Dog-e-dex - Find, snap, and collect dogs you encounter!
by•
Dog-e-dex lets you upload or take pictures of good pups you see and save them into your personal collection. Add each dog's name and a note when you save them, and try to collect all the dog breeds!
Replies
Dog-e-dex
Hello!! I'm a product designer based in the Bay Area who has always loved dogs. However, I have two angry cats so I must love dogs from afar. I've had the idea for Dog-e-dex for years, but never knew how to bring it to life since I don't have technical chops. I looked into hiring engineers, but wasn't sure how to, until AI came on the scene.
Dog-e-dex is built purely by prompting using Anthropic's Claude. I have learned a lot through this process (I had no idea what a backend really was until now), but think engineering and design jobs are safe for now :). It's still quite challenging to prompt design details and I'm sure the code is a nightmare for someone to review, but it *works*!!! Can you believe it?! I can't!!
I have a bunch of ideas on future features to build, including badges, "shinies", and more! The question is, will I break the app in the pursuit of these new features? Only time will tell.
I'm kind of scared to get roasted or hacked (pls don't hack me I barely know what an API key is) but I think it's amazing what we can do with AI tools now! Try it out and let me know if it falls apart. If it all crashes or I owe a million dollars for Google Vision API calls then, well, there goes my app building career. Thanks ok bye.
Claap
Dog-e-dex
@seantiffonnet I can neither confirm or deny any similarities to the concept "catch 'em all" 👀
Congrats on launching your first app, Cynthia!
It looks super cute, I wanted to give it a try, but it's not available in my region (Austria) at the moment.
Any plans to make it available in Europe? :)
Dog-e-dex
@morgane_prr Thank you!!! And thanks for letting me know that it's not available - I didn't realize it wasn't available in EU! It should be good now? Let me know!
@cynthiachenThank you for making it available! I just downloaded the app, can’t wait to go on a walk and start my collection, it’s really cute!
Sending some scratches to your cats! I also have one at home who would definitely not be thrilled if a dog entered our space!
Dog-e-dex
@morgane_prr have fun!! :)
AskCodi
Love the honesty and energy here! Curious—what’s been the hardest part of maintaining the app post-launch, now that you’ve built it without a traditional tech background?
Dog-e-dex
@shreyans_assistiv Thanks Shreyans! Hmm I think the hardest part is the backend since I'm so unfamiliar with it. For example, I've had to improve performance and scalability, but didn't know that I had to until users ran into issues with the live build. So I appreciate users' patience and willingness to try a new product!
minimalist phone: creating folders
This should be spread worldwide – such a unified place for abandoned pets. Such a system or database would be better for anyone. Now people publish things across FB, IG, but it can be kinda ineffective. If people had this app, they could filter e.g. regions, date of saving the pet, etc. – something like a pet management system. :)
This feels like a photo album and memory book dedicated just to dogs. Congrats on your launch!
This is absolutely adorable, @cynthiachen! 🐾✨ Dog-e-dex isn't just a fun idea: it feels like a true celebration of all the random, heartwarming dog encounters we have in daily life. I love how it turns those fleeting moments into a personal collection you can actually treasure (and proudly show off!).
Also, the minimal, whimsical design fits the concept perfectly — it feels light, happy, and just... right. Curious — are you planning any future features like tagging locations or community dog-spotting challenges? It would be amazing to see local communities build tiny maps of dog adventures! 🐶🗺️
One more thing: Any chances of expanding it to India?
Congratulations again — this genuinely made my day!
Dog-e-dex
@virajmahajan22 Thank you so much!! You get the app perfectly. Those are amazing ideas!!! I have thought about partnering with famous dogs and making events of special "catches" lol but not sure how to build or run that 😅 I think it should be available in India? but lmk if you're seeing anything different!
I enjoy the gamification aspect! Perfect for dog lovers! 👍
Bolto
Haha I love this!