Kinlink Mobile App

Overview

KinLink is a social networking platform to enable interactions in real life. It is designed to help individuals and families build meaningful connections within their local communities. Unlike traditional social media, which prioritizes digital interactions, KinLink fosters real-world engagement by enabling users to discover nearby people, events, and groups based on shared interests.

Many people struggle to find like-minded individuals or activities for themselves and their children, leading to social isolation and limited community involvement. KinLink addresses this issue by providing an easy-to-use platform where users can connect based on hobbies, outdoor activities, fitness goals, and family-friendly interests. It enables parents to manage both their own profiles and those of their children, ensuring the entire family benefits from relevant opportunities.

KinLink is built on a modern cloud-native architecture that ensures scalability, reliability, and a seamless user experience. By leveraging AWS-managed services, the platform efficiently handles growing user interactions while keeping maintenance overhead low. This allows KinLink to support a dynamic and engaged community without compromising on performance or security.

Project Info

Category

Mobile Apps

Client

Kinlink

Tags

  • React Native
  • Redux
  • Crashlytics
  • Nodejs
  • Neo4js
  • AWS

Features

Interest-Based Profiles
Users can create personalized profiles categorized by interests, with dedicated sections for themselves and their children. This feature helps users easily find like-minded individuals and local activities tailored to their preferences, solving the problem of fragmented community engagement.
Interactive Map with Markers
The platform features a dynamic map that displays nearby users, groups, and events, making it easy to discover relevant connections. This eliminates the difficulty of finding localized activities and promotes in-person social interactions.

Neighborhood Connection
Users can connect with people in their neighborhood based on shared interests or groups, whether for social activities, parenting, fitness, or hobbies. This fosters stronger community relationships and helps users expand their social circles in a meaningful way.
Group Creation & Membership (Public & Private)
Users can create and join interest-based groups, which can be public or private. This feature ensures that community members can organize and participate in focused discussions or activities without the clutter of generic social media platforms.



Event Management & Invitations
KinLink allows users to create, join, and invite others to events, either within a group or as independent gatherings. Whether organizing a neighborhood meetup, kids’ playdate, or a fitness session, this feature streamlines event planning and increases participation.




Carpool and Bike Rodeo
A carpool feature helps users organize rides within their community. Parents, in particular, benefit from this by arranging transportation for school, activities, and events, reducing the hassle of individual commuting. The also app supports biking events through a dedicated Bike Rodeo feature, encouraging outdoor activities and promoting safe biking practices within communities.
Real-Time Chat & Group Messaging
Users can communicate seamlessly through real-time one-on-one or group chats. This eliminates the need for external messaging apps and ensures all interactions remain within the App.

Real-Time Notifications
The app provides instant notifications for messages, event updates, and group activities. This ensures users never miss important interactions and remain engaged with their communities.
Broadcast Messaging
Users can send broadcast messages to notify others within a specific radius about important announcements, lost-and-found alerts, or urgent community updates. This enhances local communication without requiring personal connections.
Calendar Integration for Events
Users can add events directly to their personal calendars, ensuring they don’t miss important activities and making event planning more seamless.

Visitation & Playdate Status
Parents can set their availability for visitation or indicate if their children are open to playdates. This encourages outdoor socialization and helps children find playmates, reducing excessive screen time.

Technology Stack

Frontend

Backend

Messaging

Cloud & Infrastructure

Architecture

kinlink Architecture

Key Components

API Management and Business Logic Execution
The mobile app communicates via AWS API Gateway, which routes requests to AWS Lambda functions containing the core business logic.
Media Storage and Push Notifications
Media files are uploaded to Amazon S3, and Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) delivers push notifications to users.

Monitoring and Observability
AWS CloudWatch provides system-wide logging, metrics, and monitoring for ensuring performance and reliability.

User Authentication and Data Storage

AWS Cognito manages secure authentication, while Neo4j stores relationship data and Firestore handles real-time features like chat.
Email Notifications and Event Orchestration
AWS SES is used for sending email notifications, and Amazon EventBridge orchestrates scheduled and event-driven workflows.

Product Screenshots

Deployment and Scalability

We deployed the solution using a serverless approach on AWS, automating resource provisioning and configuration through tools like Serverless Framework. Each environment (development, production) was defined in configuration files to maintain consistency across deployments.

Security and Compliance

User Authentication & Identity Management
The infrastructure utilizes AWS Cognito to manage user authentication, secure sign-ups, and access control. Use of Cognito ensures that user identities are protected and only authorized actions are permitted.



Privacy in Location Display
While the application displays user markers on the map to facilitate community engagement, it deliberately conceals the precise location of users. This approach ensures that while users can see a general area of activity, their exact geolocation remains hidden, thereby safeguarding their privacy and reducing potential security risks.


Results

Reduced Operational Costs
By leveraging serverless architecture and optimized resource allocation, we have achieved a more cost-efficient deployment model.
Increased User Engagement
Enhanced real-time features such as live chat and dynamic notifications have resulted in a noticeable increase in user activity and session duration.
Instant Chat Visibility with Redux Persist
Redux Persist ensures that chat data remains available locally, preventing delays in message visibility. Even if the app is restarted or the network connection is lost temporarily, chat messages appear instantly in the UI without requiring a new API request.
Apollo Caching for Faster Data Retrieval
Apollo Cache optimizes GraphQL queries by storing frequently accessed data locally. This reduces unnecessary API calls, leading to faster loading times and improved app responsiveness.

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