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BotMaker
BotMaker

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ZapDrive - Validating the concept

Hello entrepreneurial Devs!

I had an idea some time ago and would like to validate the concept with the audience here at Dev.to. And I'll tell you right now, this is not just another "miracle SaaS" :-)

Among the various instant messaging apps that I use and for which I have already developed products, this one in particular was born from a pain that bothers me and I believe other users as well, especially when using WhatsApp.

That's why I decided to share it with the aim of not only gathering suggestions and opinions but also so that, if validated, this idea can be developed in a collaborative, open source and open model.

When using WhatsApp, I noticed that, unlike several other apps, it always stores all files, attachments and images locally on the user's device, without exception, unless I'm mistaken, and feel free to correct me.

This has several advantages and disadvantages, but in my humble opinion, it is more disadvantageous than advantageous, because, in addition to taking up space on the device, it exposes the user to the loss of these assets in cases of device problems or lack of space. It is true that it is possible to make a backup, but even so, I would like local storage to be optional, like, for example, in Telegram, where the default is cloud storage, automatically.

So, I thought, why not create a platform integrated with Zap, since I am somewhat fluent in integrations with this app, so that the "backup" and, more than that, the main storage location would be in the cloud, free of charge and with other advantages, such as direct sharing from the cloud, and other facilities, such as editing, interaction with files via AI and other functionalities (which I will gradually explain here, in possible future articles)?

With this platform, the user could, via a bot that would be developed, automatically store a copy of their files in the cloud, with all the security, of course, and then eventually delete them from the device and then selectively download them again. With this, they could afford to delete them locally and bring them back whenever they wanted and "if" they wanted.

But, you might say, I can already do this today with other virtual "drives". Yes, but you have to, somehow, manually take files back and forth from Whatsapp to the virtual drive. The idea here is to do this automatically in the app itself, for which the user would simply need to register on the ZapDrive web platform. ZapDrive itself would maintain the entire flow automatically.

As for the technical details, I will not address them in this article, because first I need to know, with the help of the community here, what they think about this. Then, I intend to immediately create a repository and a public project on Github and build this in a shared way as well. I already have idle resources, such as space and others, such as cloud space, without any burden for development.

But let's go, since this is a democratic space, the challenge and consultation are launched. Feel free to give your opinion, but remember, don't come just to give "-", please explain your reasons too, because I have been constantly "demoted" without knowing the reasons, but let it go, it's part of the culture.

Thank you in advance to everyone and let's make it happen!

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