Does this count as a spike?

Answered

You have demonstrated a love of learning and self-initiative to create something useful and purposeful. So congratulations. Most 9th graders can't code.

However, a "Spike" is not a singular project, event, or award, unless the project spans your entire HS career and is super successful with 10,000 downloads etc.

A Spike is a demonstrated talent or interest that would be your most important narrative outside of the classroom.

For instance, if you love rock climbing and lived, breathed and all you could think of was rock climbing. And say you practiced rock climbing 5 times a week and belonged to various rock climbing gyms and clubs. And say you won many rock climbing competitions and were ranked 8th in the US. Well, that's a spike.

Or say you loved composing music and had written about 50-100 songs and had them published. Say you recorded your own original music with your band and offered the music up for sale on Apple or Amazon music. Say you had a youtube channel of your music and had 500,000 followers. Well, that's a spike.

Your love of coding and creating applications may grow into a spike but you have to expand what you are doing and diversify your skillset in coding to make it a noticeable spike. In the meantime, be open to other hobbies, interests, sports, etc because might them equally enjoyable and fulfilling.

Best of luck in developing your talent and interests.