Weather App that Suggests Clothing (WASC)

An app that suggests an outfit fit for the weather.

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Inspiration

As a busy university student, some days I just need to put on some clothes and head out the door. Yet with the past winter, there were countless days where I forgot a hat and felt my ears freezing off or there was an unexpected heatwave and I was sweltering in my winter coat. I wanted a solution to this problem, and a simple app seemed to be the answer.

What it does

The app uses the phone's GPS to locate the user, then checks the local weather. The App will then return a list of clothing reccomended to wear out during the day, sorted out by body part (head, top, pants, feet, etc.)

How I built it

The app itself is built entirely in Android Studio using Java. The weather data is gathered from the DarkSky API. All other code in the app is written by me. The app's main algorithm is fairly simple as well. First, the app gets the local weather forecast for the day (specifically temperature, wind speed, precipitation, UV scale, and cloud coverage). Then, the app cycles through a "wardrobe" of clothing and chooses the optimal article of clothing for each part of the body. The code is also designed in such a way that leaves it easily extensible in the future (ideas for future features would be a proper UI and the ability to customize your own wardrobe to match that of the user's real-life clothing collection.

Challenges I ran into

The initial challenge was getting an app running using Android Studio, as it was my first time creating a full app with the program. Beyond that, the most difficult part was figuring out an elegant design for choosing the correct pieces of clothing. This problem was solved through the use of OOP.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

I am simply proud that I was able to create a working, original app using an unfamiliar framework within less than 24 hours.

What I learned

I learned how to use Android Studio, and I learned a lot more about how the Android system works (especially regarding debugging and permissions).

What's next for WASC

For sure working on the UI. All that can be said about the app's UI now is that its at least somewhat functional. A fully complete UI would ideally have a list of clothes with small images and a reasoning as to why that outfit is suggested. Future functionality would include filling out a custom wardrobe and allowing a notification system to be set up.

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