Inspiration
With the COVID-19 pandemic, many elderly people, even our loved ones, lack interaction with others, causing them to feel isolated and alone. To combat this loneliness and improve the mental health of our senior citizens, we've developed KeyPal. KeyPal is a term that refers to online penpals, making communication easy even in the face of a pandemic.
What it does
KeyPal works to improve the mental health of elderly people (Receivers) by connecting them with caring teens and adults (Writers). KeyPal allows Writers to send virtual letters to Receivers in their area to combat loneliness. Users can sign-up and login and will be authenticated using Firebase. Receivers can customize their profile and view incoming letters. Writers can choose Receivers and send letters. Writers can choose to include their email in their letters to further connect with receivers. Receivers and Writers are paired by their location (State). Letters are also stored in Firebase.
How I built it
Over 9 hours, we worked in XCode and coded in Swift to create this app. We also used Firebase for Authentication and as our Database.
Challenges I ran into
Some of the challenges we faced included having different views for Writers and Receivers, sending letters between Writers and Receivers, and implementing TableViews.
Accomplishments that I'm proud of
We're proud of being able to authenticate with Firebase and collaborate with other members of the team on Github.
What I learned
We learned more about TableView and Firebase implementation and solidified our skills in XCode and Swift.
What's next for KeyPal
In the future, we hope to allow Receivers to respond to Writers letters through a messaging or letter sending feature in the app, allow Writers to send pictures and voice memos, use data to pair Writers with Receivers that match their interests, filter users by cities and/or towns, and give writers the option to see sent letters and create their own profile.
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