LockedIn

LockedIn connects students taking the same classes nearby, making it easy to find study partners and schedule focused study sessions. Less isolation, more accountability, better academic results.

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Inspiration

As engineering students, we've realized that many of us are introverted and struggle to find someone else to connect to. Rather than going to parties in Isla Vista, we would rather study in the library. However, without a study partner, it gets lonely and so we decided to address this problem by building LockedIn.

What it does

LockedIn allows like-minded students to connect with one another and ultimately schedule study sessions together. Users create profiles with their classes, majors, study styles, availability, and location preferences, then match with nearby students who share academic overlap. The app makes it easy to chat, coordinate, and stay accountable while studying.

How we built it

LockedIn was built as a cross-platform mobile application using React Native and Expo with TypeScript. We used Firebase for authentication, real-time data storage, and media handling to support fast iteration and scalability. The app includes a interest-based matching interface, real-time chat, and study session scheduling with automatically generated Google Calendar event links, making it easy for users to add sessions directly to their calendars and stay organized.

Challenges we ran into

We spent a lot of time fixing small UI issues and adjusting details to make the app look right. Since this was our first hackathon, we also had to learn many tools and concepts as we built the app.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We finished a working version of the app within the hackathon time limit. The app runs on multiple devices, and we successfully connected it to Firebase to handle user accounts, profile data, and image storage.

What we learned

We learned how to build a full app from start to finish, connect a frontend to a backend, and work with Firebase for authentication and data storage. We also learned how to use AI tools more effectively by giving clearer instructions and working step by step. In addition, we learned how to collaborate using a GitHub repository.

What's next for LockedIn

Next, we want to release the app on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, support more schools, fix small visual issues, and adding additional features.

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