New Era #pi

The 2024 Pi Commerce Hackathon has concluded, and the Core Team is delighted to announce two winners and two honorable mentions! The winning apps, Map of Pi and PyNook, were previously unveiled on Pi Day, and today, we also recognize City for Pi and Easy Goods!
The objective of the Pi Commerce Hackathon was to bring together community developers to create an app supporting local Pi commerce worldwide. The necessity for such an app was highlighted by the Pioneer community during last year's PiFest in December. Pi Network's inaugural PiFest event showcased the widespread engagement of businesses and customers in Pi Commerce on a global scale, with over 21,000 responses from Pioneers across 155 countries and regions.
We commend all participants of the hackathon; this month-long event was a dedicated effort from Pi community developers worldwide. Read on to discover more about each app, their achievements, and their future plans!
Why We Selected Map of Pi and PyNook:
Map of Pi and PyNook are platforms designed to meet the needs of both Pioneers and merchants in the Pi community. These apps facilitate the discovery of nearby businesses accepting Pi and offer merchants a user-friendly storefront, simplifying the adoption of Pi as a payment method. Their emergence reflects a tangible demand within the Pi community, evidenced by widespread Pioneer involvement in commerce-related activities, potentially unlocking the full potential of Pi cryptocurrency in local economies worldwide.
What distinguishes Map of Pi and PyNook is their intuitive user interface and focus on empowering local Pi commerce. Furthermore, both platforms utilize the Pi Open Source (PiOS) license, enabling developers worldwide to contribute to their growth and localization. Despite the time constraints of the hackathon, both teams collaborated effectively, demonstrating significant progress in just a month.
Map of Pi impressed with its intuitive user interface, cantered around a map where users can discover local Pi businesses. Merchants can seamlessly add their business to the map, and the Map of Pi team is enhancing functionality such as QR codes and menu items. With a robust UI, numerous sample storefronts worldwide, and integrations for Pi Authentication and Pi Payments, Map of Pi is off to a promising start.
PyNook has developed a clear app focused on the central use case of connecting merchants and pioneers. In addition to basic functionality, the PyNook team has implemented various features, including language options for global accessibility and a searchable list of businesses. Planned features include enhancements to user profiles and merchant sections.
Insights from the Winning Teams:
For the Map of Pi team, the hackathon was just the beginning: "Our focus post-hackathon is on refining the code, addressing bugs, and adding usability features as we prepare for the app's launch. We aim to launch shortly after Pi Day, with a dedicated team committed to maintaining, enhancing, and marketing the app in the future."
The PyNook team's decision to participate stemmed from confidence in the platform's potential: "We believe in the Pi platform's future and its potential to revolutionize technology development. Developing a Pi app allows us to realize our innovative ideas."
If you're a developer interested in contributing to these impactful ecosystem apps, explore their repositories and other Pi commerce PIOS apps here.
Honorable Mentions:
While Map of Pi and PyNook were standout apps, the Core Team is proud to acknowledge Easy Goods and City for Pi as honorable mentions.
Easy Goods closely followed the Pi Core Team's app prototype, making steady progress during the hackathon. Their compelling app interface will enable businesses to create storefronts, allowing pioneers to locate them easily. Next steps for Easy Goods include developing functionality for listing products and facilitating transactions.
City for Pi stood out for its unique design and advanced in-app functionality. While supporting local businesses and enabling users to select different locations, the app could further enhance support for local commerce and the discoverability of Pi merchants.
Several other robust Test net apps were submitted, delighting the Core Team. We encourage all named and unnamed apps to continue building exceptional local commerce apps. Diversity in apps provides pioneers and businesses with choice, facilitates localization, and contributes a wide range of utility to the Pi ecosystem. With over 55 million engaged pioneers, there is ample opportunity for numerous commerce apps to thrive together in this global community!