Case study · Mobile developer
Binner — Bin Finder Application
A Flutter mobile application that helps people find the nearest public bin using live map data.
- Timeframe
- 2024 · Mobile development coursework
- Team & role
- Small team · my role: mobile developer
Context
Public bins are hard to find in unfamiliar areas, and existing map data for them is incomplete.
Problem
- Static datasets go stale quickly; bins are moved or removed.
- Rendering hundreds of pins on a phone map hurts performance.
Approach
01
Community-verified data
Users can add a bin or confirm an existing one, so accuracy improves with usage instead of decaying.
02
Clustered map rendering
Markers are clustered by zoom level and only the visible viewport is queried, keeping the map smooth on mid-range phones.
Architecture & stack
- Flutter + Maps API with geolocation permissions handled per platform.
- Distance sorting computed from the device location on demand.
- Flutter
- Dart
- Maps API
- Geolocation
Outcome
- Nearest-bin lookup in a couple of taps, with routing handed off to the map app.
What I learned
- Location permissions and empty states matter as much as the happy path in mobile UX.