Inspiration

We noticed that people share the same neighborhoods and walk the same streets, yet spend hours looking at separate screens. We wanted to create an easy opportunity to notice nature and meet one another.

Canopy starts with something anyone can do: take a photo. Without knowing anything about plants or preparing a conversation starter, users can learn a plant’s name, preserve a memory, and discover someone who noticed something similar.

Canopy means the crown of a tree. We share the same sky and shade, and we want our phones to help us reconnect with that shared world.

What it does

Canopy lets users photograph and identify plants, save discoveries as photo pins on a personal map, and build a searchable herbarium. Albums organize memories by outings or plants. The home-screen globe grows greener with continued exploration, encouraging users to keep noticing their surroundings.

Discoveries also create opportunities for connection. Users can share photographs and notes, like posts, reply, visit profiles, and follow other observers. Recommendations prioritize content from the past two weeks based on popularity and likes.

When users photograph the same or related plants in the same postal area within twenty-four hours, Canopy can suggest an introduction. After a connection request is accepted, they can exchange realtime messages. Six interface languages and comment translation help people communicate across languages.

How we built it

We built the complete mobile frontend, cloud backend, and database workflow.

Frontend: React Native, Expo, and TypeScript, sharing code across Android, iOS, and the web.
Backend: Supabase for authentication, server functions, shared photo storage, and realtime messaging.
Database: PostgreSQL with PostGIS for users, plants, discovery records, geographic data, and social relationships.
Identification and translation: Server-side integrations with Pl@ntNet and DeepL keep service secrets off users’ devices.

Database permissions protect personal records and conversations, while server-side checks validate connection requests.

Challenges we ran into

Cross-platform development required us to resolve Expo SDK compatibility issues, accommodate different map providers, convert geographic coordinates, and coordinate navigation between the globe and map.

Connecting the full workflow introduced further challenges: preventing duplicate submissions, handling slow identification requests, and keeping photographs, identification results, and saved discoveries consistent.

Social features also required careful privacy decisions. We designed introductions around a shared postal area without exposing another person’s exact coordinates. Connection requests give recipients control over whether a conversation begins.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We completed a working interaction between two separate users. A plant discovery can lead to a connection request, acceptance, and a message saved by the backend and delivered to another device in realtime.

We also brought identification, personal memories, and community interaction into one coherent experience. Plant details expand on demand, community observations appear before the writing area, and conversations preserve the discovery that introduced two people.

These details support our central goal: making a small observation meaningful enough to remember and share.

What we learned

We learned how much work connects an interface to a functioning product. Authentication, database relationships, permissions, and asynchronous requests all shape whether users can complete a task reliably.

We also learned to coordinate frontend and backend development through shared API contracts, keeping expectations consistent as features evolved.

Product design matters just as much. Showing other people’s observations before asking users to contribute creates a natural opportunity to read, respond, and connect.

What's next for Canopy

We will improve system reliability, expand testing across devices, and refine the app’s navigation and UI to make discovery and conversation smoother.

Recommendation quality and community growth are our next priorities. We plan to bring in more users and use their feedback to improve how relevant discoveries and shared interests reach people.

We also plan to improve record preservation and migration when users change devices, complete account deletion, and strengthen community moderation and privacy controls.

Our direction remains clear: help people notice nature, preserve meaningful memories, and meet through what they discover.