Developing MyCrohnicles — Our Initial Setbacks and the App’s Benefits
I was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease when I was seven, and my dad was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis before I was born. Due to the harsh side effects of medicine, my parents encouraged me to consider alternative treatments, and I followed many diets. At one point, I was vegan, gluten-free, sugar-free, and oil-free simultaneously, basically only eating rice and vegetables. It’s safe to say that I grew up around tempting junk food, but I learned to be cautious and mindful of nutrition. Legendary football player Ray Lewis once said, “Bottom line, your body is a temple, and you have to treat it that way.”
Although I am taking medication and can eat whatever I desire, the principle of discipline has been drilled into my brain. I have also seen my cousin struggle with a nut allergy. All three of us have experienced struggles and disappointments with food choices, and we recognize that many others may have similar experiences.
The bottom line is: Food is essential to our well-being, and we must be mindful of it. The United States has around 200,000 Crohn’s disease cases per year and about the same amount of Ulcerative Colitis cases. I have used many diet-tracking apps, but I noticed that I needed a more personalized lifestyle app.
I reached out to my cousins, and with our combined expertise, we hit the ground running with the development of MyCrohnicles. I had a general idea of the app and (embarrassingly enough) came up with the name “MyCrohnicles” in the shower. My cousin, Udhirna Krishnamurthy, listened to my ideas passionately and designed the app. My other cousin, Svadrut Krishnamurthy, then coded the app and brought our idea to life.
We faced some difficulties when developing MyCrohnicles, though. For example, the app got rejected the first time we submitted it for review. It turns out that Apple sign-in was required on the app’s login screen, and Svadrut got right on it before we resubmitted it. Also, we received feedback from Apple requesting sources for our rating system, so we had to find those as well. Although there have been challenges, the last ten months have been a great bonding experience, and we loved seeing our collaboration come to fruition.
Now, the app has been published. We hope the app can help you not only deal with your IBD symptoms but also embrace them. You can use MyCrohnicles as you would use any other health & fitness app, but just remember that our ratings are meant to help you be in control of your body. MyCrohnicles will allow us to raise awareness for Crohn’s and Colitis patients and hopefully bring a community together through the power of connection and empathy.
You can download MyCrohnicles from the AppStore and the Play Store.
Please learn about the development and the design of the app from these blogs:
