Thus Far

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Inspiration

Thus Far was inspired by a book I just couldn't stop thinking about...Dungeon Crawler Carl.

I was halfway through and desperate to talk about it with ANYONE. My girlfriend hadn't started it, and I was terrified to look online because there are 7 more books in the series. Spoilers. Everywhere.

I wanted a place where I could read others' thoughts, but only up to the point in the book I was at.

What it does

Thus Far is a spoiler-free reading companion app for iPhone and iPad. The chapter you are on in your book determines what content you have access to.

Every post, reply, poll and notification is gated by chapter, so anything past your bookmark is hidden until you reach it.

It's the most fun way to read a book. On your own, or with a friend or book club.

• Share your thoughts from the exact chapter you're on and see other readers' thoughts at the same chapter.
• Book Buddies. Eight fun characters post at every chapter of popular series like Dungeon Crawler Carl, Fourth Wing and A Court of Thorns and Roses, so your feed is full from day one, even if you're reading alone.
• Read with friends. Follow a friend on the same book and get a notification when they update their bookmark, so you know exactly what's safe to talk about.
• Book clubs. Host a club where everyone can read at their own pace and still have a great time sharing and connecting over the same special moments in a book.
• Available on iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch. Update your bookmark in seconds from Apple Watch.
• Beautiful full-screen widgets for your custom bookshelf, post feed and reading streaks.

How I built it

The app is native SwiftUI for iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch, but the real magic happens on the server. Supabase enforces every chapter gate in the database. Every book is mapped chapter by chapter, with its characters, events and relationships tied to where they appear. Robust backend software checks every post for spoilers and community guidelines.

OneSignal handles push, email and in-app messages, and all of them pass through the same backend spoiler checking process.

RevenueCat powers Hosts+, the subscription for book club hosts.

Challenges I ran into

The hardest part was spoiler verification on popular book series. To check a post for spoilers, you need to know what the book has established up to that chapter: characters, events, relationships and more. Making sure the Book Buddies' own posts never spoiled anything is what shaped the soiler checking system now used to check everyone's posts.

The second was the Book Buddies themselves. Creating entertaining posts from generated characters took thousands of dollars of testing and iteration to give each one a distinct voice and style. The Buddies' posts feel like reading along with people like you, not a generic AI.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

• Robust spoiler safety and community guidelines system. Nothing past your current chapter ever reaches your screen, lock screen or inbox.
• Four OneSignal Journeys live, including a seven-day course that teaches new club hosts how to run the best book club ever with Thus Far.
• A customizable reading shelf with an easy-to-use drag-and-drop interface.

What I learned

Building an entire social media platform, with all the platform requirements that come with user-generated content, is a lot. Moderation, reporting, blocking, age requirements and review queues all have to exist before the first post.

I also learned how fun reading with others is. Getting an alert when my girlfriend updates her bookmark in Dungeon Crawler Carl has been the best part of building Thus Far. And for the books I'm reading alone, the Book Buddies' posts crack me up, especially some of the memes. I look forward to saving my bookmark now, because it unlocks a new laugh or thought I wouldn't have had on my own.

What's next for Thus Far

• Grow book clubs through outreach and advertising to current book club organizers who might love the platform
• Get featured in the App Store's Books category
• Duo launch Oct 23rd. The app looks amazing on the Duo simulator thus far : )
• Android app and a web app, so users can talk about their favorite books on any device

Built With

• swiftui
• xcode