Roommate Radar

Inspiration

What it does

How we built it

Challenges we ran into

Accomplishments that we're proud of

What we learned

What's next for Roommate Radar

Inspiration

We were inspired by how awkward it can be to talk to roommates about chores. Sometimes one person feels like they are doing everything, while everyone else thinks the work is fair. We wanted to create something that makes these conversations easier without blaming or embarrassing anyone.

What it does

Roommate Radar allows people to create or join a household, add chores, assign effort points, and mark tasks as completed. It shows how much work each roommate has done each week and the balance score among roommates. Roommates can also complete weekly pulse checks about cleanliness, noise, and communication.

How we built it

We built Roommate Radar with React Native, TypeScript, Expo, and Expo Router. We used Supabase for the database, anonymous user accounts, and household data. We also created a local mode so the main features can still be demonstrated without depending completely on the internet.

Challenges we ran into

One challenge was making sure chores, points, and household members stayed updated across different phones. We also had problems connecting some iPhones to Expo Go on school Wi-Fi. Another challenge was handling recurring chores and undoing completed tasks without accidentally duplicating chores or giving someone the wrong number of points.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud that we built a working app where multiple people can join the same household and manage chores together. We also made the fairness system based on effort points instead of just counting tasks. We are especially proud that the app keeps a positive and cooperative tone instead of making roommates feel like they are being watched or judged.

What we learned

We learned a lot about React Native, Expo, Supabase, databases, and testing an app on real phones. We also learned that building the feature is only part of the job. You have to think about confusing situations, unreliable networks, permissions, duplicate taps, and what happens when someone makes a mistake.

What's next for Roommate Radar

Next, we would like to improve notifications, make recurring chores easier to manage, and add better suggestions based on each roommate’s schedule and preferences. We would also like to create more reliable development builds, improve offline support, and test the app with more real households.