SparkWalk | Devpost

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Inspiration

This project was inspired by my love of walking. We all need more outdoor time, but people often feel like walking is pointless unless they have somewhere to go. I have fond memories of spending hours walking around just to play Pokemon Go, so I wanted to create something that would give people a reason to go somewhere new. I envision friends and family sending mystery locations to their loved ones with a secret message, picture, or video that will be revealed when they arrive. You could send them to a historical landmark, a beautiful park, or just like a neat rock you saw somewhere. The possibilities are endless!

What it does

You want to go out for a walk, but where to? SparkWalk offers users their choice of exciting "mystery walks". Given a secret location, the app tells you which direction to go and roughly how long it will take. When you get close to your destination, the app welcomes you with a message. For now, SparkWalk has just a few preset messages and locations, but the ability for users to add their own and share them with others is coming soon.

How we built it

SparkWalk was created using Expo for React Native. The map and location functionalities were implemented using the react-native-maps, expo-location, and geolib libraries.

Challenges we ran into

Styling components for different devices is always tricky! Unfortunately, I didn't have time to ensure the styling works on every device, but it works well on at least one iOS and one Android device that I tested it on.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

This is my first time using geolocation and integrating a map, so I'm proud that I was able to make it work.

What we learned

I've learned a lot more about how to work with React Native, especially using state and effect hooks.

What's next for SparkWalk

Next, I plan to add user authentication and the ability to add friends and send locations to each other. Users will be able to store messages for their friends that are tied to specific locations. I'll add a backend server and a database to host saved locations and messages. I also want to add reward cards for visiting locations that can be saved to the user's profile and reviewed later. Eventually, I'll publish the app so anyone can use it!