Budddi.

Stay connected in crowds. Real-time location sharing and compass navigation helps you find friends and family fast. At festivals, malls... anywhere. No more stress. Just fun, safety and peace of mind.

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Budddi

A real-time location sharing and compass navigation app helping friends and family find each other fast - at festivals, malls, clubs, and crowded public spaces.

Never lose your people again.

App: budddi.es

Demo: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Rnekmr1RPAs

Inspiration

Thinking back to the time I lost my friend group at a festival and missed out on the time of my life… or just last weekend, when I lost my girlfriend at the mall and spent a frustrating hour (and several angry phone calls) trying to find her. Or when I was a kid and got separated from my mom at a busy shopping center (*trauma unlocked*).

The problem

People get separated in large or busy places, leading to frustration, missed moments, and even safety concerns. GPS works, but it’s not people-aware. Buddy bridges that gap.

The solution

  • Share live location in a private session
  • See which direction and how far away your friends are
  • Navigate directly to them using a built-in compass
  • Mark your parking spot for later
  • Minimal set-up
  • Scan to join

Core features

  • Realtime compass navigation to friends
  • Join sessions via QR code
  • Car location bookmarking
  • Clean, intuitive UI (everything in 2 taps)

Built with

  • Front-end: React / Tailwind built with Bolt hosted on Netlify
  • Back-End: Node.js hosted on Fly.io with Turso DB integration
  • Geolocation + Device Orientation APIs

UX philosophy

Simplicity is everything. You only need to enter your name to get started. No signups. No settings screens. Just scan a QR code and go. Everything can be done in two taps.

Monetization & real-world partnerships

There’s potential for Buddy to be monetized through B2B partnerships with:

  • Festivals & Events: Let organizers create dynamic stage or stall markers that users can navigate to.
  • Shopping Malls: Partner with malls to guide users to specific stores, deals, or seasonal pop-ups.
  • Sporting Events: Help runners, cyclists, or spectators easily find medical tents, toilets, water points, and sign-up stations. Adding real value to event logistics.
  • Theme Parks & Campuses: Let visitors navigate expansive areas, find key attractions or meeting points, and reconnect with groups.

What’s next?

I’d love to evolve Buddy into a full-featured mobile app. Enabling push notifications, persistent sessions, and powerful new features like:

  • Pinging friends
  • Requesting meeting points
  • Proximity alerts
  • Push notifications
  • B2B dashboard for event partners

How it was built

This idea came to me while driving home from work on Thursday the 26th. That evening, I jumped into Figma to create the designs and passed them to Bolt, which helped generate a working version within hours.

While Bolt handled the initial scaffolding, I spun up a Node.js API for session management, hosted on Fly.io, and later integrated Turso for persistence. After exporting the project, I made a few design tweaks locally and deployed the frontend using Netlify with a custom domain. Done and dusted.

The entire project was up and running within 48 hours, largely thanks to Bolt.new.

Challenges

  • Compass accuracy: Inconsistent readings due to nearby electromagnetic interference. Recalibrating by doing a "figure 8" helps, but I chose not to add the prompt (yet) to keep the experience simple. Might reconsider this.

  • Compass permissions: Testing device orientation and heading in development is... rough. I ended up deploying repeatedly to test on-device. Fortunately, Bolt made deployments super quick.

  • Bolt quirks: While Bolt was a huge time-saver, I ran into some confusion where connecting a Git repo overwrote my code. Totally my error, but a warning would’ve been helpful.

  • Magnetic north differences: Only Android seems to expose magnetic north directly. iOS compensates automatically, which led to a few confusing moments.

Accomplishments

  1. I found my girlfriend while shopping.
  2. Found my car after shopping.

What was learned

  • Prototyping has never been easier with tools like Bolt.
  • Phone compasses are surprisingly sensitive.
  • Simplicity in UX isn't just nice, it’s necessary, especially in high-stress or high-movement environments.

Notes

This is my first ever hackathon. The idea came from real-life frustration, and seeing it come to life has been dope.

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