I spend a lot of time on GitHub. Not so much making things, because I'm a duffer when it comes to coding. But I love poking around and finding interesting open-source software that those much cleverer than I have made.
I like open-source software so much because it always feels like it was made by people who actually care about what they're making and the people using it. GitHub, of course nowadays owned by Microsoft, is a great place to find it. But it can be a bit overwhelming when there's so much.
I've recently stumbled across an Android and Windows app called GitHub Store which makes discoverability much better. It turns GitHub into a sort of app store on your smartphone, and I can already tell it's going to occupy a lot of my time.
GitHub Store is a simple idea that makes so much sense on mobile
For as much time as I spend on GitHub I rarely use the official mobile app. It's not that it's bad, more that most of what I'm looking at is more relevant to Windows and Linux desktops.
Having found GitHub Store (which, as you'd expect, is available on GitHub) I can already see that I'm going to be finding much more for my Android phone.
It's laid out exactly as you'd expect any app store to be. The front page has tabs for trending projects, hot releases, and most popular to get you started. You don't have to log in with your GitHub account, but you'll be rate limited unless you do.
But for mobile apps made available on GitHub, this app is superb. You can search by platform, so if you're looking for something on Windows, you can still do that, but you can also exclude desktop and just look for mobile-compatible repos.
Otherwise, you can download and install the apps just the same as you would from any other source on Android, with additional options.
Downloading from GitHub directly means you don't get auto-updates as you would on the Play Store, but you can go from GitHub Store to another app called Obtainium, which will help you get those updates direct from the source.
The only real issue I see right now is Google's impending clampdown on apps being installed on verified Android devices from developers that haven't signed up to its official program. I'm not here to debate that, though for what it's worth, I think it's utterly stupid.
Bonus feature: There's a Windows version, too.
While my own primary enjoyment of GitHub Store so far has been on my phone, there is a version of it for Windows, too.
It's the same exact principle, except by default it'll show you desktop-friendly projects in its category tabs rather than mobile ones.
But the added discoverability you get over the GitHub website, I won't lie, is a big plus. I could see this becoming part of my daily rotation as I poke around looking for the next great piece of software I didn't know I needed.
It's a nice-looking app, too, on both mobile and desktop. I like the default font, but you can make it use your system font if you wish. And there are some basic theming features to make it look a little more how you want it to.
Ultimately, GitHub both is and isn't an app store. It's much more than that, but it's a phenomenal source of software. The thing you didn't know you needed is probably lying among its millions of repos, somewhere.
GitHub Store merely gives the platform a more user-friendly front end when you're not interested in hosting your own projects. And I'm definitely here for it. Grab it for yourself from its GitHub repo now.
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