signalReddit r/SideProject2026-09-18
My self-hosted gym tracker just passed 900 stars, 9 weeks after the first commit. Here's what I'd tell myself on day one.
openGym, an open-source (AGPL) self-hosted gym/body-weight tracker run via Docker or a standalone Android APK with no account, reached 900 stars, 30 contributors, ~120 merged PRs, 30 releases, 14 languages, and 1,200 Discord members within 9 weeks of its July start. Key lessons: ship an in-browser demo with example data before polishing the README (users decide in 30 seconds), merge early contributor PRs fast to build momentum, rely on real-device bug reports (sync overwrites, Android hangs, iOS timer issues), and keep the optional AI coach off by default using user-provided keys or local models. Remaining work includes F-Droid packaging, a native iOS build, and OIDC login.
- topic
- OPC / AI Monetization
- source
- Reddit r/SideProject
score
score 6 out of 10. 0-10: how dense the facts are, multiplied by how much you can do with them after reading. 8+ means the topic's evidence bar is met: benchmarks and availability for a new model, amount and investors for a funding round, revenue figures for a solo-money story. Below 5 an item does not enter the digest. A press release scores 3 or less, a reprint loses 2, anything older than 14 days loses 1, a headline that misleads loses 3.
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