Go to the Google Play Store. Type in absolutely anything that comes to mind. For just about any query, one is guaranteed hundreds or possibly thousands of app results. Now try 'Bechdel.' One app. There is one lonely app called 'Quotes of Alison Bechdel.' So after a long time spent generating app ideas, an easy way to check whether a new/favorite movie passes the Bechdel test, became my ultimate goal.
I had 3 primary objectives when building this app. It had to allow people to search for a specific movie. It had to provide movie watching suggestions via notifications (optional). And finally, it had to do all of this as quickly and seamlessly as possible.
1. Search
This was pretty simple to implement due to an amazing rating database provided by bechdeltest.com. Their API was incredibly flexible allowing for search by IMDB id, movie title, and even provided a quick way to download their entire collection. Unfortunately, the database does not provide posters or any other movie specific information so it is supplemented by the Open Movie Database which supplies cover images, plot summaries, awards and a myriad of other useful data. A combination of both databases helps bring together all of the knowledge needed to present the movies in a comprehensive form.
2. Suggestions
Suggestion notifications were less of a logistics problem but more so a technical issue. How can the app provide movies without being annoying? To alleviate the dilemma, besides a simple toggle to disable it altogether, a drop down box allows for choosing between daily, weekly, and bi-weekly suggestions.
3. Speed
To be as fast as possible, on the first run, Bechdel downloads a 'light' list of the entire database so that on further launches, only posters and limited movie data has to be requested from the internet.
Thousands of lines of code later, Bechdel was born.
A simple tool that helps users make informed decisions about what movies to watch.
1. Search
This was pretty simple to implement due to an amazing rating database provided by bechdeltest.com. Their API was incredibly flexible allowing for search by IMDB id, movie title, and even provided a quick way to download their entire collection. Unfortunately, the database does not provide posters or any other movie specific information so it is supplemented by the Open Movie Database which supplies cover images, plot summaries, awards and a myriad of other useful data. A combination of both databases helps bring together all of the knowledge needed to present the movies in a comprehensive form.
2. Suggestions
Suggestion notifications were less of a logistics problem but more so a technical issue. How can the app provide movies without being annoying? To alleviate the dilemma, besides a simple toggle to disable it altogether, a drop down box allows for choosing between daily, weekly, and bi-weekly suggestions.
3. Speed
To be as fast as possible, on the first run, Bechdel downloads a 'light' list of the entire database so that on further launches, only posters and limited movie data has to be requested from the internet.
Thousands of lines of code later, Bechdel was born.
A simple tool that helps users make informed decisions about what movies to watch.
Resources:
http://bechdeltest.com/api/v1/doc
http://www.omdbapi.com/
https://github.com/arimorty/floatingsearchview
http://square.github.io/picasso/
https://github.com/recruit-mp/android-HeaderFooterGridView
http://dykestowatchoutfor.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/The-Rule-cleaned-up.jpg
https://vimeo.com/85232647
http://sexylamptest.tumblr.com (I really wish there was a database for this!)
Edit 1: T
Edit 2: My app has now been taken down by Amazon as well. I have filed an appeal as I have the right to use the posters within the app. Hopefuly this gets resolved soon. Until then, there is a download think on the Github page. Sorry!
Edit 3: Both Amazon and Google have rejected my appeals :( I will not be pursuing the matter further in fear of my developer accounts being banned. The project will remain on Github.
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