# An "iOS version of DroidDeck": 348 stars in 13 days, won by being in the right place · GitHub open-source project

> Source: https://stringers.io/en/github/gh_kuscholar__iDeck.html (Stringers / 什么值得做, generated 2026-11-08)
> Stringers answers one question every day: what small product can one or two people build in a few months and actually make money from. Numbers come from 15 databases we collect daily, each with source and date.
> For agents: these verdicts and the underlying databases (verified revenue, App Store / Google Play charts, ad libraries, GitHub, Product Hunt…) are queryable live over MCP — tools today / hot / products / directions / direction / data. Setup: https://github.com/komako-workshop/stringers (the user logs in at stringers.io → "配置 agent" to get a personal URL). Site index: https://stringers.io/llms.txt

> The Android DroidDeck blew up, iPhone users wanted it but there wasn't one; iDeck used a matching name and tagline to call itself the "iOS version," and the author personally posted in DroidDeck's discussions and on Reddit to catch that demand.

[GitHub open-source project](https://stringers.io/en/github/index.md) · written 11-6

kuscholar/iDeck · kuscholar

# An "iOS version of DroidDeck": 348 stars in 13 days, won by being in the right place

**What it is** An iOS app you sideload yourself. Using the open-source project Madeira, it runs Valve's original Windows Steam Big Picture mode and some PC games locally on an iPhone, no streaming required.

**Why it took off** The Android app DroidDeck blew up and iPhone users wanted the same thing but had nothing. iDeck claimed the "iOS version" slot with a matching name and tagline, and the author went into DroidDeck's discussion forum and Reddit to catch that demand.

**C** **How you could copy it** Don't build another iPhone Steam project. Learn the play: watch open-source projects that take off on one platform, be the first to build the counterpart for another platform, pair it with a working screen recording, and launch the same day in the original project's discussion forum and the relevant subreddit.

Grade C: the "counterpart to X on another platform" play is worth studying, but this specific direction already has five or six Madeira derivatives and the heat is fading (daily stars dropped from 98 to 9). The foundation and the sideloading barrier aren't in a follower's hands, so copying it won't earn many stars. Spreading in small circles

Data (updated daily) · Repo created 2026-10-24 · 360 stars · 7 days +80

GitHub · stars

Data 2026-10-26 → 2026-11-08 (14 days, 14 observations). Points before 10-28 come from deeply / archive backfill, not every day has one

In late October 2026, DroidDeck was hot on Android while iPhone users could only watch. A developer named Kusch Qin got real Windows Steam running on an iPhone, named it iDeck, and personally went to DroidDeck's forum to say: iPhone users, come check out the iOS version. 13 days later, 348 stars. Below: what it actually is, where the stars came from, why it's already declining, and how you could use this approach.

### A 1.5x speed screen recording

2026 Oct 24 night (UTC), a repo called kuscholar/iDeck appeared on GitHub. The README's first screen is a landscape screen recording, with small print underneath: "1.5x speed, experimental build": tap the iDeck icon on the iPhone home screen, log in to Steam, complete Steam Guard verification, browse the game library, turn the phone sideways. The screen shows the loading screen of 2013's "Tomb Raider", with a full set of Xbox-style virtual buttons floating on both sides.

The next morning, the author published a long post on dev.to. The first line:

> My Steam backlog has plenty of games. My pocket has an iPhone.

(I have a pile of unplayed games in my Steam library, and an iPhone in my pocket.)

On the same day, he posted in the DroidDeck repo's Discussions (Show and tell, #1536) with the title "iPhone version of DroidDeck" and the body "iPhone users please check out the iOS version of DroidDeck - iDeck". That evening, Taiwanese tech site kocpc published a story titled "iPhone becomes a Steam Deck!", almost frame by frame from that screen recording.

### What it actually is

In one line: an iOS app you have to sideload with your own signing, running Valve's real Windows Steam client on the iPhone locally in Big Picture (big-screen controller) mode. No streaming, no PC needed.

