🤘 UT Marketplace

Your campus marketplace awaits - Connect with fellow Longhorns to buy, sell, and discover amazing deals right on campus.

A React Native mobile application built with Expo that provides University of Texas students with a dedicated platform for buying and selling items within the campus community.

✨ Features

🏪 Marketplace Core

• Browse & Search - Discover items with advanced filtering by category, price, condition, and more
• Create Listings - Post items for sale with photos, descriptions, and pricing
• Categories - Organized sections including Furniture, Tech, Books, Clothing, Housing, and more
• Real-time Updates - Live notifications for favorites, messages, and listing interactions

💬 Communication

• In-App Messaging - Direct chat with buyers and sellers
• Push Notifications - Stay updated on messages and listing activity
• User Ratings - Rate and review your trading partners

👤 User Experience

• Personalized Feed - Recent listings and recommendations
• Favorites & Watchlist - Save items you're interested in
• User Profiles - View seller history and ratings
• Authentication - Secure login and registration system

🎨 Design & UX

• UT-Themed UI - Burnt orange color scheme matching UT branding
• Intuitive Navigation - Tab-based navigation with modal flows
• Responsive Design - Optimized for both iOS and Android
• Haptic Feedback - Enhanced user interactions

🚀 Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v18 or higher)
• Expo CLI
• iOS Simulator (for iOS development) or Android Studio (for Android development)
• Supabase account for backend services

Installation

1. Clone the repository

   git clone <repository-url>
   cd ut-marketplace-app

2. Install dependencies

   npm install

3. Set up environment variables Create a .env file in the root directory:

   EXPO_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL=your_supabase_url
   EXPO_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY=your_supabase_anon_key

4. Start the development server

   npm start

Development Commands

# Start development server
npm start

# Run on iOS simulator
npm run ios

# Run on Android emulator
npm run android

# Build for development
npm run build:dev

# Build for production
npm run build:prod

# Lint code
npm run lint

# Format code
npm run format

🏗️ Tech Stack

Frontend

• React Native - Mobile app framework
• Expo - Development platform and toolchain
• Expo Router - File-based routing system
• TypeScript - Type-safe JavaScript
• NativeWind - Tailwind CSS for React Native
• Zustand - State management
• Lucide React Native - Icon library

Backend & Services

• Supabase - Backend-as-a-Service
• PostgreSQL - Database (via Supabase)
• Real-time subscriptions - Live updates
• Row Level Security - Data protection

Development Tools

• ESLint - Code linting
• Prettier - Code formatting
• EAS Build - Cloud builds
• Expo Dev Client - Custom development builds

📱 App Structure

app/
├── (auth)/          # Authentication screens
├── (tabs)/          # Main tab navigation
├── (modals)/        # Modal screens
├── chat/            # Messaging system
├── listing/         # Listing details
└── ...

components/
├── ui/              # Reusable UI components
├── forms/           # Form components
├── layout/          # Layout components
├── listing/         # Listing-specific components
└── modals/          # Modal components

lib/
├── supabase.ts      # Database configuration
├── notifications.ts # Notification services
└── ...

contexts/
├── AuthContext.tsx  # Authentication state
└── ...

🎯 Key Features Implementation

Authentication & Security

• Supabase Auth integration
• Row Level Security (RLS) policies
• Email-based authentication
• Secure user sessions

Real-time Features

• Live chat messaging
• Push notifications
• Real-time listing updates
• Instant favorite/watchlist sync

Data Management

• PostgreSQL with Supabase
• Optimistic UI updates
• Image upload and storage
• Advanced search and filtering

UI/UX Excellence

• UT brand compliance
• Smooth animations and transitions
• Haptic feedback integration
• Responsive design patterns

🔧 Configuration

Expo Configuration

The app uses Expo with custom development builds enabled. Key configurations:

• File-based routing with Expo Router
• TypeScript paths for clean imports
• Custom splash screen and icons
• Platform-specific configurations

Database Schema

• Users and authentication
• Listings with categories and images
• Messaging system
• Favorites and watchlist
• Ratings and reviews
• Push notification tokens

🚀 Deployment

Development Build

npm run build:dev

Production Build

npm run build:prod

The app is configured for deployment through EAS Build with separate profiles for development, preview, and production environments.

🤝 Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add amazing feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

Code Standards

• Follow TypeScript best practices
• Use ESLint and Prettier for code formatting
• Write meaningful commit messages
• Ensure all features work on both iOS and Android

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

👨‍💻 Author

Built with ❤️ for the University of Texas community

🙏 Acknowledgments

• University of Texas for the inspiration
• Expo team for the amazing development platform
• Supabase for the backend infrastructure
• The React Native community

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Hook 'em Horns! 🤘