Spot Local - Business Directory App

About the project

Spot Local is a mobile application built with Flutter that helps users discover local businesses categorized by type and shown on an interactive map. It offers a smooth, user-friendly experience with multilingual support.

Goals

• Build an intuitive mobile business directory for local communities
• Provide fast and smooth navigation across the app
• Enable location and category-based search for businesses
• Support multiple languages for wider accessibility

Technical challenges

• Implementing location-based services with map integration
• Optimizing API and UI performance for smooth UX
• Managing multilingual content (Amharic, English, Afaan Oromo)
• Creating a scalable and maintainable backend using Express.js and PostgreSQL

Main features

• Interactive map with categorized business markers
• Search and filter businesses by name, location, and category
• Multilingual UI for broader audience support
• Detailed business profiles with contact info, hours, and services
• Advertisement banner support for featured businesses

Implementation

The app is developed using Flutter with GetX for state management and modular architecture. The backend is built with Express.js, using PostgreSQL for data storage and Cloudinary for image management. Google Maps API is integrated for real-time business location display. Focus was placed on delivering an intuitive user interface, robust data structure, and high scalability for future feature expansion.