From Notes app
to native app.
From Notes app
to native app.
My anti-algorithm solution.
What began as a running list of shows and movies became RIPPL, a beautifully simple way to share recommendations with friends. This was one idea, a lot of curiosity, and a personal challenge to design, build, and ship my first app.
I wanted a way to share and receive streaming recommendations from people I actually know, not an algorithm that pigeonholes me.
From raw Figma designs to the App Store, my idea started before AI was widespread. For 2 years the designs sat in Figma as an idea.
Within 2 months, with the assistance of AI, I coded the entire app and made it fully functional among friends with SMS verification through Twilio, Supabase housing everyone's data, and actual show content supplied through APIs from TMDB, JustWatch, and Youtube.
CURRENTLY IN BETA
RIPPL is currently in private beta testring on iOS through TestFlight, Apple's testing app. I am continuing to refine bugs and gather feedback. Want to be part of my test crew?
A PERSONAL PROJECT
From Figma to Functionality
There is no better way to learn than to DO.
This was an app I wished existed. Sure there are similar apps on the App Store, but not exactly. So I set out to design it exactly how I wanted it to look, building out each component and a comprehensive design library.
Then I used ChatGPT to meticulously start building the actual app. Viewing the prototype on my phone, I got even more thoughtful about the design and various states, including what the empty feed state looks like to a newcomer.
Built-in logic remembers users who have viewed or skipped the onboarding screens and does not re-surface them for return users:
APIs pull real-time data for searching from TMDB, JustWatch, and Youtube. Users set their subscriptions so they can filter out what they do not subscribe to.
The home feed has two states, condensed and expanded for larger poster images. The synopsis is kept collapsed until the user taps to expand it. I intentionally decided to avoid features like adding personal comments, "likes", and review stars. RIPPL is minimal on purpose. You already know your friends and their taste. This is just an attractive repository for what to watch next from people you know.
Want to be part of my test crew? Try RIPPL for yourself and let me know what you think!
