Stay Safe COVID19 Hackathon Submission (3 days)
This is my submission to the 2020 DevPost Hackathon, where I was a finalist.
Inspiration
I was born and raised in Spain, one of the countries hit the hardest by the coronavirus pandemic. My grandparents are over the age of 80 and still live in Spain. We have advised them not to leave their house, yet they need to do grocery shopping. Who is going to do the shopping for them? They are part of the high-risk group of elderly people who could get very sick from COVID-19. I started thinking and thought of an app to help those people who might already have the coronavirus, are elderly or immunocompromised stay home.
What it does
Keeps you updated on the COVID-19 pandemic and most importantly, will connect our most vulnerable citizens to volunteers who can help them obtain their essential needs. This app is going to be very important in allowing us to stay safe at home during these times of uncertainty.
How I built it
This app was built on my personal Mac at home using Expo and React-Native. I am using Firebase to store the user's information on the Database, Twilio to send SMS alerts, Google Maps API to get the user's coordinates among other open-source dependencies. Thank you to the open-source community!
Challenges I ran into
I was having issues with Google Maps crashing on my iPhone some I decided to switch temporarily to Apple Maps as I work on fixing the issue.
Accomplishments that I'm proud of
I am very proud of what I have accomplished throughout this hackathon. This is my very first hackathon and I couldn't be happier with my results. I am proud of my design and my ability to get this app up-and-running with barely any bugs. I am proud to announce the app is available for testing on TestFlight!
What I learned
I learned to use Firebase and to practiced my React Native skills. I improved my HTML-ish and CSS-ish skills since React-Native uses some similar concepts. This is the second mobile app I ever fully develop so it gave me more confidence.
What's next for #StaySafe
I speak both English and Spanish fluently, which allowed me to offer the app in both languages. But I am open-sourcing the project, so, new translations and features are welcome! :) I will soon be releasing an Android version.
Special Thanks
Sumanth Pandugula for developing and open-sourcing the API used in Statistics: https://github.com/summyfeb12/COVID-19-JHU-Data-API
Icons and Logo by Flaticon and Icons8.