At the beginning of the year, while brainstorming with two friends, the classic phrase that changes everything emerged: "What if we created an app to manage our pets' routines?"
The conversation, which started as a joke, turned into a real project in less than a week. We already had a name, a logo, a Figma design, and a GitHub repository.
MeuPet+ was born — an app created by friends with the goal of making life easier for pet owners.
The Idea
We all have pets and always run into the same problems: forgetting vaccinations, checkups, deworming, baths, feeding schedules. We decided to solve this by creating a simple, straightforward app where pet owners could register their pets and organize their entire routine in one place.
Dividing the Tasks
We split the work so everyone could contribute what they knew best. One of us found a UI/UX designer to handle the design and user experience. I took the backend, building it with Hyperf (PHP). The third friend handled the mobile frontend with React Native and Expo. Communication was very natural, without fuss. When someone could work, they'd let the others know. When they couldn't, nobody stressed about it.
What Was Hard
Not everything was easy, of course. Balancing the project with our jobs and commitments was the biggest challenge. Group decisions didn't always come easy — we didn't always agree on the right approach. Maintaining momentum once the initial excitement wore off required discipline. And the build issues on the Play Store and App Store were a whole saga of their own.
But even when things got tough, the atmosphere between us was always light. We knew we were learning and building something useful.
What Was Coolest
Seeing the first version running on mobile was surreal. Simple things like registering your pet, receiving a vaccination reminder, or remembering to schedule a bath already made the app feel "real." We made a point of making the interface intuitive and straightforward. The idea has always been: anyone can use it.
What's Already in MeuPet+
The app currently lets you register pets, set reminders for vaccinations, baths, food, and medicine. The design is clean and responsive, and the backend with Hyperf is lightweight and well-structured.
What's Next
We're working on push notifications, integration with veterinary clinics, multi-user support for families who share pet care, and a complete pet health history feature. The idea is to keep evolving gradually, always improving.
In the End
Creating MeuPet+ with friends was one of the best experiences I've had as a developer. We learned firsthand how to work as a team, give honest feedback, prioritize what really matters, and most importantly, get a project off the ground without relying on a client, boss, or budget.
If you have an idea on the shelf and friends who are up for the challenge, go for it. The best that can happen is that you'll learn a lot and have fun in the process.
To be continued...