The Flutter apps and the Server is 99% done until shipping!

This is rather a bigger devlog, I didn’t make a more smaller ones, but let’s see what I’ve done:

• Easier pairing: Now instead of using a qr code (which in the Docker terminal is unreliable), you get a 4 number pairing code, which you can use to communicate the 64 char JWT token. It’s much easier, and much more reliable.
• Docker: I implemented Docker, but it seems like at the moment that it only really works on MacOS, i might phase Docker out and make setup commands for each, maybe a oneliner with curl, or something like that.
• Bugfixes : Lots of bugfixes in those 6,5 hours, I can’t even list all of them, connectivity issues, pairing issues, camera issues,
• UI Cleanup: I removed developer overlays from the web e.g Eruda mobile console overlay.

I will be focusing a lot more on the Mock API for the demo site, and polishing for Shipping EXCEPT for one feature that I still want to add, and that would be insanely good.

Bye guys!

🚀 WebClient is getting ready!

I’ve done multiple things with the WebClient over the last 4 hours, and we are getting closer and closer to shipping! Here is a quick rundown of the progress:

🛠️ Key Features & Updates

• Unified Multi-Mode: You can now choose whether you want to use a device as a Client (Viewer) or a Monitor (Camera).
• Zone Management: Zone adding now works! (Showing current zones is still slightly broken, but we are getting there).
• Event Tracking: Zone enter/exit detection is fully functional.
• Dashboard Stats: Added panels to show “Last seen” and “Most seen” locations.
• Pet Profiles: You can now edit your pet’s profile directly from the Settings tab.
• Settings Reset: Added the ability to wipe all local settings if you want a fresh start.

🎨 UI & UX Polish

• Dark Mode: Synced theme with Client, dark and light mode aswell.
• Cleaned up the UI: Removed all unnecessary buttons.

P.S. Berci got vaccinated today! 💉🐇 So now he’s immune to both physical viruses and mental breakdowns over JavaScript!

now i understand why web developers are all bald and angry…

Okkkay so, little bit of a backgound here, I do not agree on the fact that I should pay for FOSS apps to be put on the play store and app store, that for one company i should pay 25 bucks once and then i can put my app on the app store and i have to pay 100 BUCKS YEARLY TO APPLE. So, instead of creating an app for iOS, since you can’t really sideload (there are ways for people in Europe and you can jailbreak bla bla bla…) and this app is made for ordinary people. Not developers. So, as a last resort, I am making a WebClient and WebMonitor, so the apps are able to run without even installing anything. Obviously the installed apps will run better and feel better, but then no iOS support, which I did not want.

So, I started working with AI on a WebClient and WebMonitor and started learning JavaScript, but that…. Dart next to Javascript is a kids game honestly, very hard, I tried to make it easier for me by using TailwindCSS which I have some experience in, but it wasn’t that easy. To eliminate AI slop, I have a great Web developer friend (became bald at the bold age of 30), and he’ll monitor the code and check if it is alright for “prod”…

🛠️ BUGFIXES! BUGFIXES!

I didn’t really add any new features this time, but rather focused on fixing and polishing already existing features.

🔒 Security and Stability

• Token Generation: I removed hardcoded “placeholder” tokens; the system now creates a new API token seamlessly.
• Storage Limits: Added a maximum 500 picture limit on the server, so it doesn’t fill up the storage if the cleanup task fails.
• Syntax Fixes: Fixed a broken dictionary on the server which threw garbage JSON.

✨ UI and Usability

• Notification Cooldown: Added a 1-minute cooldown between notifications to prevent spam.
• Better Statistics: Now the Activities tab shows 50 events instead of 5 for more accurate data.
• Dynamic Names: Removed fallback placeholder names (no more hardcoded fake names).
• 100% Localization: Removed all hardcoded UI strings and moved absolutely everything into l10n and .arb dictionaries.

🏗️ Architecture

• Hardware JPEG Streaming: Switched to native hardware JPEG streaming for faster picture taking, completely replacing the heavy RepaintBoundary method.

🚧 IN THE WORKS: WebSocket migration! I will tackle that tomorrow to achieve real-time streaming.

Here is a picture showing git graph (lol) and Berci as I was fixing up issues.

Bye guys!

More seamless Setup!

I have edited the Setups, so now, it is more seamless:

• When you Install the server, it spits out a QR-code, which you have to scan while setting up the Client app, they connect, and you have to set up the profile of the pet, and a 4 digit pin code, which will be for the WebClient that I am planning to make. After that, the phone spits out another QR code, which you have to scan with the Monitor, and it will connect automatically, and only then will the app let you in.

