Geotify

Text warnings from Twilio
Welcome View

Inspiration

Inspired by the Credible HealthCare Innovation Challenge, Geotify is a geofencing iOS9 application that tracks a user's location and sends warnings via SMS when the user enters or exits a "trigger" location.

What it does

Geotify collects a valid phone number, shows the user's current location, allows the user to pin "geotifications" (trigger regions and warning messages), and tracks the user's location in the background.

How we built it

Geotify's UI/UX interface was mainly built using Swift4 and the Alamofire module for an iOS9 platform. The backend server for Twilio communication to and from the phone was spun using Python3 and monitored via ngrok.

Challenges we ran into

It was a bit challenging to monitor constraints for the various UI assets, to implement SMS in the backend (not supported by Apple, hence the need for Twilio), and to connect interactions between the various controllers.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

The efficiency and simplicity of the design, the core functionality of geolocation tracking and geofencing, and SMS notifications via Twilio. Seeing as our team had little to no experience with any of the tools prior to Bitcamp 2018, it was amazing to watch our hard work and knowledge culminate in a functional product.

What we learned

We learned how to build an iOS9 mobile application from scratch, how to use Swift4, how to incorporate external modules via Cocoapod, how to connect communications between the backend and front-end in two separate programming languages via REST API calls, and how to improve team communication and collaboration.

What's next for Geotify

The next goal for Geotify would be to list all geotifications in a table view, to allow modification of a geotification, and to include a timer that tracks how long a user stays at a particular location

Acknowledgements

Much thanks to Bitcamp organizers, volunteers, mentors, and all sponsoring companies for all their efforts! Cheers to countless snacks and a double shot of coffee for keeping us sane throughout. Finally, shout to the ColorWar competitors for inspiring a rush of innovation and creativity.