Loogle

Inspiration

Google Maps is a very well-developed system, but we felt it is missing a very critical element. People use Google Maps to explore services near them, but one critical service that everyone needs is missing: restrooms. Our app is designed to deliver the locations of available restrooms quickly, so that users can avoid uncomfortable situations.

What it does

Our app collects a database of public toilet locations and sends users directions to the closest public restroom with the touch of a button. The app is also capable of adding new restrooms to the database so users can grow it. Finally, users can also rate toilets by cleanliness and accessibility, and can sort through results for their preferred restroom.

How we built it

We developed our app in Android Studio, using a combination of Java and XML. We utilized Google Firebase for our serverside database capabilities. We also interfaced with the Google Maps API to send users directions instantly.

Challenges we ran into

RamHacks taught us a lot through the challenges we encountered. The most important lesson was to be prepared; several hours were spent at the start of the project just getting the group's software connected and functional. We had many difficulties with data formatting when both sending and recieving data from Google Firebase. Another large challenge was familiarizing ourselves with the Android development tools.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Through our app, we accomplished all the functionality that we originally planned to include. We are proud of developing a fully functional Android app despite our lack of experience in the field. We are also proud of staying on track and focused during the entire 24 hours.

What we learned

Through working on this project we learned a lot about Android development, Google Firebase app integration, utilizing location services effectively inside and in between apps, and how to effectively steer our project around potential pitfalls. As this was our first Hackathon, we also learned that 24 hours is a lot more time to accomplish a project than you might think. It was a lesson in using time efficiently and prioritization.

What's next for Loogle

To expand our app, we would first need to map enough public restrooms for users to find the app initially useful. As more users are added, they will expand the database as well, driving up the value of the app to new users. If we had more time, we would add a route preview to the results screen so that you can see where a restroom is before the app navigates you to it. We would also map our GPS coordinates to addresses instead, so that the locations of the restrooms are more clear to users in the Google Maps app.