• Also, I added E2EE to the server - client connection, to make it more secure, and I also did some bugfixes. I will start to Polish the apps, make it so easy to set up that even somebody who doesn’t use technology day-to-day would be able to set it up perfectly.

Bye guys!

Monitor ready, server working, Client UI is mostly done, we are shipping soon!

I made a few adjustments today:

Monitor:

• Synced theme with Client
• Fixed alignment issues
• Added Auto reconnect and Auto capture
• Monitor is basically finished, I don’t think I will add anything to the monitor before shipping now.

New README.md:

• I completly redesigned the README, now in my opinion its almost perfect.

Tomorrow, I will start to make a webpage for the project, and I might make a WebUI before the project ships, and add some more tests, but I will sleep on that.
Bye guys!

Frontend Changes to PetTrack!

Today I worked a lot on PetTrack, and I made a few small but nice changes:

• Zone Notifications: You now get notified if a pet enters or exits a zone.
• Battery Alerts: Get notifications if the monitor’s battery is low (can be set between 5% and 50%).
• Camera Placeholder: Added a placeholder picture for when the camera is offline.
• Pet Types: You can now set the type of pet you have. I’ve added a few common ones, but I can add more if needed!
• Dynamic Live Badge: Fixed the hardcoded “Live” text on the dashboard. Now it shows exactly when the picture was taken (e.g., “30 seconds ago”), and if it’s under 10 seconds, it will say “Live”.
• “Continuous” Video: It’s still using pictures, but instead of updating every 30 seconds, it now updates roughly every 2 seconds.
• UI Cleanup: Removed the zoom buttons from the Zones screen since they were unnecessary.
• Custom Zones & Icons: When adding a new zone, you can now assign it a category (play area, toilet, food, water, bed) with matching icons. I’ll add a fully customizable option later!
• Bug Fixes: Fixed some minor layout issues.

That’s all I think.
Bye guys!

Miscellaneous Updates to PetTrack!

Hey guys! I know I haven’t posted in almost 2 weeks at this point. I needed a break from coding and doing work at the PC/PetTrack.

We have a few miscellaneous updates to share:

• Custom Monitor IDs: You can now set a custom Monitor ID, and it will show up properly in the PetTrack app as well, instead of just defaulting to “Main Monitor”.
• Battery Status: You can now see the battery percentage and whether it’s charging directly in the app! I plan to add a feature later that will send a notification to the PetTrack Client app when the monitor phone’s battery is running low.
• Backend Testing: Added testing to the PetTrack server for both the WebSocket and REST API, so you can easily check if the API and WS are working correctly.

I will put more effort and hours into the project soon, but I have a lot of other things going on besides this project, and I don’t want to risk burning out.

Bye!

P.S: This is Berci from a few days ago and I pushed everything to GH!

Hey guys!

I haven’t posted a devlog in a few days now, I have been working on some stuff here, and I have to say that I have some very good news!

We finally have a Client app! It is a work in progress, but it is something!

I don’t remember everything I have changed in the code, but:

• API adjusted, added a layer of security, because the API wasn’t secured.
• Added zones to pettrack_server, and added an API to edit it,
• Added Database (maybe mentioned in last devlog)
• Takes pictures every 2 seconds, only saves every 30 seconds for 12 hours (will add a replay mode or something like that)
• pettrack_monitor almost fully done, only need to add some stuff here and there.
• pettrack_server is in an MVP state now, it works beautifully but some features are still missing before shipping
• pettrack_client has been made (not pushed to GH yet), works well, though I am pretty fking shyt in UI design, so I made the UI with stitch.withgoogle.com and coded some of it with Gemini, though it still needs a lot of work.
• Live camera somewhat works (TODO: need to add when watching in the app to show the new pictures (that are taken every 2 seconds and not the 30 seconds saved))
• Shows which zone was the most used- Shows last interaction (movement)
• Last 15 activities (entered zone, left zone, will add more later ? (NEED IDEAS!))
• You can add zones (see the live camera and set it via adding points on the picture)
• You can set a picture and name for your pet in the client app- Always changing welcome greetings

• No logo / face for the program yet, and no website, will start working on that later
• The Client app seems very stable for now, no issues found, pettrack_monitor has issues with focusing, server seems stable aswell.

