I built GitHub Store to 12,500 stars in 6 months – I started at 16

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A 16-year-old in Uzbekistan turned Play Store friction into GitHub Store, a cross-platform release browser that reached 12,500+ stars, 250,000+ updates served, and 13 languages in six months.

What Matters

  • The trigger was Play Console friction: $25 fee, government ID, address verification, 20 closed testers, and a 2-week minimum closed test.
  • GitHub Store sits on top of GitHub Releases, using the public API to find APKs and desktop installers, then tap-to-install on Android.
  • The first MVP shipped in one week with Kotlin Multiplatform, Compose Multiplatform, and Ktor; no Cursor, Copilot, or Claude Code.
  • Early growth came from LinkedIn, Kotlin Slack, and a HowToMen video; the first star landed November 30, then 100 by December 15.
  • The hardest phase was 2,000-3,000 stars, when user feedback, bug reports, and maintainer stories mattered more than vanity metrics.
  • Product decisions follow the user base: open backend, no telemetry, donations rails, in-app changelog, announcements feed, diagnostics preview, and Discord.
  • Distribution is treated as product work: F-Droid, Obtainium import/export, Scoop, Winget, and IzzyOnDroid are all supported channels.

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