The heavy lifting is done by something else. What lets an iPhone run Windows programs is Will Faust's open-source project Madeira: Wine provides the Windows environment, FEX-Emu translates x86 instructions to ARM on the fly, and DXMT renders Direct3D onto Metal. Madeira got a round of coverage from Notebookcheck, iThinkDiff and others in September, and now has 3,078 stars. iDeck's work is getting Valve's stock Steam Big Picture running on top of Madeira, fixing compatibility bugs, and turning the install into a four-step guide. The README openly says the project was "AI-assisted".

Its limits are stated plainly too: it needs iOS 26 or later, you sign and sideload it with an Apple ID, and it needs JIT enabled (so it will never be on the App Store). It has only been tested on one iPhone 15 Pro Max, with iPad "not yet verified". The latest notes also warn that "Steam may freeze after you quit the third game".

### Where the stars came from

| Date | star | What happened that day |
|---|---|---|
| 10-24 | 0 | Repo created |
| 10-25 | — | Long dev.to post; self-promotion in DroidDeck Discussions; kocpc coverage; first alpha released |
| 10-26 | 43 |  |
| 10-27 | 100 |  |
| 10-28 | 198 | +98 in a single day, the peak day; in the same period a Reddit r/EmulationOniOS thread "iOS version of Droiddeck … built on Madeira" got 206 upvotes and 49 comments (post date unverified) |
| 10-31 | 257 | Retweeted by Chinese developer megaaccount @jaywcjlove on X |
| 11-01 | 280 | X post by @Techjunkie_Aman introducing it (he also wrote about Madeira in September and October) |
| 11-06 | 348 | +9 that day |

The numbers are GitHub's daily star counts. The six alpha builds have been downloaded about 4,500 times in total (GitHub Releases, 11-06), with the most downloads, 1,774, on the 10-29 build. Each release has several files, so fewer phones actually installed it and fewer still got it running (inference). 13 forks are all empty, with no one continuing the work on top of it.

The traffic path is clear, and every step was one the author took himself:

1. **Name and slogan mirror the original.** iDeck mirrors DroidDeck; the earliest repo description was "brings the SteamOS experience to iOS", which differs from DroidDeck's "…to Android" by one word. It now reads "Steam Big Picture experience", plus a line saying "not the official iOS version of DroidDeck". The name had already done its job.

2. **Standing at the upstream's doorstep.** DroidDeck had 14k to 18k stars back then, gaining hundreds to thousands a day. Its website and wiki had a page answering "Is there an iOS version?" The answer was no. iDeck's post sat in the discussion board that these people check every day.

3. **Posting in the right subreddit.** r/EmulationOniOS is where iPhone emulator and sideload players hang out, and the thread title literally says "iOS version of DroidDeck".

4. **One screen recording was enough for media to write a story.** kocpc had covered Madeira before, so there was a ready-made coverage chain; questreviewcenter then rewrote kocpc's story.

No major English or US tech outlet covered it. Hacker News had nothing, and searching TikTok turns up no videos about iDeck specifically; the viral videos are all about DroidDeck. It spread within a small circle.

### Why now: two waves of heat collided

- **DroidDeck turned "your phone as a Steam Deck" into a month-long hit.** Open-sourced in Sep 24, growing 300 to 1,500 stars a day through October, now at 18,059 stars. Covered by Tom's Guide, with hundreds of thousands of views on TikTok. Android users are playing it, iPhone users are asking for it.

- **Madeira had just proven iPhones can run Windows games.** The foundation was off the shelf, open-source, and thoroughly covered by the media.

- **iDeck was the first to step up and say "I'm the iOS version."** Built in Oct 24, right when both waves of hype were at their peak.

Its one real technical difference from the other Madeira derivatives is that it runs Valve's own Steam client instead of rebuilding a launcher UI. Accounts, Steam Guard, and game licensing all go through Valve's own flow. That makes the "Steam Deck experience" claim credible, but it isn't what made it take off. BCD, another Madeira derivative from the same period (a self-built launcher with Steam and GOG built in), started its repo in Oct 19, didn't ride any famous name, and still got 487 stars, more than iDeck. Most of the traffic came from the big topic of "running PC games locally on iPhone," and iDeck grabbed a bigger slice by having an easy-to-remember identity.

