Butterfly of the Day

The Problem

The Reiman Gardens butterfly wing is home to many butterfly species and is a part of the International Association of Butterfly Exhibitors and Suppliers (IABES), whose members house hundreds of other species. Reiman Gardens and other IABES members have professionally photographed many of their butterflies and are looking for another way to share them with the general public. This needs to be done in a way that is accessible to a wide demographic of users located all over the world. 

The Project

To improve the publicity of IABES exhibit locations and share these butterfly photos, our client requested an Android and iOS app which would display a new butterfly image and species every day. This is managed through a web application which allows IABES users to upload their images. 

Android

In the Android app, users are given the option to turn on a setting to have their lock screen wallpaper, home screen wallpaper, or both wallpapers updated daily with an image of the current butterfly of the day. This photo is often different than what can be viewed in the app to give users an incentive to turn on the wallpaper functionality. The app also comes with a widget, which is customizable within the app to display information like a butterfly's common name, scientific name, and the current date. The app has been translated to ~25 common languages to allow users all over the world to experience it fully.  

iOS

In the iOS app, users are allowed to view the butterfly of the day by opening the app. They are also able to place a widget on their home screen, which is customizable in the same way that the Android app is. Due to iOS limitations, a user's wallpaper is unable to be updated the way it is for Android, but it still satisfies the purpose of the app. 

Webpage

The web application allows IABES members and other authorized users to upload portrait and landscape images of butterflies, add their common name, scientific name, and any notes about the butterfly, and optionally assign a specific day for a butterfly to be displayed. The webpage also gives the ability to edit the information on the about page of the app, where an instructional video for how to use the app is stored, as well as an explanation of how the apps came to be. Admin users can grant other users access to the web app to allow them to make changes as well. 

Wallpaper Tester

To allow for easier testing of images as a wallpaper before it is sent to a user, an Android wallpaper testing app was given to our client to allow them to enter an image ID (which can be found on the web application) and with the click of a button, download the image and set it as the wallpaper of the device. If a bad ID is entered or the wallpaper is not successfully downloaded and set, the app gives the user an error message.