GSoC Week 10 – The week of distractions and renewed focus on the simulator
The plan for the week was clear: prioritize Download Image, User Manual, Discussion Forum, and Themes. Simple, clear, and direct. However, during the work, several distractions arose that ended up improving the app.
Detour 1 Project and description editing: while trying to edit a project, several inconsistencies were detected in the interface and in data filling. The interface was not uniform, the tags field did not indicate how to add multiple tags, and worst of all, when updating and editing again, the previous data disappeared. Solution applied: I fixed the persistence so that when reopening the edit, all data is preserved, and I also implemented the display of tags with color chips similar to those on the website to improve visual coherence and user experience. Related PR: 415
Detour 2 Share button on the project card: while reviewing the cards, I thought it would be much more convenient to allow sharing a project directly from the card without opening it, copying the link, and pasting it into another app. I added a share button that invokes the system share sheet to share instantly without extra navigation. This change notably improves the user experience. Related PR: 417
Detour 3 Reduce the app size: I took the opportunity to review optimization with R8. Although R8 was already present, key configurations were missing. I enabled minifyEnabled true and shrinkResources true and configured ProGuard with the recommended files to control which code should be preserved and which can be removed. After adjusting the configuration, much better control over the final APK size was achieved. I spoke with the team about incorporating these changes before making the PR.
Back to the real simulator issues: Download Image presented behavior where images were saved but did not appear immediately in the gallery or Downloads. Cause: Android requires a media index update after saving a file for the system to detect it. Solution: saving to the standard Downloads path and using runtime permissions for older Android versions, in addition to creating a MethodChannel in MainActivity.kt to invoke MediaScannerConnection.scanFile from Dart and force the immediate update of the media listing.
User manual and discussion forum: both buttons inside the simulator's WebView did nothing because flutter_inappwebview intercepted external links and did not allow them to open in the system browser. Solution: update the navigation handling logic to detect external URLs and open them with url_launcher outside the WebView, improving compatibility and the experience when accessing external content.
Themes: this section started working without additional intervention. In this case, I preferred not to touch anything that is already operating correctly.
Next steps: attention will shift to the authentication issue. I will try to follow the original plan with fewer distractions, although the detours have left valuable improvements in the app.
Lessons of the week: bugs are often irresistible side quests, Flutter's WebView and external links require specific attention, optimization with R8 needs detailed configuration, and sometimes improvements arise on their own.
About Q2BSTUDIO: we are Q2BSTUDIO, a software development company specialized in custom applications and custom software. We offer comprehensive solutions that include artificial intelligence and AI for businesses, AI agents, cybersecurity, AWS and Azure cloud services, and business intelligence services. We design custom applications for clients who need robust and scalable custom software, integrating Power BI and other analysis tools to drive data-based decision making.
At Q2BSTUDIO, we combine expertise in artificial intelligence with solid cybersecurity practices to deliver reliable and effective projects. Our AWS and Azure cloud services allow deploying secure and scalable infrastructures, while business intelligence services and Power BI help turn data into actionable information. We offer AI agents and AI solutions for businesses that automate processes and improve productivity.
If you are looking for custom software or custom applications with artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and AWS and Azure cloud services integration, Q2BSTUDIO is your ideal partner to take projects from prototype to production with a focus on results and security.
Final summary: the week produced several real improvements to the simulator and the user experience, the small detours allowed introducing useful features and optimizations, and now we return to the main path with clear learnings and a better app.