### Who is competing for the same crowd

| Project | Platform | Launched | star | How it differs from iDeck |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Madeira | iOS | Created in March, took off in September | 3,078 | iDeck's foundation, with its own game library and Steam downloads |
| DroidDeck | Android | 9-24 | 18,059 | The Android original of the same idea, unrelated to iDeck |
| BCD | iOS | 10-19 | 487 | Self-built launcher, Steam + GOG |
| iridium | iOS | 9-10 | 82 | Self-written runtime |
| Porthole | iOS | 10-03 | 32 | Multi-store launcher for Steam / Epic / GOG / itch |
| WiniOS, EmuPC and others | iOS | 9–October | Single digits to a few dozen | Similar small projects |
| Steam Link, cloud gaming | big tech | Years | — | Streaming, needs a PC or network; iDeck's selling point is not needing either |

Star counts are from around 11-06. In the more than a month since 9 and October, five or six Madeira derivatives have appeared, and iDeck ranks second.

### Why it is already declining

Daily adds dropped from 10-28 to 11-06 on 98 to 9. The reason is easy to guess: people who wanted an iOS DroidDeck already came by. The rest face three hurdles: sideload with a signing tool, enable JIT, and hope the game runs. Most watch the demo video, hit star, and leave. Its ceiling is set by the emulator core and the platform: if Madeira can't run a game, neither can it, and until Apple opens up JIT it stays a sideloading toy forever.

### If it were you

**The takeaway:** don't build a seventh "Steam on iPhone" project. That spot is full and the heat is fading. What is worth taking from iDeck is its playbook: the "other-platform version of X" position, which costs close to nothing.

**Who it suits:** developers who can port or map a popular open-source project onto another platform or ecosystem (Android→iOS, Mac→Windows, Python→Rust, English→Chinese, VS Code→JetBrains all count).

**Who it doesn't suit:** people who want to build lasting attention through projects like this. The foundation isn't yours, users may not be able to install it, and stars come fast and go fast. It's also a poor fit for anyone who can't handle compatibility-layer grunt work; iDeck's README is full of bugs like WoW64 and CEF.

**How to do it:**

- Watch GitHub for single-platform projects gaining hundreds of stars a day. Search their issues and discussions for "iOS", "Windows", "Mac" and "port". If people keep asking, that's the signal.

- Match the name and the one-line slogan, and put "inspired by X, not the official version" in the first line of the README. You get the name's pull without angering the original author.

- Put a recording that proves "it really runs" at the top of the README, even if it covers only one scenario and is sped up 1.5×. Media write from recordings.

- State the limits clearly. In hardcore circles, being upfront ("only tested on one machine", "freezes on the third game") earns more stars than hype.

**How to get users:** as iDeck did, cover three places on launch day: the original project's discussion board (Show and tell-style sections, not the issue tracker), subreddits where the target platform's users gather, and the media outlets and X accounts that have covered the original. They already have context for a story, so you only need to swap in your name.

**When to get in:** while the original is still adding hundreds of stars a day. iDeck came in a month after DroidDeck went open-source, which was late but still in time. Once the original's daily adds drop to double digits, the ceiling for the mirror version drops with it.

**Signs you misread the moment:** three days after launch your star count still isn't adding double digits a day. That means fewer of the original's users wanted another-platform version than you assumed, or someone else already claimed the spot. Another sign is the original announcing it will build that platform itself, which wipes out your position the same day.

[GitHub repo ↗](https://github.com/kuscholar/iDeck)

**Research notes: competitor table, acquisition evidence, full research report**

Competitors

| Name | Where | Launched | Scale | How it differs from this one |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Madeira | Open source | 2026-03 created, 2026-09 blew up | 3,078 stars, covered by several tech outlets | iDeck's foundation; Madeira has its own game library and Steam downloads, and iDeck swaps in Valve's native Big Picture interface |
| DroidDeck | Open source | 2026-09-24 | 18,059 stars, covered by Tom's Guide, viral on TikTok | The Android original of the same idea; iDeck is the iOS counterpart and is unaffiliated with the official project |
| BCD (thebcd69/bcd-games) | Open source | 2026-10-19 | 487 star | Self-built launcher bundling Steam and GOG; doesn't run the native Steam client |
| iridium | Open source | 2026-09-10 | 82 star | Self-developed iOS Windows game runtime |
| Porthole | Open source | 2026-10-03 | 32 star | Multi-store launcher (Steam/Epic/GOG/itch) |
| Steam Link / cloud gaming | Big-company features | Years | Huge | Streaming, needs a PC or network; iDeck runs locally |