I am soon looking for testers for the program, before shipping I want to make sure that this is functional and useful for small pet owners, and what might work for me in my use case, it might not for somebody else, and I want to make it as stable as I am able to.
Everything is opensource, available on https://github.com/szbnce/PetTrack (will push everything to GH tomorrow!), DM me on Slack if interested, currently only available for Android.
I will start working on the UI and fix the bugs, and get back to you guys soon!

Here are some pictures of the UI!

Hey guys!
It’s been a long day, once again, but I have some good news!
I have started working on PetTrack Client, started writing the UI and the functions of the app, but that’s when I realised that I still have no way of storing the data, analyzing the data and I don’t have any API routes where I could check or see the NON EXISTENT DATA!

so, I left pettrack_client and started working on the backend, it’s getting somewhere, but I have not pushed changes to GH yet, because I haven’t finished it yet and it would not run in this state.

I will try to finish changes with the backend tomorrow so I can start working on the frontend / client with real, actual data.

Until then, here is a picture of PetTrack Monitor running on a somewhat low end Android 8.0 device and my IDE :D

Good day everybody!

It’s been a long day. I have done a lot of things today, mainly with pettrack_monitor. Basically:

Firstly, I did a git rebase and made my last few commits make a bit more sense. There were commits that weren’t that useful or had the wrong name; it’s always better to have a good commit history. Next, I finally installed the app on a real device, and let’s just say, there were some problems. The flashlight was on while taking pictures, which is what I fixed first. It was quite easy, just one line: await _controller.setFlashMode(FlashMode.off);

Afterward, it dawned on me that most people (including me) will use this app in Landscape mode, not Portrait. I fixed that issue next, but that itself came with a batch of new problems. The layout broke, like, fully. I couldn’t use the app at all, so I had to rewrite the whole layout with flexes and SizedBoxes; it was a pain in the a**. After this issue, instead of showing the SetupScreen every time the app opens, I made it a one-time thing and added a Settings menu and an About page. There were some issues with overflowing, but I fixed that as well. Now the app is fully functional. However, there is an issue I haven’t gotten around to fixing yet: when I exit the SetupScreen and go into MonitorScreen, the Xiaomi Camera API kills itself for whatever reason. I tried fixing it, but to no avail.

It’s currently 12:30 AM, and I am very tired now. Tomorrow, I hope I will fix all remaining issues with the Monitor app and move onto the Server-side logic, zones, database, etc. And while doing that, I will start working on the Client-side app (at least an MVP) so I can start testing the app and server together.

Berci is also looking forward to testing the app! (And don’t ask why he is there he is there because he wants to I have no idea why that’s good for him)

Peace out!

We finally have the server in Docker up and running!

I haven’t had much time to work on the project yesterday and today, but I started working on the Docker and Dockerfile, and well this is still whichcraft for me :p

But, we are developing and we are getting ahead, and I hope that after the MVP for the server is working, I can start working on the client side MVP of the app, and we can start implementing features from there.

I am very tired, and I have a long day tomorrow.
Until then, there is another picture of Berci!
P.S: Tomorrow I hope I can show some of the actual project!

Hey!

Welcome to my project, PetTrack, this is the first Devlog of the project.

I just recently got a rabbit, and while in school, I don’t know what she’s doing. And I assume a lot of animal parents face the same issue, or not an issue but just an uncomfortable feeling, maybe she/he got out, maybe they are doing something wrong, maybe they are not doing well, etc.

This is what PetTrack aims to solve, so this uncomfortable feeling goes away, and you can be sure that your pet is safe and sound, while you are away.

It uses an old phone as a “Monitor”, which will be attached to for example the cage of a pet, and connected to external power.

Originally I wanted to make it so that there is no “central” computing, but after thinking about this for some time, and figuring that most of the people who are going to use this are going to use a close to min requirement phone (assuming low range old phone, and not a new flagship/new anything basically) and the issues with if the monitor dies for some issue, I decided on using a “central server” and using FastAPI with WebSockets to make the usage more seamless. It will be a simple Docker image that you will need to compose and run on a RPI or your server.

The Client will be the “main” app, the one you will use the most, the one you’ll use daily. This is my last priority at the moment, let’s get the data first (Monitor), analyze and make use of the data (Server/backend), and the last is to see the data (Client).

I’m open to any and all feedback on the project, any tips, help with Py/Flutter, would appreciate!
Thanks for reading!

Pic Description: My rabbit, named Berci, and an MVP of the server and Monitor.