My App Development Journey
Update: Fast and Fit has been on the App Store for 3 months and has over 600 downloads. It was featured in article on LetsRun.com, a popular running website.
When I first thought about doing app development it seemed daunting. How could I develop an app good enough to be on the AppStore? But as I got introduced to iOS app development through a course on Udemy, I began to enjoy it. One of the tools on Xcode I was fascinated by was CoreML. I became interested in exploring the applications of features like Image Classification and Object Detection. Learning about Xcode features and developing apps like a messaging app inspired me to want to develop my own app.
It was challenging at first looking for app ideas? I looked for ideas in many genres but it was challenging finding a unique idea. I decided to look for app ideas related to my passions. I was interested in sports like basketball and football but particularly running. I had been running for many years and as a runner faced many problems like injuries,shoes,etc. I realized that I would find my best app idea in running.
The most common problems I faced as a runner were injuries and bad race performances due to worn out running shoes. I thought about making an app with the features that most running apps have like a gps tracker but I wanted my app to be unique. I looked on the App Store at running apps like Strava for inspiration and read up online about shoe related problems runners faced. As I was researching running shoe problems I learned about overpronation and oversupination which are running form problems and the injuries they cause. The articles I read showed how those problems could be identified by the pattern of wear on the running shoe. I looked online at shoes with these patterns of wear to learn more about the problem. Some patterns of wear were easy to identify but others were unclear. I also read about checking when to replace running shoes. Many experts advised replacing running shoes based on the mileage on the shoe and the cushion is worn out. It made me wonder if can I find a way to help runners to check their shoe quality and identify these form problems?
I started prototyping my app idea using CoreML to make the shoe analysis feature. I collected different images of running shoes of all kinds: new shoes, dirty but good quality shoes, shoes worn out due to overpronation, and shoes worn out due to oversupination.I created the ML Model after compiling a collection of images and categorizing them. At first the model was inaccurate and failed to identify the proper shoe but after adding more data to the model, it became more accurate. I implemented the model in my Xcode app through the camera app after it became relatively accurate.
I released Fast And Fit to the App Store after long testing of the functionality of my app and the shoe feature. I believe my app provides runners of all levels with resources to be successful as runners. I made it free because I want these resources to be accessible to all runners. Instead of having to go through constant injuries like I did, I hope through this app runners will be able to identify injuries early and deal with them. I think one of the most important parts of improving as a runner is staying healthy. Many runners who are fast might get injuries and over time as these injuries keep happening the performance becomes worse. If you are interested in my app, please download, give me your feedback on how I can improve the app, and share it with others. I plan to add new features to the app in the future.
Link to my app: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/fast-and-fit/id6443461225