Where users come from

- **Verified** **Borrowing the name / mirroring DroidDeck** : the name is iDeck, and the original description "brings the SteamOS experience to iOS" copies DroidDeck's slogan

- **Verified** **Self-promotion in the upstream discussion board** : the author 2026-10-25 posted "iPhone users please check out the iOS version of DroidDeck - iDeck" in DroidDeck Discussions #1536

- **Verified** **Reddit** : r/EmulationOniOS "iOS version of Droiddeck … built on Madeira" with 206 upvotes and 49 comments, matching the 10-27/28 peak; poster and date unverified

- **Verified** **Tech media** : covered by kocpc 2026-10-25, rewritten by questreviewcenter

- **Verified** **X accounts** : @jaywcjlove 10-31, @Techjunkie_Aman 11-01 posted

- **Verified** **Author blog** : dev.to long post 2026-10-25

## kuscholar/iDeck: why it hit 13 stars in 348 days

> Research date 2026-11-06. Data sources: our github repo DB (repo_day, from 2026-10-26), GitHub API/GraphQL, Jina/Brave search, X pages, TikHub.

### One line

iDeck is a sideloaded iOS app: on top of Will Faust's open-source runtime Madeira (Wine + FEX-Emu + DXMT/Metal), it runs Valve's **real Windows Steam client in Big Picture mode** , so an iPhone can open a Steam library and launch compatible PC games locally, no streaming. The author is Kusch Qin (kuscholar); the README calls it an "AI-assisted project" and positions it as "the iOS version of DroidDeck."

### Verdict

It didn't take off on its own tech. It's **riding two heat waves that were already running** : since September, Madeira (Windows games locally on iPhone, 3,078 stars) has been widely covered by Notebookcheck, iThinkDiff, kocpc and others; from late September into October, DroidDeck (an Android "SteamOS experience," gaining 300–1,500 stars a day in October, now at 18,059 stars) got coverage from Tom's Guide and others, with hundreds of thousands of views on TikTok. iDeck's repo was created at the peak of DroidDeck's surge (10-24). Its name, its tagline ("brings the SteamOS experience to iOS," where DroidDeck's original says "…to Android") and its story all line up with DroidDeck, and the author actively posted it to DroidDeck's discussions and Reddit, calling it the "iOS version of DroidDeck." iPhone users saw DroidDeck and couldn't use it, and iDeck caught that demand. But the ceiling is low: it needs sideloading and JIT, has only been verified on an iPhone 15 Pro Max, Steam freezes after the third game exit, and daily star growth has already dropped from 98 to single digits.

### Growth data

| Date | star | Daily adds | Event |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-24 | 0 |  | Repo created (GitHub API created_at 2026-10-24 19:20 UTC) |
| 10-25 |  |  | Author publishes a long dev.to post (02:51Z) and self-promotes in the DroidDeck discussions #1536; Taiwan's kocpc (17:37 +08) covers it; questreviewcenter rewrites it (11:00Z); alpha.1 released |
| 10-26 | 43 |  | alpha.2 |
| 10-27 | 100 | +57 | alpha.3 |
| 10-28 | 198 | **+98 (peak)** | Reddit r/EmulationOniOS post "iOS version of Droiddeck … built on Madeira," 206 upvotes, 49 comments (Brave shows "2 weeks ago"; exact date not verified) |
| 10-29 | 219 | +21 | alpha.4 (1,774 downloads, the most) |
| 10-31 | 257 | +21 | X @jaywcjlove (Xiaoxiao Tiaotiao, a large Chinese developer account) reposts it |
| 11-01 | 280 | +23 | X @Techjunkie_Aman posts an introduction |
| 11-02 | 309 | +29 |  |
| 11-06 | 348 | +9 | alpha.6 |

Source: GitHub repo repo_day; GitHub Releases API (the download count is cumulative from 2026-11-06). The assets of 6 alpha versions have about 4,500 cumulative downloads (212/629/1,237/1,774/602/72). Each version has several assets, so the number of devices that actually installed it is lower. 13 forks, all empty forks (0–1 stars), with no secondary development.

