Loading page (still image)
Homepage Sydney
Homepage Sydney pt.2
Map view Sydney
Map view Sydney (zoomed out)
Homepage Canberra

Inspiration

From 2001 to 2022, Australia lost 71% or 6.32 million hectares of tree cover due to fires. Due to the mass destruction this natural disaster has caused to the land, wildlife, and homes, we felt it was important to address this topic.

When doing research, we found that while fire notification apps do exist, they are often difficult to navigate and do not have user-friendly UI. As a result, we decided to take on the challenge of creating an app that is easily accessible and able to help Australian residents stay well-informed and prepared.

What it does

Notifire is an app that alerts users of nearby fire dangers. Using information from the fire danger index, air quality index, wind strength, and current fires in progress, the app relays the information in a digestible, efficient app. After the user selects their city, the app provides accurate fire warnings across 5 different levels and provides appropriate information on how to proceed and take action. Notifire also includes a map feature, where users are able to pan and search places within the country to view where fires are currently in progress.

How we built it

Initially, we used FigJam to brainstorm and research our topic. Once we finished brainstorming, we used Figma to create wireframes and prototype the UI design. Finally, we developed the app with React Native and Expo.

Challenges we ran into

Requiring 2-3 business days to receive access to key APIs
Discovering how components behave differently on each platform (iOS, Android and web)
Establishing effective communication between our designer and programmers to efficiently transfer intricate UI designs into functional, real-time code

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Developing a fully-functional app
Successfully creating an app while being first-time users of react-native and expo.go
Powering through the Hackathon--a first for two of our members

What we learned

How to create a functional app using react-native and expo.go
How to use react-native-maps and make it interactable within our app
How to recreate a working frontend design from the Figma prototype
How to use expo to run and test our app
How to account for different screen dimensions so information information is displayed properly to the user

What's next for Notifire

Utilize APIs and expand to the rest of the world
Setting up an iOS and Android emulator to simplify the continuous testing and integration process
Improving accessibility and core functionalities on all platforms
Expanding current functionality to predict potential fires using machine learning

.