PageMode

Onboarding screen
PasgeMode in action with reading line and background
Example of changing background graphic
Main settings screen
Selecting which app(s) to use PageMode with

Inspiration

For years I have been tired of continuously scrolling in order to read long articles on my phone.

What it does

Makes it possible to go to next page, rather than scrolling. Keeps track of page height and you can easily adjust where the top of the page shows so that you can read one page at a time.

How we built it

First used ChatGPT for brainstorming about the idea and key features. Used that session to write our initial Codex prompt and from there started using the app and refining it based on our personal use. Such as adding a reading line (to make it easy to adjust page height, with whimsy backgrounds above the line), adding a way to pause the app, and condense it (for apps or situations where you need to hide the butons), added settings screens, including a setting to always keep the display on, so that you don't have to rush while reading a page in case the phone tries to auto turn off.

Challenges we ran into

Figuring out the best layout of features, deciding what was most critical to this system. Keeping it simple and true to the original idea. Not letting AI add too much fluff and text.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Creating our first working Android app, added to the PlayStore. Refining the app as we started using it. Having a cool app that is very useful that (as far as we know) no one else in the world yet has.

What we learned

All about building for Android, Playstore listing, using Codex to build in languages and platforms in which we had no previous experience. Completely opens up the programming world and makes it possible to take any idea and turn it into something functional, even with no prior experience with a specific language or platform.