### Competitors (same thing: running Windows/Steam games locally on iPhone/iPad)

| Name | Where | Launched | Scale | How it differs from iDeck |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Madeira (willfaust) | Open-source iOS | 2026-03 repo created, blew up in September | 3,078 stars, 399 forks; covered by Notebookcheck, iThinkDiff, GenerationAmiga | iDeck's foundation. Madeira ships its own game library, Steam login/download and Dock; iDeck just layers Valve's native Big Picture on top |
| DroidDeck | Open-source Android | 2026-09-24 | 18,059 stars; Tom's Guide, Geeky Gadgets, lots of TikTok videos | The Android original of the same idea; iDeck is its iOS counterpart, unaffiliated with the official project |
| BCD (thebcd69/bcd-games) | Open-source iOS | 2026-10-19 | 487 star | Custom launcher with built-in Steam + GOG; more stars than iDeck |
| iridium | Open-source iOS | 2026-09-10 | 82 star | Proprietary runtime, AGPL |
| Porthole | Open-source iOS | 2026-10-03 | 32 star | Multi-store (Steam/Epic/GOG/itch) launcher |
| WiniOS / EmuPC / I-Steam | Open-source iOS | 2026-09~10 | 14/4/2 star | Similar small projects |
| Steam Link / cloud gaming (GeForce NOW, Xbox Cloud) | Big-company features | Years | Huge | Streaming, needs a PC or network; iDeck's selling point is "no streaming" |

All are Madeira knockoffs/derivatives that appeared after Madeira blew up from 9–October; iDeck ranks second among them (BCD is first).

### Growth tactics (evidence)

1. **Piggybacks on DroidDeck's name and story (confirmed)** : the name iDeck mirrors DroidDeck, and the description originally read "brings the SteamOS experience to iOS" (the old description Reddit and Brave captured, word-for-word DroidDeck's tagline). It's now "Steam Big Picture experience," with a line added saying it's not DroidDeck's official iOS version.

2. **Author posted it himself (confirmed)** : 10-25 posted "iPhone users please check out the iOS version of DroidDeck - iDeck" in the DroidDeck repo's Discussions (Show and tell #1536), siphoning visitors from a 18k-star repo; a dev.to long post went up the same day.

3. **Reddit r/EmulationOniOS (post confirmed to exist, timing not verified)** : title "iOS version of Droiddeck (SteamOS in app) is in development, built on Madeira," 206 upvotes, 49 comments, matching the peak in 10-27/28.

4. **Tech media pickup (confirmed)** : Taiwan's kocpc (10-25, Chinese and English versions), and questreviewcenter rewrote kocpc. kocpc had already covered Madeira, so the coverage chain was ready.

5. **Big X accounts repost (confirmed)** : @jaywcjlove (10-31, Chinese-speaking circles), @Techjunkie_Aman (11-01; this account 9-11, 10-01 wrote about Madeira). No related posts showed up in our x-radar corpus.

6. **Demo GIF + real Steam UI (product level)** : the README's first screen is a screen recording from iPhone, from Steam login to launching Tomb Raider (marked 1.5x speed). It's visually striking, and media wrote their stories directly from the GIF.

7. The Chinese README, Discord, and Meta AI answers on Threads say "the hottest right now is iDeck / Madeira," showing some buzz in Taiwan and Chinese-speaking circles.

TikTok: searching "iDeck iphone steam" found no major account clearly covering iDeck; the hot videos in the category are all about DroidDeck.

### Why it took off

- **The demand was already there** : DroidDeck made "turn your phone into a Steam Deck" a month-long hit, and iPhone users kept asking "is there an iOS version" (DroidDeck's website and wiki even have a page saying "no iOS version"). iDeck was the first to step up and say "I'm the iOS version."

- **Timing** : the repo went up while DroidDeck was gaining 500+ stars a day and Madeira had just been covered thoroughly by media, so both upstream traffic streams could be captured.

- **Easy to explain** : "the real Steam client on iPhone" is understood in one line, and there's a screen recording.

