Wink!

• 

  Wink!'s UI

Inspiration

Dating is hard. All dating apps are full of superficial connections, shallow conversations, and - worst of all - fully digital. Wink is our solution to this dying dating market by bringing back the face-to-face interactions that humans need. It makes dating fun and easy by gamifying the process . . . like Pokemon GO!

What it does

Wink presents the location of all potential matches on a map, encouraging users to explore a connection by physically finding the person. Once the user reaches a certain proximity of a potential partner, they can express their interest by "catching" them. If the interest is returned, Wink will generate an activity that the pair can then carry out.

How we built it

We built Wink with React Native, Expo, MapLibre, and Firebase. The app uses live GPS location to show users on a map, tracks nearby people, and lets users “catch” someone when they are close enough.

Challenges we ran into

The hardest parts were working with real-time location, keeping Firebase updates fast without sending too much data, and making sure nearby users appeared and disappeared correctly.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud of making dating feel more active and in-person. The map, nearby tracker, avatars, status bubbles, and catch animation make the app feel fun and game-like

What we learned

We learned how to combine maps, live location, Firebase, and mobile animations into one app. We also learned how important small design details are when making an app feel fun and easy to use.

Built With

• api
• expo.io
• fast
• firebase
• gemini
• gemma
• python
• reactnative
• typescript