What is explAIn?
Read on and find out!
There's already a few "explain it to me like I'm five" apps out there - so I'll try and build on it a bit.
Android app, because I have an Android phone and haven't looked into iOS dev yet. Gemini API. Simple user interface, local storage, input field and conversation-style responses.
Input field is either text or voice (nice wee wavelength bar that responds while you speak). Hit Send and Gemini goes off and gets your response. Should be pretty quick, no big complicated backend calculations.
I'm calling it explAIn.
For example, off my test version of the app I asked for explanation to the thing all kids ask about - photosynthesis. Here's the response:
"Imagine plants are like little chefs. They need food to grow big and strong. Photosynthesis is their special recipe. They use sunlight like a stove. They drink water like juice. They breathe air like us. Then, they make sugar for food! It's like magic in the leaves!"
Easy explanation. Maybe too easy? So in addition to kid-level explanations, I'm adding a few more levels of intelligence to the explanations: Teen, Adult, and Professor.
So here's photosynthesis explained at teen level:
"Plants are like the OG food makers of the world. The do this thing called photosynthesis, which is basically how they turn sunlight into food. Think of it like this: plants are like tiny solar panels. They take in sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide (that stuff we breathe out). Then, using this green stuff called chlorophyll (it's what makes plans green), they mix it all up and create glucose (like sugar) and oxygen that we breathe in. It's like a cooking recipe: Sunlight + Water + Carbon Dioxide = Glucose & Oxygen. Photosynthesis is super important because it not only feeds plants, but it also gives us the oxygen we need to breathe!"
It's a little bit "how do you do, fellow kids", but the science sounds good! I typed that off my phone, so I hope you'll forgive me if I don't type out the Professor-level explanation. I read it and needed a nap afterward.
Idea is that I'll charge for the app itself, no subscriptions or in-app payments. Need to cover that API usage somehow.