help me find financial assistance to begin my medication. And they were even there through the scary moments when I was waiting on a test result. It was truly mind-boggling, that someone would spend extra time out of their busy schedule to make sure I was OK. That's the reason that I kept going back to the Castro for years.
More than that, I felt supported and seen.
I don't live in San Francisco anymore, but I still think about how those years shaped my sexual health. The clinical care itself (visits, shots, medicine) is available from many providers. What changed when I moved was the queer-aware framing around it.
There's more than just going to the doctor, getting tested, taking the medication. The piece that doesn't always get captured is keeping track of what comes back, over time, in one place. I tried other apps first; none captured what I needed. XtrkR keeps that record for me, and keeps my continuity intact across whatever clinician I see next. Not a substitute for queer-aware clinical care or any medical care, but there to complement it.
I built XtrkR solo because not every app handles privacy the same way, and I wanted to be sure that my data stays mine and yours stays yours. Just as importantly, I wanted that to be structural: no investors who could push the company to monetize the user base, no team that could quietly relax the policy, and no XtrkR servers holding your records for an acquisition or a subpoena to reach. The same architecture covers me too: there are no XtrkR servers holding records for anyone to demand. I don't have technical access to the health records you keep in the app either, because they are not stored on any server I operate.
The Castro clinic worked hard to find me PrEP financial assistance when I couldn't afford it. That experience shaped a pricing decision in XtrkR: the health tools, like logging a dose, recording a test, and generating a doctor visit summary, stay free for every user. Premium adds the analytics layer on top. The full breakdown is here.
XtrkR is built by one person, for one platform, with no investors, no ads in the app, and no data sales. The full architecture is documented at How XtrkR protects your data, and the privacy policy covers the legal details.
Ed