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Inspiration
My brother has never been on social media, no Twitter, no Instagram, no YouTube account. But he loves the gist. Every time something major happens online, he’ll ask me, “What’s trending? What did Davido post? What’s that thing everyone’s talking about?”
He wants to stay in the loop without the noise, the scrolling, or the pressure of signing up for platforms that don’t interest him.
That sparked an idea: What if there were a simple app where he could just “RSVP” to the people he cares about and get their latest updates read out loud without having to follow them, sign in, or scroll endlessly?
That idea became Gist.Me is a voice-first app for people who want the essence of social media without being on social media. Built for the offline-curious, the busy, the overwhelmed, and especially for people like my brother.
What it does
Gist is a powered voice-first app that lets users “RSVP” to people they care about (celebrities, influencers, friends) and receive summarized social media updates read aloud on a schedule they choose. Built for the overwhelmed social user, RSVP Gist curates personalized audio briefings from across Twitter/X, YouTube, Instagram, and more.
“Get the gist from the people you care about — when you want it — in a voice you love.”
How we built it
Gist.Me was built using Bolt.new as the primary development environment to rapidly prototype and deploy a responsive, mobile-first web app. We integrated several powerful tools and APIs to bring the voice-first experience to life:
Supabase for user authentication, RSVP storage, and scheduled notification logic using Edge Functions and Cron jobs. OpenAI to summarize long or noisy social media content into digestible, voice-friendly updates. ElevenLabs to convert text summaries into realistic, emotionally expressive audio using selected voices. YouTube Data API for fetching the latest uploads from RSVP’d channels. Twitter/X API (pending usage limits) for reading recent tweets from chosen creators. Netlify for smooth, serverless deployment of the final production app. We also used Supabase Edge Functions to bridge between external APIs (e.g., YouTube/ElevenLabs) and securely process data without needing a separate backend.
Challenges we ran into
One of the biggest challenges was working with limited resources. Many core APIs like Twitter/X and ElevenLabs require paid tiers or usage tokens that were outside my budget. Even Bolt token limits created constraints during rapid prototyping. Despite that, I found creative workarounds to build functional MVP components, test user flows, and simulate integrations where real access wasn’t feasible. Staying focused and resourceful under those limitations was a key part of the process.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
Built a full voice-first social media summarizer from scratch within a hackathon window using Bolt. Successfully integrated Supabase auth, cron-based scheduling, and a functional RSVP system that connects users to people they care about. Achieved realistic AI-generated voice summaries using OpenAI + ElevenLabs, even with limited credits. Created a clean, mobile-friendly UI that feels intuitive and minimal, the foundation of a future-ready app. Deployed the full app live on Netlify, end-to-end functional with no external backend required.
What we learned
Simplicity wins. Building an MVP that works well and solves one specific problem is better than chasing complexity.
What's next for Gist.Me
Expand integrations: Add support for TikTok, Reddit, and blogs, wherever users get their updates. Premium voice packs: Let users subscribe to exclusive voices via ElevenLabs (e.g., "celebrity-style" voice reads). Push notifications and deep linking: Build richer native mobile support and scheduled voice reminders. Public Gist Pages: Allow users to share their personalized Gist feed with friends via custom URLs. Monetization: Add a simple subscription tier via RevenueCat to unlock more daily briefings and premium voices. Community-driven Gist Feeds: Users can RSVP to curated bundles like "Tech Twitter," "Lagos Creators," or "Crypto OGs" for discovery and reach.
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