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Franco Scarpa
Franco Scarpa

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What can I build for my family?

I want to build a mobile application for my family. Probably it'll be a Web application since the Web represents the fastest way for me to build something for them. The problem is that I can't find any idea. It could be anything simple, from a to-do app shared between us to a custom weather application. Do you have any ideas? What do you think would be a useful app for your family? Let me know! 😁

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Ben Halpern • Edited

I 100% plan to get my family onto Forem when it's ready for that use case.

  • Super duper private. No spies or ads.
  • Fewer missed moments vs chat threads and fully synchronous environments
  • Sort by old stuff to keep a shared photo book of all the kids growing up
  • Invite spouses into to the network when they join the family

Of course this isn't software you entirely build, but that's the beauty of open source. You could help us tackle some of the complex coding problems and we could build out this use case together. ❀️

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Franco Scarpa

I didn't know about this great idea! I'm for it! It's something too big for my situation, but I'll stay tuned about its development.

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Mike

Maybe just a family sharing board? Like a group chat with more features

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Mikael

This would be nice, like a facebook wall for family :)

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Mike

I've also thought about building a cool "home control panel." Would have a page for controlling our smart home and then a board for doodles, notes, lists, photos

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Mikael

Ah if you have a Smart Home you can do cool stuff! Control your kids' time at home, tell them to go outside via a speaker, turn off their consoles haha

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lehmannsystems profile image
Mike

Ha yeah that would be pretty cool. It's hard to come up with a unique idea these days

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Franco Scarpa

Our Telegram group is already perfect for us, thanks anyway!

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Fayaz Ahmed

Since you mentioned family, why not build something like Cocoon

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Franco Scarpa

I didn't know about it, really interesting! Thanks.

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Dylan Anderson

I built a "Gifts" web app. We're bad at buying gifts others want, so I made a site where members can create a wishlist, and other members can mark it as "bought" (which is hidden from the wishing member). Makes Christmas a lot easier, though admittedly a bit less thoughtful.

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Franco Scarpa

Really nice idea! Thanks for it. What did you use (languages, tools, etc.) to build it?

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Dylan Anderson

I didn't worry about making it fancy, so I just did standard Bootstrap + PHP + MySQL

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Adam Crockett πŸŒ€ • Edited

What problems do your family have and then go from there. This could be anything from a bathroom schedule to a list of jobs to do.

My family uses Trello boards for everything is that strange? We would use Jira but it's too expensive haha. FAM-5836 take out the trash, assigned to my 2 year old son.

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Franco Scarpa

That's the problem, I can't figure out any practical ideas to develop something, but maybe a simple to-do app could do the trick.

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Adam Crockett πŸŒ€

Do you have kids for starters because a gamified Todo list would be fun

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Kasey Speakman • Edited

For pure utility, an app to request items from the store. Sometimes I think of something earlier in the week but do not remember it by the time the store trip is getting planned. Yes, Trello could easily be used for this. But you could also grow your app iteratively as you think of new things.

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Franco Scarpa

That could be my winning idea! Thanks!

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mike dg

I built a Google assistant app that lets my kid ask if either of us are in a meeting and it tells him which parent he should talk to, sometimes both, more often just mom.

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Franco Scarpa

Interesting idea, thanks!

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cubiclesocial

A family recipe web app.

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Franco Scarpa

Thanks!

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Vesi Staneva

That is a very nice idea! My personal favorite is where one of our customers on SashiDo shared how he started creating a game (Pokemon Go-like) with his 10 y.o. son so they can connect during Quarantine. So why not build a fun game and involve all family members in the process? :)

We also had a post about X-mas idea gifts where you can find some inspo. And if you're looking for a place to build and host your project - on SashiDo we offer an extended 45-days Free Trial, so you can build your project for free ;)

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Franco Scarpa

The gift idea is something I can carry on... Thanks!

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Vesi Staneva

You're welcome and have fun! :)

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emadsaber

I think that your family members have the answer, you can make a great app but its not useful for them. You have to ask them to find an app idea that covers their needs.

Two years ago, my wife was asking me everyday, what should we cook today? And that question bothers me and nearly all men, so I created a mobile app for her, contains all list of meals that I and her like, she opens the app presses one button , the app selects a random meal that she will cook today. :D :D

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Franco Scarpa

That would be perfect for me and my future girlfriend, ahah! Unfortunately it's not something practical for my family since we rarely eat together. Thanks anyway!