Inspiration
We came to this Hackathon without any idea what we were going to work on. We had originally placed ourselves in the IOS development room, however we weren't sure where our projects would take us. During a trip for some deep-dish pizza we had the thought of a social media network that shaved off all the complexity and was as simple as choosing a color. No Words and No Pictures, just a color to describe your current state of being! While the idea seemed trivial and a little odd, we decided to run with it. Simplicity being our forefront the project turned into a delightful hack that will be fun to use among friends and may even spread outside our boundaries.
What it does
colorMe is a social media platform that allows its users to simply choose a color. With over 16 million choices, there is no shortage of ways for users to express themselves. Using the Twilio API updating your status can be as easy as sending a text! However, for the more involved users there is a full featured app and online interface. Moreover, if you want to show your true colors for everyone to see, colorMe has SWAG! Using hacker boards, you can show off your current color as well as update your color keeping life nice and simple! colorMe is the perfect way to keep yours fans updated on all things you without all the complexity. There is nothing that can’t be said in 16 Million colors. Sign Up! Follow Your Friends! Keep up with the world in a truly colorful way!
How we built it
The App
The app was built using swift and XCode. It was developed using a custom RESTfull API to talk to the server and allow for users to update their color!
The Website
The Website makes use of many languages to give full functionality to the user all from one simple interface.
The SWAG
The swag was built using hackecbaords. Each hacker board allows the user to change their color and gives them a creative way to show of their current color to the world. This was done using a custom RESTfull API as well as C to communicate with the server and offer a full feature set to the users.
Challenges we ran into
Throughout the project we ran into a multitude of error ranging from crashing the entire website and destroying our database all the way to having a fully featured app that wouldn't show up on the screen, despite the many line so code written in the back end. Beyond the normal error and debugging process, we also had a rather interesting time implementing the custom RESTfull API and making sure the JASON was being correctly generated and converted into the needed RGB values. There were endless errors encompassed in this process but in the end, we successfully found a way for all the devices to communicate through a secure and speedy manner.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
The RESTfull APi was a large accomplishment considering how many problems we ran into when generating the needed JASON and converting into RGB values. We are also proud of the style and complete functionality of the platform. While we could have cut many corners for example getting rid of registration checks and not securing the connections between the devices, we wanted to make sure that even our Hackathon role out was fully featured and didn't cut any corners.
What we learned
The list of things learned is truly never ending. We could ramble on forever about the new coding skills among other things learned through the course of this project. However, we believe that the most important lesson learned is that not all projects have to be super complex things that blow your mind. Sometimes the simple things can be the most intriguing, and in the end, make for the best projects.
What's next for colorMe
Personally, we find the platform to be lots of fun. Its simplicity adds an aspect that you can find in many other places. We fully intend to publish the project so others can share in the simplicity and fun. While there is no expectation of becoming the next Facebook, we truly hope others will find enjoyment in the platform. colorMe has been a great learning experience and our continued development on the project will only allow us to grow more both individually and as a team. While we are unsure of colorMe's future in the large-scale market, there is indeed a place for this platform within our team’s daily lives.
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