🥒 Pickle

Pickle is a simple, AI-powered assistant designed to help you make everyday decisions—so you can focus on what truly matters.

Inspiration

Ever feel overwhelmed by the little decisions in life? I did too. It struck me that all those tiny choices add up and can leave you stressed by the end of the day. According to the American Psychological Association, 32% of U.S. adults—and 48% of millennials—struggle with basic decisions due to stress. I knew there had to be a simpler way.

With AI becoming more accessible than ever, my teammate and I thought, why should only the tech-savvy benefit? We wanted to build an app that makes smart, AI-driven assistance available to everyone with minimal effort. And that’s how Pickle was born.

What It Does

Pickle is a straightforward assistant that helps with everyday decisions. Whether you're choosing what to watch, what to eat, where to go, or planning your daily schedule, Pickle uses advanced LLMs and web search Gen AI to deliver personalized recommendations—without the hassle of logins or signups.

Imagine opening your fridge and finding nothing but mushrooms. Instead of stressing over dinner plans, Pickle suggests tasty recipes featuring mushrooms and even points you to nearby stores for any missing ingredients.

Movie/TV Show Recommendations: Tell Pickle what you're in the mood for, and it’ll pick the perfect show or movie for you.
Food Suggestions: Get meal ideas tailored to your cravings.
Travel Ideas: Find destination suggestions that match your vibe.
Task Prioritization: Let Pickle help you organize and prioritize your tasks.

How We Built It

The journey to build Pickle was quite the adventure. We brainstormed ideas right up until the night before the hackathon and then, fueled by caffeine and a burst of inspiration, dove in headfirst. In just 36 hours, we assembled Pickle—learning tons along the way (even if we might have started a bit later than ideal).

Challenges We Ran Into

We’re still ironing out a few kinks. For example, while writing this, my teammate is troubleshooting some DeepSeek API timeouts. One major challenge has been managing the unpredictable nature of third-party APIs. Our app is built from a mix of different AI tools—each with its quirks. For instance, our movie suggestion feature initially used an LLM that ended up suggesting fictional movie titles. We quickly learned to choose the right tool for each task, and every challenge has been a valuable lesson.

Accomplishments We're Proud Of

We're really proud of what we've achieved: building a fully functional application packed with features in less than two days, using a tech stack that was entirely new to us. Creating a Minimum Viable Product under such tight deadlines taught us about teamwork, persistence, and the amazing potential of AI. It’s exciting to see how a simple idea can transform everyday decision-making into a seamless experience.

Speed: Built in just 36 hours!
Learning: Gained hands-on experience in iOS app development.
Innovation: Leveraged AI to simplify decision-making for everyone.

What We Learned

One key takeaway: always double-check the output from LLMs—they can sometimes be confidently wrong! More importantly, this project was a crash course in iOS app development. We pushed our limits and witnessed firsthand what modern technology can achieve. In 36 hours, we managed to write thousands of lines of Python and Dart code—something we once thought impossible.

What's Next for Pickle

Looking ahead, we believe that with more time and focus, Pickle can evolve into an even more useful tool. Every feature we built has the potential to grow into a full-fledged service:

Movie Suggestions: Linking directly to streaming platforms.
Theater Search: Enabling instant ticket bookings.
Restaurant Search: Supporting local businesses.
Itinerary Planning: Integrating with airlines, hotels, and travel agencies for seamless travel arrangements.

The possibilities are endless, and we're excited to continue this journey!

Thank you for checking out Pickle. We hope it helps you navigate through life’s daily decisions with ease.