CozyChat

CozyChat is a chat app built with React Native. It is optimized for both Android an iOS devices. The app will provide users with a chat interface and options to take and share photos and their location.

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Getting started

To set up CozyChat in your own system, please follow these steps:

Development environment setup

• install the latest LTS Node version
• run npm install expo-cli --global
• to run CozyChat on Windows or Linux, install Android studio
• to run CozyChat on Mac, install XCode
• to run CozyChat on your phone, get the ExpoApp for iOS / for Android

Database configuration

• Create a Firebase account, and sign in.
• Click on "create a project" and follow the steps. Start in test mode, then start a collection. Select "Auto-ID" to generate a random Document ID.
• Open up "Settings", then "General" tab. Under the section "Your apps", link Firebase to the app by clicking the tag icon.
• Click "Firestore for Web" and then copy the contents of the config object info your .js script. Follow the instructions to initialize the App.

Installation of the necessary libraries (here using npm and expo)

• npm install react
• npm install react-native
• npm install react-native-gifted-chat
• npm install @react-native-community/netinfo
• npm install @react-native-async-storage/async-storage
• npm install react-navigation
• npm install firebase
• npm install cookies
• npm install expo-module-scripts
• expo install expo-permissions
• expo install expo-image-picker
• expo install expo-location
• expo install react-native-maps
• expo install expo-camera

Start Expo project

• From project folder, run npm start or expo start

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Key Features

• A page where users can enter their name and choose a background color for the chat screen before joining the chat.
• A page displaying the conversation, as well as an input field and submit button.
• The chat must provide users with two additional communication features: sending images and location data.
• Data gets stored online and offline.

User Stories

• As a new user, I want to be able to easily enter a chat room so I can quickly start talking to my friends and family.
• As a user, I want to be able to send messages to my friends and family members to exchange the latest news.
• As a user, I want to send images to my friends to show them what I’m currently doing.
• As a user, I want to share my location with my friends to show them where I am.
• As a user, I want to be able to read my messages offline so I can reread conversations at any time.
• As a user with a visual impairment, I want to use a chat app that is compatible with a screen reader so that I can engage with a chat interface.