Inspiration 1 in 2 people will face cancer in their lifetime, and countless more are impacted as caregivers, friends, or family members. While medical treatment is critical, emotional and peer support can be just as important for recovery and well-being. Yet, many patients and caregivers struggle to find relevant, empathetic, and trustworthy connections. We wanted to change that — to create a safe, smart, and personalized space where people can find others who truly understand their journey.
What it does Cindr is a Tinder-style matching app designed specifically for cancer patients, survivors, caregivers, and support organizations.
Swipe to Connect: Users create a profile with their name, role, bio, and interests. They can swipe right to connect or left to skip, just like Tinder — but here, every match has potential for deep, meaningful connection.
AI-Driven Matching: Profile bios and tags are vectorized in Firebase so matches are suggested based on shared experiences, interests, and support needs.
Integrated Chat: Once two people match, they can instantly start messaging inside the app, powered by Firebase’s real-time capabilities.
Multi-Role Support: You can match with individuals (patients, survivors, caregivers) or organizations offering relevant programs — like “Gamers with Cancer” or “Girls Who Code Cancer Support.”
How we built it Frontend: React + TypeScript + Vite, with a custom swipe deck inspired by Tinder’s gesture system and styled with modern gradients for an uplifting, hopeful look.
Auth & Data: Firebase Authentication for secure sign-in/sign-up (email/password or Google) and Firestore for storing profiles, matches, and chat messages.
Vectorization: Profile bios, roles, and tags are stored as embeddings in Firestore, enabling semantic matching — so even if someone writes “love coding” and another writes “software developer,” they can still be matched.
Real-time Chat: Firestore’s real-time listeners keep messages flowing instantly without page reloads.
Design: Orange gradient + soft shadows to evoke warmth and positivity.
Challenges we ran into Getting Firebase vector search to run quickly with live swiping.
Managing multi-role matching logic (patient → org, caregiver → survivor, etc.).
Debugging swipe gestures in a browser environment while keeping performance smooth.
Accomplishments that we're proud of Built a complete swipe-match-chat flow in under 48 hours.
Implemented vector-based matching in Firebase for relevant, personalized connections.
Created an interface that feels friendly and hopeful, not clinical.
What we learned Firebase’s new vector search opens up semantic matchmaking without needing a heavy backend.
UI design matters — gradients, spacing, and animations help make an app feel more welcoming.
In hackathons, always get core features working first before polishing.
What's next for Cindr Mobile app version for iOS/Android.
Group chat and event discovery.
Mental health resources integration.
More advanced vector matching models for better recommendations.
Built With
- firebase
- html5
- react
- tailwind
- typescript
- vite
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