I launched a one-file side project on 5 platforms. Here's what each one actually gave me.

On September 25, 2026, I launched DEV·TV, a free, open-source "TV channel" for the developer internet. You open it, leave it running in a tab, and flip between channels: GitHub trending, Hacker News, DEV, Hugging Face, AI papers, CVEs, new AI models, agent skills, and a Spotlight channel for indie projects.

No login. No API keys. No backend. The entire app is a single index.html on GitHub Pages. ⚡

📺 Live: shouvik12.github.io/devtv
⭐ Repo: github.com/shouvik12/devtv (Apache-2.0, stars welcome!)

Building it was the fun part. Getting anyone to see it was the real project. I'm a solo dev doing this on the side, so here's an honest breakdown of every platform I tried and what it gave back.

🏆 Product Hunt: the one that put it on the map

I went in with zero audience and low expectations. DEV·TV finished #5 Product of the Day out of roughly 67 launches.

What I think worked:

• A visual product on a visual platform. A retro TV with channel buttons is easy to get in one screenshot.
• "No login, no setup." Trying it takes one click, which lowers the bar for anyone curious.

That badge is now on the app itself, and it's been the most useful credibility signal I have.

🫥 Show HN: buried

My Show HN sank without a trace. No drama, just gone.

Lesson: HN is a timing-and-luck lottery, and a single post isn't a strategy. I'll try again when there's a meaningful new release to talk about, not just "here's my thing."

📈 LinkedIn: good spike, fast plateau

The first posts brought solid traffic, then it flattened. LinkedIn rewards consistent posting, not one-off launches. If you're not posting regularly, expect a spike and nothing after.

🤝 Peerlist: the people who showed up

On October 9, I posted on Peerlist from a brand-new account with zero followers. No network, no history. In the first hour, the post got 21 upvotes.

That's not a big number, but none of it came from an existing audience. People found the post on their own and decided it was worth backing. For a dev tool, that's exactly the crowd I want.

To everyone who showed up: thank you. 🙌

🚀 Uneed: in progress

Launched there too. I skipped the "listed for acquisition" option. DEV·TV isn't for sale, it's a hobby I want to keep growing.

💡 What I'd tell another solo builder

1. Make it instantly tryable. Removing every step between "curious" and "using it" is the cheapest growth lever you have.
2. Pick platforms where your users already are. Dev-focused communities beat general ones for dev tools.
3. One launch isn't distribution. The posts that worked were part of a sequence, not a single shot.
4. Turn your users into content. The Spotlight channel features other people's projects. It's free for them, and every featured builder has a reason to share DEV·TV. (Shoutout to Astratide, an AI astrology visualizer by Cat, on air at the time of writing.)
5. Know what your metrics can't see. GitHub's repo traffic counts views of the repository and clones, not visits to the live GitHub Pages site. If your app runs on Pages, repo traffic tells you about developer interest in the code, not how many people used the app. You'll need separate analytics for that.

✨ Built something? Get it on TV

If you're an indie builder, I'll feature your project for free. Open DEV·TV, go to Channel 13 (SPOTLIGHT), and use the submission form.

And I'd genuinely love to know: which channel should I add next? Conference talks, changelog streams, live GitHub trending by language? Drop it in the comments 👇