Inspiration
During BostonHacks, our team wanted to make home cooking more social and rewarding. Apps like BeReal and Beli inspired us to rethink food sharing—not through polished restaurant posts, but through authentic, everyday meals. We noticed that many people cook at home but don’t share those experiences, missing an opportunity for connection, creativity, and accountability in healthy eating.
PlateIt brings that spirit of authenticity to cooking—turning what’s on your plate into a social moment.
What it does
PlateIt is a casual social cooking log where users can:
Snap or upload photos of meals they cook.
Add short descriptions or recipes to share with friends or keep private.
Scroll a vertical home feed of what their friends are cooking, one post per screen.
Track personal stats like cooking streaks, badges, and most-cooked dishes.
Join challenges (e.g., “Cook 3 breakfasts this week”) to stay motivated.
It’s like BeReal, but for your kitchen.
How we built it
Frontend: Built with React Native + Expo Router, featuring clean, scrollable screens (HomeScreen, LogFoodScreen, ProfileScreen) and full camera/gallery integration using Expo ImagePicker.
Backend: Developed with FastAPI (Python) and hosted locally with Uvicorn, connected to Supabase for user authentication, storage, and database operations.
Data Flow:
User uploads a photo + description → sent to FastAPI endpoint /posts.
Image and metadata stored in Supabase Storage and Postgres.
Feed and profile screens dynamically fetch posts, logs, and stats.
Dev Setup: Automated via run_dev.sh, with dependencies managed in requirements.txt.
Challenges we ran into
Handling invalid hook calls and navigation errors when integrating Expo Router.
Syncing Supabase uploads with React Native’s FormData (multipart image uploads).
Implementing a consistent vertical paging feed that feels smooth across devices.
Designing permissions flows for camera and gallery that work seamlessly on both iOS and Android.
Balancing UI design and backend integration within the hackathon’s time limit.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
A fully working prototype where users can take or upload photos, log meals, and scroll through a dynamic feed.
A clean, modern interface that mimics popular social apps but with a “home-cooked” twist.
Integrated backend endpoints that communicate successfully with the front end.
Built a foundation for community challenges and cooking stats that can scale.
What we learned
How to connect a React Native front end with a FastAPI + Supabase backend.
How to handle mobile image uploads, permissions, and EXIF data.
The importance of designing an MVP scope—focusing on the Home Feed, Log, and Profile first.
How meaningful it is to share authentic moments—especially food—as a community-building tool.
What's next for PlateIt
Add friendships, reactions, and comment functionality.
Build AI-powered recipe suggestions from logged ingredients and photos.
Integrate nutritional tracking and meal-prep analytics.
Launch a public beta on TestFlight and Expo Go.
Eventually, scale PlateIt into a community where people cook, share, and inspire each other to eat better—one plate at a time.
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