iOS Hackathon #1 on tvOS at NIX Solutions

The main purpose of Hackathon is to demonstrate how fast people can organize and create applications on the go, with limited time for preparation and realization. The five teams of Hackathon developed an app on “Apple TV” for eight hours. No pre-made things except the idea itself could be used; everything was from scratch only.

The winning team captain shares his impressions on NIX iOS Hackathon #1 below:
We had the main idea, but practically we got to improvise.

First of all, we had to come up with a name for our team. All Hackathons, workshops, conferences, and other similar events have passed with pizza ordered and all that stuff. The thought of food inspired me so much that I came up with the name ‘We are here just to eat the pizza.’ Teams were formed on the principle of ‘who drinks tea / eat/sitting beside / with.’ :) But the most important thing was, of course, to beat brothers Lesha and Ilya, because these two can create some special magic.

The basic idea of Hackathon was to try tvOS. We had 7–8 hours to write a working application, and not just working but usable.

Everything went absolutely cool and smooth. Magic soared in the air, here and there laughter was heard. While looking into the eyes of participants, one could see joy and pride.

Everything was great! :) The primary goal of working with new technology was achieved, and we had fun on top of it. Sometimes we were diverted towards a fan zone to play games on the same Apple TV. Listening to the presentations was interesting, and in general, I really enjoyed the event.

Alexey
The winners were picked based on four criteria: idea, presentation, fun, realization.

Each participant got his prize in relation to points scored. The participants, from the last place to first:

• AlcoTV application got much applause;
• “Electronic toast-master”;
• “Programmer simulator”—knockdown bottles in the bar by a swipe;
• Relaxing audio application, where the video is streaming corresponding to the time of the day and year;
• Application for ordering pizza. :)

It was very hard to fit it in a 5-minute presentation, but we all honestly tried. It turned out not only interesting from the professional point of view but also fun.

Evgeniya

For those who stayed at home, there was an online broadcast on Twitch. It was a bit strange to write on tvOS, but since our project was not very complicated, we finished in time. Perhaps the most difficult thing was to connect all of our code into one.

Edward

Conclusion: Hackathons of this kind are an excellent opportunity to gain new knowledge and relax at the same time.

Thanks to NIX Solutions for supporting our initiatives and organization. It was very cool!