LoApp

✨ Inspiration

LoApp was born from a simple but very real fear:
“If something happens to me… who will know?”

This question came up in our team through personal experience. One of us remembered moments when a grandmother didn’t answer the phone for hours, and the quiet anxiety that followed. That unease stayed with us.

As we started talking to others, we realised how common this feeling is — not just among the elderly, but across many different life situations: recovery from illness, episodes of anxiety, going through a breakup, or simply adjusting to living alone. These people are often strong, independent, and capable — but the thought still lingers: “If I go quiet... will anyone notice?”

LoApp became our quiet response to that feeling. Not with alarms or control, but with soft presence and a gentle structure. A system of care that stays in the background — and acts only when silence lasts too long.

🐌 What it does

LoApp is a check-in companion designed for people who live alone and want a sense of quiet reassurance. Once a day, at a time they choose, the app asks a simple question: “How are you?”

If the user doesn’t respond, Lo checks in again after a custom delay.
If there is still no answer, the app notifies a trusted contact.
In the MVP, this happens via email.
In future versions, we plan to support WhatsApp and additional roles for different types of support people — like family, friends or caregivers.

This is not an emergency service or medical system. It's something softer — designed for emotional comfort and quiet support.

🛠 How we built it

We began by identifying the emotional core of the product: helping someone feel seen, without making them feel watched.

From that core, we built the minimum valuable experience:
a short onboarding, a check-in flow with gentle notifications, and an alert system that activates only if the user goes silent.

We used React Native and Expo for quick iteration.
Notifications and fallback logic are handled locally, and email integration was implemented to simulate real alert delivery in this MVP.

🧱 Challenges we ran into

One of the main challenges was tone.
We didn’t want the app to feel clinical, cold or overly technical.
It had to be quiet, friendly, and emotionally safe.

We also had to decide what not to include in the MVP.
There were many tempting directions, but we wanted to focus only on what mattered most: noticing the absence of a response — and handling that with care.

🐢 Accomplishments that we're proud of

We created a working prototype that feels emotionally grounded and has a clear purpose.
The interaction feels light and natural, but meaningful.

We’re proud that we managed to create a small character — Lo, the snail 🐌 — who helps set the emotional tone for the product without saying much.
Lo makes the app feel warm and alive, even though it only appears once a day.

We also stuck to one idea and carried it through — something that’s not always easy in a hackathon.

📚 What we learned

People don’t always need new features — they often need reassurance.
Silence can be peaceful, but it can also feel like a risk.
It’s difficult to build emotional safety into a digital product — but not impossible.
Simple products are not shallow. They can be emotionally deep, if designed with care.

🔮 What's next for LoApp

We plan to integrate WhatsApp for trusted contact alerts, expand contact roles (for friends, family, caregivers), and personalise the check-in experience.

We want to test adaptive timing — so Lo can check in based on behaviour patterns or energy levels.
We also see a future for Lo in community settings, and plan to make the app more accessible and localised.

And most importantly, we want to test it with real people — especially those who live alone and just want to know: someone would notice.

Built With

• expo.io
• github
• node.js
• react-native
• supabase
• tupescript
• vite