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Inspiration
The largest lie on the internet: "I have read and agree to the Terms and Conditions". As an avid user of the internet, there are numerous times where I have simply clicked the little check box without even reading a single line of the terms and conditions. I wanted to develop an app where it would not only be able to go through every single line of these pesky terms and conditions, but also teach me, and other users, more about privacy and safety on the internet.
What it does
The app consists of three sections: 1) Learn About Online Safety / Quick Links, 2) Terms and Conditions Analysis, 3) Notes. The first section provides users with a self-made and customized Google search engine that will only bring up reliable information regarding privacy on the internet. The search bar is supposed to act as the research center of the app where users will be able to research different topics regarding privacy and security. Secondly, there is the Terms and Conditions Analysis section, which is where users can paste a whole Terms and Conditions document (Yes, even Itune's 26 paged one) and it will notify the users regarding concerning keywords that are included within the various sentences. Finally, there is a Notes section, where users are able to write down all different types of savable notes that they have accumulated from their research regarding privacy and security. Overall, this app provides a helpful learning center for all that has to do with privacy and security on the internet.
How I built it
I built this app using MIT App Inventor, the creation of a Google Search engine, and countless Youtube videos that I scoured the web for. I also built the made of the background of the app using Canva. I have a strong background in Java, but the MIT App Inventor program allowed me to build the app solely using block code which, as I came to notice, maintained the same type of logic that is held in Java, and other programming languages.
Challenges I ran into
Considering it was the first time that I had ever used the MIT App Inventor block code application, there were some obvious struggles I ran into. After a few hours of playing around with the system, I was able to get in the flow of using the different tools and components available on the program. It was also new for me to be working with block code, as well as the fact that I had to learn how to make a custom search engine. I would have to say that the largest challenge to get through was being able to send data between each of the screens that the app had, and being able to identify keywords in the Terms and Conditions analysis sector and have them display on the screen. I believe this project was quite a learning experience for me. Yes, I experienced challenges, but I was able to overcome them as well (with time, of course)!
Accomplishments that I'm proud of
Overall, I'm very proud of the fact that the app is able to successfully access the custom search engine that I made. It took a while to figure out, but it's something I'm definitely proud of.
What I learned
Not only did I learn how to make a custom search engine, but I also learned how to work with the MIT App Inventor program. In the future, I am excited to be able to play around with and build more apps.
What's next for OSafety
I love how OSafety turned out. I think it is currently a very informative application learning center. I do think that if I had a couple more hours to work on this app I would add a specific Quick Links page (rather than linking it to the main research center), and I would add more keywords and phrases to look for in respect to the Terms and Conditions Analysis section. In the future, I would also like to publish the app officially on either the Play Store or the App Store.
Devpost Submission link.
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