- **Low engineering effort** : the runtime is all Madeira's; the author did Big Picture compatibility patches and the guided install flow, with AI help (the author's own words).

### Differentiation

Compared with other Madeira derivatives (BCD, Porthole and other custom launchers), iDeck's only distinction is that it runs **Valve's native Windows Steam client in Big Picture** , not a re-imitated UI; accounts, Steam Guard and authorization all go through Valve's own flow. That's the basis for the "SteamOS/Steam Deck experience" claim. This difference **is not the main reason it took off** ; the main reason is the "DroidDeck iOS version" identity. The differentiation makes that identity credible (DroidDeck also runs the native Big Picture), but BCD got 487 stars without that identity, so most of the traffic came from the broader topic of "running PC games on iPhone."

### Visibility and copycats

- It's spreading in niche circles: the emulation/sideloading community (r/EmulationOniOS), Taiwanese tech media, and a few X tech accounts. English-speaking mainstream tech media haven't covered it (both Madeira and DroidDeck have been), and there's nothing on HN.

- Copycats: none that specifically copy iDeck; in the same space, BCD, Porthole, WiniOS and EmuPC are all Madeira derivatives, running alongside iDeck. All 13 forks are empty.

### What others can borrow

- **The "iOS/Android version of X" niche** : an open-source project blows up on one platform, users on another platform can't use it, and someone steps up with a matching name to catch them, then self-promotes in the original project's discussions and the relevant subreddit. Cold-start cost is very low.

- Wrap a thin layer of experience around a hot open-source base, add a strong screen-recording GIF, and that's enough for media to write about it.

- The README honestly lays out the limits (1.5x speed, verified on only one machine, known freezes), which actually earns points with hardcore users.

### Uncertain

- The exact posting time of the Reddit post, and whether the poster is the author (Reddit blocked 403, so the post body was not read).

- Hourly star counts for 10-24–10-26 weren't obtained (GitHub quota ran out).

- How many users can actually play it: about 4,500 downloads, but it requires sideloading + JIT and has a freeze bug, so active users are probably few.

- Sustainability: it depends on Madeira upstream and Valve's older client, and star growth has decayed to single digits.

### Sources

- [github.com/kuscholar/iDeck](https://github.com/kuscholar/iDeck) (README, Releases)

- [github.com/Droid-Deck/DroidDeck/discussions/1536](https://github.com/Droid-Deck/DroidDeck/discussions/1536)

- [dev.to/kusch_qin_5cfed66f851a9ea/ideck-bringing-real-steam-b…](https://dev.to/kusch_qin_5cfed66f851a9ea/ideck-bringing-real-steam-big-picture-to-an-iphone-one-compatibility-bug-at-a-time-1job)

- [www.reddit.com/r/EmulationOniOS/comments/1xfykct/ios_version…](https://www.reddit.com/r/EmulationOniOS/comments/1xfykct/ios_version_of_droiddeck_steamos_in_app_is_in/) (Brave summary)

- [en.kocpc.com.tw/archives/26584](https://en.kocpc.com.tw/archives/26584)

- [questreviewcenter.com/software-reviews/ideck-brings-steam-an…](https://questreviewcenter.com/software-reviews/ideck-brings-steam-and-windows-games-to-the-iphone-but-sideloading-is-still-required/)

- [x.com/jaywcjlove/status/2116532653075866028](https://x.com/jaywcjlove/status/2116532653075866028) ;[x.com/Techjunkie_Aman/status/2116966555468923293](https://x.com/Techjunkie_Aman/status/2116966555468923293)

- [github.com/willfaust/Madeira](https://github.com/willfaust/Madeira) ;[github.com/Droid-Deck/DroidDeck](https://github.com/Droid-Deck/DroidDeck) ;[github.com/thebcd69/bcd-games](https://github.com/thebcd69/bcd-games)

- Madeira coverage: notebookcheck.net (9-27), ithinkdiff.com (10-03), generationamiga.com (10-01); DroidDeck coverage: tomsguide.com, geeky-gadgets.com

- Our github repo DB repo_day (daily stars for iDeck, DroidDeck, Madeira)

This article was written by AI from public data and the data we collect daily. Numbers are sourced, and inferences are labeled.