My project idea is an application to help users care for their indoor plants. Ideally the app would run on both iOS and Android and it would heavily rely on push notifications to remind the user to do things like water and fertilise their plants. The application will have a large database of the most common indoor plants as well as some rare and exotic ones. There would be a feature where the user can save their plants to a library, which would have a thumbnail image next to the plant name to help them distinguish which plant it is.
The motivation behind this idea comes from a couple of places. Firstly, it would be the only one of its kind - there are no other versatile plant care applications on the Android Play Store or the Apple App Store. I feel this app would fill an empty spot in both stores and save users having to use several different, more basic apps. Secondly, I have watched my partner and her friends lose several plants due to forgetting to water them or not giving them the right conditions to flourish. Some house plants are worth several thousands of dollars, so this app would help people take care of their investments.
The app would be centred around the user’s library of plants, which they can select from the database already within the app or request to add new plants if they aren’t listed. The library would be in a list format with the ability to search for the plant by either their common or scientific name. Once the plant has been selected, the application will then open to a new screen and show a photo of the plant as well as brief run description of its preferred living conditions. The living conditions would include information such as care level (low, medium or high), the regularity of water required, the ideal temperature and humidity levels, the amount of light it requires, the type and density of the soil it requires and the plants potential growth size. After the user has added a plant to their library, they will be asked if they know when the plant was last watered and fertilised so that we can start to develop an algorithm of care patterns for the specific plant. Obviously, it would take a few weeks to develop this algorithm, so for the first few weeks, the user would need to input the data manually before an automatic algorithm could be formulated. After the first few weeks, an algorithm for watering and fertilising can be formed. The user can request to receive push notifications at a specific time of day suited to them. This is so that users can receive the notifications when they will be at home and likely to action the task immediately. There’s no point in sending notifications at a time when the user may be at work and they’re likely to dismiss the notification and forget once they get home. The push notifications can have a sound or simply a vibration alert. There would be an option for the user to choose a specific notification sound so that this particular sound could be associated with the app. Once the notification has been actioned, this would mark the task as done and the countdown to the next cycle begins. As I mentioned above, the algorithm would need a ‘few’ weeks to be formulated. I was not specific with time as plants need a lot more care in the warmer months and less care in the cooler months. If starting the algorithm in summer, a cycle could be formulated within two weeks and if starting in winter, a cycle could be formulated within four weeks. The app would determine the time of year automatically and work this out for the user. There would also be an option for the user to restart the algorithm as the weather changes. This would lead to plants not being overwatered if going from summer into winter and not being underwatered if going the other way.
To get the project up and running, I would need a PC running Windows 7 or above. The PC would be required to be connected to the internet so that MIT App Inventor could be used. MIT is a web application that can be used to deign apps for Android. For the beta version of the app, I believe designing it for Android would be best. To test the app, I’d need a phone running a relatively up to date version of Android. If I didn’t have an Android phone available, I could also use an Android emulator, such as Bluestacks, that would work on my PC. The only problem with Bluestacks is that it’s only an emulator, so some features of the app may be missing, and it may not be a great representation of how the app runs. Specifically, features such as push notifications, sound and vibration alerts would not work on an emulator. To be able to design this app, I’d need to have some varying skills. Firstly, I’d need a decent understanding of the MIT App Inventor. I haven’t used MIT before, so to get an understanding of it, I’d probably be best trying to make a few basic apps before trying to make a larger app. I’d also need to understand how the operating systems of both Android and iOS work so that I could comprehend both the potential and limitations of the app. I believe I would also benefit from knowing some code. This may be the most complicated skill required in making the app. Design skills would be beneficial so that I could make the app visually appealing for the user. This could be obtained through the Adobe Suite or could also be outsourced to a professional. Lastly, I’d need quite a vast knowledge of plants and their needs. There’s a lot of information online, or again, this could be outsourced to a professional.
If my project were to be successful, there would be plenty of happy and healthy all over the world. Users of the app would also be happy because their plants would be in great condition, they’d save time and potentially even money from not having to buy new plants they’d originally neglected.