Inspiration
The inspiration came from observing social media behavior where people post about activities hoping others will join - community runs, study sessions, food adventures - but struggle with visibility and coordination. Facebook posts get lost in feeds, group chats become chaotic, and there's no way to discover activities happening nearby. I wanted to solve this by creating a dedicated space for spontaneous and planned social activities.
What it does
Tara connects people through location-based activity discovery. Users can create events (sports, food, study sessions, music, games, meetups), discover nearby activities using an interactive map, join events instantly, and communicate through integrated real-time chat. The app features category-based filtering, dual view modes (list/map), and proximity search to find activities within a chosen radius.
How I built it
I built Tara using Flutter for cross-platform development with Firebase as the backend. The core architecture includes:
- Firebase Authentication for user management
- Firestore for real-time data storage and synchronization
- A simple geohash implementation using the dart_geohash package for location-based queries
- Interactive maps with flutter_map for visualizing events
- Real-time messaging system integrated within each event
- Clean state management and intuitive UI with bottom navigation
Challenges I ran into
The main challenge was figuring out how to efficiently search for nearby events based on location. I learned about geohashing and implemented it using the dart_geohash library to convert coordinates into searchable strings. Another challenge was designing the real-time chat feature to work seamlessly within each event while keeping the UI simple and intuitive. Managing the app's data flow and ensuring real-time updates across different screens was also tricky.
Accomplishments that I'm proud of
Successfully building a fully functional social discovery app as a solo developer! The location-based search works smoothly, the real-time chat creates genuine connections between users, and the overall user experience feels intuitive. I'm particularly proud of the clean integration between event discovery, joining, and chatting - it all flows naturally together.
What I learned
This project taught me a lot about mobile app development, especially working with maps, location services, and real-time databases. I learned how geohashing works for location queries, got comfortable with Firebase services, and improved my Flutter skills significantly. Most importantly, I learned how to turn a simple social observation into a working solution.
What's next for Tara
I plan to add push notifications so users get alerted about new activities, implement user profiles with activity history, add photo sharing in chats, and create better filtering options. I'd also love to add event ratings and expand the category system based on user feedback.
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