https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqGVLMrtJPk&ab_channel=XYREZ

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TLDR;

I am an Android developer with 5 years of experience in the field and this is my very first app that I have created in my free time and published to public. Swifto: Ingredient Recipes is available only on Android for now. The focus of Swifto is to solve the everyday problem of “What to cook for dinner?”, but with a unique approach - it uses live camera-feed to automatically detect ingredients you have at hand. The main concept is to use ingredients you already have, but the app allows to find recipes based on simple search queries as well. It also offers filtering by diet, prep time and meal type.

P.S. It’s completely free with no ads! 🙌

Why I built Swifto

While I’ve had extensive Android development experience during these years, I have never felt a real drive to code my own application. Last year I decided to travel through Europe for 10 months and while hopping from one country to another, I encountered an every-day problem - coming back home and deciding what to cook. I wanted something quick, healthy and preferably cheap, but most importantly - something new. Surprisingly enough, I realized that for me it wasn’t the cooking process, but the thinking part of what to cook again that drove me nuts. Not laziness. Creativity. I started working on the wireframes, UI/UX, model training in May, 2023. It took me 6 months to get where we are today.

I wanted to find a mobile app that had a simple UI and easy to follow recipes, but what I found was that most popular apps offer a lot more. And I mean - “a lot more”… To the point where finding and deciding what I will eat turns into a nightmare and I end up buying a frozen pizza instead. If one app had beautiful UI and UX, then it was missing simple filter or the recipes were great, but UI terrible. And what if you want to find recipes based on a list of ingredients (I found exactly 3 apps that did that, but each one was missing something)?

So I decided to come up with a somewhat simple design, remove all the fancy functions that other apps offer (that were about anything else, but the recipes and finding them) and spice it up with a object detection solution that uses camera live-feed to automatically detect vegetables you already have. Now… While it works good in most cases, it is far from perfect and I do plan to improve it. 🤓

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What’s the end goal?

Now and then I’ve heard critiques saying “I can write the name of ingredients, what’s the point?”. Speed. While this is the very first iteration of the app, at the later stages, it will be able to detect 5+ vegetables simultaneously and precisely - and have a list of all the ingredients you have in the fridge within a few seconds. A few button clicks, no keyboard (writing) interaction required and you’re presented with hundreds of easy to follow recipes.

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I need your help…

While the app did help and solved my previously stated problems, I want to understand if this is something that other people are also seeking (and finding helpful). Any feedback - good or bad is highly appreciated, weather it is about the idea itself or app. I’m also eager to hear any future ideas you have regarding Swifto if it made you at least little bit excited. If you do enjoy the app, please leave a review - it does help tremendously. 👨‍🍳👨‍🍳👨‍🍳

P.S. Happy to answer technical questions :)