On June 11, 2016, my first app, Bay Wanderer: Visual guide to San Francisco, made it onto the app store. It took me almost 2 years to complete version 1.0: from learning how to code in Swift, gathering data for the app (consisting of researching and compiling a list of 101 locations in San Francisco – that included descriptions of each and GPS coordinates), running around San Francisco to take photographs of all the locations, bringing that data and photos to the app, the sleepless nights coding (and the numerous code bugs I had to squash), to finally submitting my app to the Apple App Store.
It was a lot of work. But because I enjoyed everything, it didn’t really feel like work. From the beginning, I knew what I wanted to do and that was to create a travel app about the Bay Area. With that guiding light, I didn’t have to wander too far from my goal.
On the coding side of things: I used Swift to code the app and the data displayed uses UICollectionView class to display information. Once a cell is selected, a new window appears with additional information and an image of the selection. In its current iteration (ver 1.0), the information is retrieved from a .plist. The information in the .plist include: image filename, name of location, neighborhood, tagline of location, location coordinates, and a brief description/history of the location.
About Bay Wanderer: Visual guide to San Francisco
Need ideas on where to wander around in San Francisco? Let Bay Wanderer be your travel guide. You will find info on must-see locations (like Golden Gate Bridge and Fisherman’s Wharf) as well as local spots (like Turtle Hill and Moraga Tiled Steps). Whatever brings you to San Francisco, whether it be for fun or for business – WELCOME!
Hope you enjoy this guide and remember: ALWAYS WANDER SAFELY
Yes, all images inside the app were taken by me. I spent a good 20 hours researching all the places in the app and wandering through the streets of San Francisco taking pictures. It was fun, but exhausting!