Nature Sounds TY (Trans Youth)

App Store Link

Google Play Store Link

This project is close to my heart. My two kids came out as transgender (she/her and they/she pronouns) just recently. My wife and I have been learning a great deal about gender identity from places like Gender Spectrum and frankly from our kids as well. They are good teachers. And courageous.

This is probably one of the simpler apps I’ve developed since much of it is just web viewer content but curating the links took a lot of time and figuring out how to make it safe for trans youth to use (it’s free, there are no ads, and it doubles as a somewhat limited soothing sound player) took most of my mental energy.

While my wife and I are supportive of our kids, the reality is that many trans youth do not have supportive home environments. My aim was to offer one way they could explore their identities in a protected way. To access the section related to gender identity, you tap and hold the bottom-left corner of the main screen for a few seconds. The home icon returns you to the first screen.

I could also see this being a useful conversation aid for trans kids who are out to their parents but want to share basic information without having to explain everything themselves.

I built this with Thunkable X using the legacy (non-drag and drop) interface. It doesn’t use any data sources or advanced components. Like I said, it’s pretty simple. That being said, there are still some things I need to add or fix. In particular, the screen re-load/flicker issue that’s been reported is happening with this app. I’m glad Thunkable staff are addressing that issue because it does deter from the functionality and look of my app just a bit.

Speaking of looks, here are some screenshots:

The images and sounds are freely available under Creative Commons licenses.

Currently, the app is on the Apple App Store and is called “Nature Sounds TY”. You can download it here on iPhone or iPad or here on Android. This is the first app I’ve published with Thunkable. The process was pretty smooth except for Apple rejecting my initial metadata due to a screenshot they didn’t like. They never responded to my questions about why the screenshot was a problem (it was a webviewer image) so I just removed it without changing the actual project/app whatsoever and resubmitted it successfully. :man_shrugging:

I would like to release it on the Google Play Store soon.

image

9 Likes

Very cool! Thanks for sharing this!

3 Likes

App Update (v1.1) now available

New Features

White noise option on main screen (user requested)

Fixes

Flickering when switching screens
Sound playback stopping when device auto-locks

Notes

To access the gender identity section, you now have to tap and hold the bottom-left corner of the main screen.

5 Likes

It’s great that your kids have such supportive parents. The app looks great, I’ll share with others. Way to go!

3 Likes

Thank you!

3 Likes

App Update (v1.2) now available

App Store Link

New Features

Larger, square buttons in gender identity section
More distinct back button for sound play
App size reduced

Fixes

Restored ability to tap and hold bottom area of main screen to access gender identity section
Sound play stops immediately when tapping back button
Home buttons in gender identity section are more uniform

5 Likes

App Update (v1.5) now available

App Store Link

Google Play Store Link

I’ve dynamically sized all of the screens for multiple devices thanks to BIG help from @Deluxe.

That’s also allowed me to submit this as my first ever app for Android devices. :smiley: Fingers crossed that Google accepts it!

Minor Changes

Lots to mention here…
Added pink/blue/white wallpaper in gender identity section
Added affirmations to gender identity section
Simplified Talk to Someone screen
Removed volume slider in favor of device volume setting
Reduced tap & hold time for intro screen
Fixed back button for web pages

Known Bugs

Web pages load slowly (we’re working on a fix for this!)

7 Likes

Good News!

Now available on the Google Play Store.

This is my first app published there. :grinning: Couldn’t have done it without Thunkable! And without the help of @Deluxe to assist with dynamic sizing for multiple devices.

Special thanks to @Jane and @domhnallohanlon for answering my tech support questions, too!

6 Likes