Social Sync

Inspiration

Our journey with SocialSync began with a personal story that truly resonated with our team. Qiao Er, one of our teammates, is an energetic and adventurous person who enjoys surfing, bouldering, and tennis. However, she often found it hard to find friends who shared the same enthusiasm for these activities. Most of her social circle preferred quieter pastimes like café hopping, picnics, or clubbing.

She often tried to invite people to join her, but was met with polite refusals—“That’s just not my thing.” Despite being surrounded by people, she felt a deep disconnect from those who truly understood the joy these activities brought her.

Years ago, she had the thought: What if there was an app that matched people based on shared hobbies? But like many ideas, it was forgotten. That was until MACATHON 2025.

When our team began brainstorming around this year’s theme—social engagement—the idea came rushing back. What if we could build a platform where students connect through shared passions and similar personalities? Not just a digital connection, but something that encourages real-life meaningful meet ups.

Inspired by the story and driven to make student connections more intentional and authentic, we created SocialSync.

What it does

SocialSync is a social matchmaking app built specifically for students who are looking to connect in more meaningful, real-life ways—not just online. It helps users discover activity partners based on their personality type, lifestyle preferences, and shared interests.

Here’s how the platform works from start to finish:

Personalised Onboarding
Users begin by signing up and answering a quick quiz that helps identify their personality traits, social style, and hobby categories. Whether someone prefers adventurous outdoor activities or quiet creative pastimes, this step is crucial in setting up their profile for personalized suggestions.
Smart Activity Suggestions
On the home dashboard, users see a dropdown menu of suggested activities—tailored by AI to match their personality and interests. For example, someone who loves nature and movement might see options like hiking, bouldering, or cycling. Someone more artistic might be shown options like art gallery visits or craft workshops. The dropdown is dynamic and continuously improves based on user interactions and feedback.
Location-Aware Matching
Once a user selects an activity they’d like to do, SocialSync instantly begins looking for other users who:
- Want to do the same activity
- Are within a reasonable distance
- Have compatible personalities and social preferences

The matchmaking is done in real-time using our custom backend integrated with a machine learning model that compares key attributes between users.

Real-Time Match Notification
When a compatible match is found, both users receive a notification:
“It’s a match! 🎉 You and [Name] both want to go bouldering this weekend!”
From here, users can chat, make plans, and meet up for the selected activity.
Post-Activity Completion
After completing the activity together, users can tap “Complete”, which triggers a feedback modal where they can:
- Rate the match
- Describe how the activity went
- Optionally leave a comment about their partner

This information is used to:

Improve future matchmaking accuracy
Build a personal history log of all completed social experiences

Personal Timeline
Each user has a timeline where they can track their past meetups, see stats like how many matches they’ve made, and reflect on their social journey—building a sense of community and progress.

Why It Matters

SocialSync goes beyond surface-level “friending” and likes. It builds a bridge between like-minded students who might never have found each other in a crowd.

Whether you're new to campus, an introvert looking for low-pressure meetups, or someone with niche hobbies struggling to find your tribe—SocialSync makes social engagement intentional, inclusive, and truly impactful.

How we built it

SocialSync was brought to life through a combination of powerful tools and thoughtful design:

Frontend: Built with React Native and Expo for smooth cross-platform compatibility
AI Matching: We used Gemini GPT and a custom ML model to analyze personality types and compatibility
Real-Time Communication: Enabled with Socket.io and Express backend
Location Awareness: Integrated with Expo Location API to find nearby users
Secure Storage: UUID generation and AsyncStorage to identify users anonymously
Dynamic UI: Created with libraries like Moti, React Native Paper, and Lucide React Native

Challenges We Ran Into

Our hackathon journey wasn’t without its bumps:

Matching Complexity: It was tough to align personality data with activity preferences in real time. We iterated heavily on our ML model to find the right balance.
Learning Curve: Some teammates were unfamiliar with frontend libraries like Reanimated and Moti. Learning and implementing animations under time pressure was intense.
Real-Time Logic: Getting Socket.io to work smoothly across devices and syncing match state across users presented multiple debugging sessions.
Personalization: Making sure our AI dropdown suggestions didn’t feel random or robotic took UX-focused refinement.

But every challenge was a lesson—and made the product stronger.

Accomplishments That We’re Proud Of

Built a fully functional prototype with end-to-end matchmaking in just a few days
Developed a working ML model for hobby and personality-based matching
Designed a vibrant, user-friendly interface from scratch
Integrated real-time user updates and location-aware filtering
Created a smooth post-activity feedback system to improve future matches

What We Learned

Frontend matters more than you think: A clean, intuitive UI makes the experience. We learned to respect the complexity of animations, transitions, and layout logic.
Matching isn’t just logic—it’s emotional: Real connections need more than shared interests. Factoring in personality compatibility elevated our matching experience.
Hackathons are about adaptability: From quick debugging to mid-development pivots, we improved our ability to work fast and collaboratively.
AI in social spaces is powerful: We saw first-hand how AI can be used not just for automation but to create meaningful, human-centric experiences.

What's Next for SocialSync

This is just the beginning. Here’s what we’re planning next:

Expand matching to include multi-user group meetups
Let users schedule recurring activities or host their own interest events
Add filters for time availability, budget, and intensity of activity
Improve the ML model with user feedback and post-activity ratings
Partner with university clubs and societies for deeper community integration
Introduce gamification—badges, rewards, and shared goals

Final Thoughts

With SocialSync, we aren’t just helping students connect—we’re helping them thrive.

For every student who is passionate about their interests but struggles to find like-minded companions, we hope this app becomes the bridge that connects them with people who truly understand and share their passions.

Because meaningful connection isn’t just about being social—it’s about being seen, understood, and celebrated.