Inspiration
he theme “Space Cowboy” immediately sparked the idea of blending the rugged, gritty style of the Wild West with the sleek aesthetics of sci-fi. We wanted to create something fun, interactive, and visual that people could play with instantly — a photo app that made everyone feel like an outlaw wandering the stars. Old “Wanted” posters meet futuristic bounty hunting? That was the spark that became Star-Wanted.
What it does
Star-Wanted lets you:
Take a photo using your iPhone’s camera
Automatically turn it into a Wanted Poster complete with your image, outlaw name, and bounty
Apply a vintage “Old-West” photo filter for authenticity
Save the finished poster directly to your Photos library with one tap
In just seconds, you become a space outlaw wanted across the galaxy — dead or alive.
How we built it
We built Star-Wanted entirely in SwiftUI and Xcode, combining modern iOS features with a vintage design style.
SwiftUI handled the UI layout and dynamic text generation.
UIKit powered the camera capture using UIImagePickerController.
CoreImage applied custom sepia and vignette filters for the old-photo effect.
A parchment paper texture and custom “The Dead Saloon” font completed the western aesthetic.
Finally, a snapshot extension using UIImageWriteToSavedPhotosAlbum() allowed users to save their posters directly to their camera roll.
Challenges we ran into
Getting the camera permissions and Info.plist configurations correct — one small typo can crash the app.
Making the custom fonts load properly inside SwiftUI required debugging font names and Info.plist entries.
Balancing the UI scaling so posters looked good on different screen sizes.
Rendering filters and overlays efficiently without slowing down performance on real devices.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
Building a fully functional SwiftUI photo app from scratch during a hackathon.
Creating a clean, intuitive design that fits the Space Cowboy theme perfectly.
Implementing realistic visual filters that give the posters an authentic, old-timey western look.
Making the experience fun, polished, and ready to demo on a real iPhone.
What we learned
How to bridge SwiftUI and UIKit for live camera input.
The importance of Info.plist configuration for iOS privacy permissions.
How to use CoreImage for dynamic filters and creative effects.
Managing state in SwiftUI when combining camera captures, overlays, and saving functionality.
And most of all — how to turn a simple idea into a fully realized app under tight hackathon time pressure.
What's next for Star-Wanted
🪙 Gallery View: View and manage all your saved posters inside the app.
🤖 AI Name Generator: Generate outlaw names and backstories powered by AI.
📤 Sharing Features: Post your posters directly to social media or Messages.
🎶 Sound Effects: Add old western guitar twangs and laser “pew-pews” for flair.
We want to make Star-Wanted not just a photo app — but a full experience for aspiring bounty hunters across the stars. 🌠
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