Me and Remote Reminder

The Blog

I am going to write a weekly blogs on the development of the new Android application which I am calling "Remote Reminder".  As passionate Mobile Developer and a soon to be Graduate Software Engineer, my blogs will reflect on the process of development of the applications, the decisions I take, the issues I faced and the overall construction of the software.

This blog would be useful for me to reflect back on my work and also this blog will help other collage students and fresh graduates to learn from my experience and mistake. We learn faster by sharing ideas, experience and getting feedback from the like minded people and so, I welcome comments and good decision on the topic.

The Purpose of Developing Remote Reminders

The main purpose of developing Remote Reminders is to improve my Android Development Skills. 

The Application License 

The application will be released as Open Source under MIT License. Keep an eye on my GitHub Profile.

About Me

My name is Rushabh Padalia and I am a final year Student at Australian National University. I am 2 months away from Graduation and I am actively looking for job as a Graduate Mobile Developer. I have made one Android Application already and is available on Play Store. Remember To Call  - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rushabh.remembertocall. Please install it and give me feedback. Feedback gives me confidence to keep learning and developing more applications.   The code for the project is released as Open Source under MIT License. See the code from my GitHub Repo.

The Idea

The Remote Reminder is small Android Application which will allow users to set reminders for their friends. People usually forget things that are communicated verbally and that is why we write down stuff so that we can remember them later on. With Remote Reminders your friend or family can send u an reminder invitation, which you can accept or decline. The reminder automatically sets alarm with details like time, message, etc as specified with the reminder invitation. 

How is this different? 

There are so many reminder applications out there like Google Calendar. In Google  Calendar you can do the exact same thing that is set reminders for friends by inputting their Google ID. The person will receive notification when the time comes. But the question here I ask you is that, do you remember a time when you used Google Calendar to schedule a football match with you friends or schedule a study time with friends or a any other casual event?  Answer would be probably no, because of two simple reasons I can thing of.

1. The name "Google Calender" itself- I have never remembered using Google Calendar to Schedule anything. If I have to remember something I write it down using one of mine note taking application. People see Google Calender as just a Calender application and forget it can do many other things.
2. User Experience - The Google Calender is good for what it does, i.e show us a Calender. But it's User Interface is very office like looking - you think of Google Calender when you have to Schedule a interview or a doctor's appointment and it's User Experience is very boring. 

What do I mean by boring User Experience?     

Why do you use one application over another even if their features and performance are same? It would probably because the application you use is simple to use, good looking (White Spaces, Colors used have meaning, etc etc). But the other application is dull and it's usage doesn't make sense.