Building MaintainMe: A Privacy-First, AI-Powered Calorie Tracker

I'm excited to share the launch of my latest open-source project, MaintainMe. As someone who recently joined Google, I realized how easy it is to gain the infamous "Googler 15" with all the free food around! I wanted a simple way to track my calories, but I was constantly frustrated by existing apps that are riddled with paywalls, ads, and privacy-invasive tracking.

The Motivation

The health and fitness app ecosystem is broken. Users are forced to pay monthly subscriptions just to log their meals or scan a barcode. Worse, their personal health data is often sold to third-party brokers. MaintainMe was born out of a desire for a free, open-source, and entirely private alternative.

I built MaintainMe as a Progressive Web App (PWA) so that anyone can use it across iOS, Android, and web without dealing with confusing app store policies or downloads.

Powered by Google Gemini AI

To make logging meals frictionless, I integrated the incredible power of the Gemini AI model. Instead of manually searching through thousands of food databases and estimating portion sizes, you can simply type what you ate (e.g., "A bowl of oatmeal with a sliced banana and a spoonful of peanut butter") or take a quick photo of your plate. Gemini automatically detects the items, estimates the calories, and breaks down the macronutrients instantly.

This has completely transformed how I track my nutrition. The AI handles the hard part, and I stay mindful of my goals. Let me know what you think of the project on GitHub!