I started AppTesters so no one had to learn sideloading alone.

Before AppTesters, I was an Android user who rooted phones and explored everything I could change. When my Android phone broke, a family member gave me an iPhone 5. I had always wanted an iPhone but could not afford one, so that device meant a lot to me.

I was immediately drawn to how considered the software felt. Later, I bought a nearly new, second-hand iPhone 8. As I always do, I started learning what was happening beneath the surface, including not only how to use the phone but how its software and hardware worked.

My experience rooting Android led me naturally to jailbreaking. I jailbroke the iPhone 8 with Electra and Cydia and spent the next few years experimenting with tweaks, modified apps, and different ways of making the device work for me.

At first, I knew almost nothing. I had to find repositories, understand compatibility, recover from mistakes, and learn which advice to trust. Reddit helped, but I also saw developers and users arguing with one another when new people simply needed patient guidance.

I did not have every answer, but I knew other people were arriving with the same questions. I started a Telegram community where people could learn without being made to feel foolish. It grew to a few thousand members.

There was no business behind it. I helped people troubleshoot, shared what I had learned, and worked on tweaks and other small projects. Occasionally someone donated, but the reason for the group was simple: people deserved a more helpful place to learn.