Outoo
Location-based social discovery mobile app for iOS and Android
A social discovery app that connects people attending the same event, encouraging real-world meetups through interest-based matching and realtime chats.
"We’re unfamiliar with coding ourselves, and you hear horror stories about development projects. We’d recommend Codevate – over the past 12 months the level of trust and understanding we’ve built up is invaluable."
Building a location-based social discovery app
Outoo is a native social discovery app for iOS and Android that matches users based on shared interest in attending the same event, increasing the likelihood of real-world connections. The concept goes beyond standard matching apps by expiring chats once the event concludes or both users check in, prompting genuine interactions over prolonged texting.
We followed a lean, staged rollout approach starting with a limited iOS launch in Worcester to gather real user feedback and build market fit. This agile methodology helped us iteratively evolve the app’s feature set, interface, and overall UX, overcoming the ‘chicken and egg’ problem commonly faced by location-based apps by focusing growth in specific test areas before scaling nationwide.
The final product spans both iOS and Android and delivers a seamless experience: Facebook login imports user profiles and photos, event search is powered by location check-ins, chat sessions expire after events, and in-app purchases allow conversation reactivation. Behind the scenes, Outoo runs on scalable AWS infrastructure, features admin dashboards, automated backups, data scraping, push notification queueing, analytics, and email marketing - ensuring reliability and growth-readiness from the start.
Want to build your own mobile app?
Services delivered
Technologies used
- Native Android
- Native iOS
- TypeScript - NodeJS
- Realtime web sockets
- MongoDB database
- AWS cloud infrastructure
- Facebook sign-in integration
- Facebook graph API integration
Highlights of the Outoo mobile app
Rich user profiles
- Detailed user bios showcasing upcoming events interested in and conversation starters, increasing user engagement
- User profile recommendation algorithm to show the most likely matches
- Intuitively browse though a user's images like a stack of photos
- Facebook photos integration to make it easier to find good photos
Private realtime chat
- Instant messaging with push notifications, ensuring that conversations stay responsive
- Image and video sharing allows richer interactions
- Safe interaction tools include blocking and reporting to keep the platform safe
- Time-limited chats encourage real-life interactions, with in-app purchase chat reactivation as a backup
Event discovery
- Curated event listings allow for featuring the best events, with the possibility to receive sponsorships from event runners
- Facebook graph API integration to display the latest events, meaning the app launched with a wide range of events from day one
- Automated scraping means little administration is needed to maintain the list of upcoming events
- Attendee count shows other users planning on attending, increasing user engagement
In-app purchases and subscriptions
- Allows users to reactivate expired chats as a one-off, or via a monthly subscription
- Seamless integration with native mobile in-app purchases, reducing conversion friction
- Subscriptions allow for recurring revenue
Behind-the-scenes and other top features
Not all heroes wear capes. These behind-the-scenes features don't have screenshots, but form an important part of the project.
Secure handling and storage of personal details
Sensitive user data is stored securely to protect end users.
Highly available AWS cloud infrastructure
Deployed on AWS with high availability to ensure fast performance and minimal downtime to support viral marketing campaigns.
Facebook sign-in integration
Integration of social login options to simplify onboarding and improve user experience across devices.
Admin dashboard
Manage events and user reports via a back-office admin dashboard.
Want to develop an app like this?
"We’re unfamiliar with coding ourselves, and you hear horror stories about development projects. We’d recommend Codevate – over the past 12 months the level of trust and understanding we’ve built up is invaluable."
- 100% UK-based
- Complimentary scoping call
- At-a-glance feasibility analysis
- No obligation high-level proposal
- Work with an expert to evolve your idea
Project outline: building the social discovery app
The Outoo team approached us with their idea to create a social discovery platform, focused on finding and attending events, bringing people together. The platform was to consist of native mobile apps on both iOS and Android, in order to be accessible to the majority of the mobile market.
The app was to take the idea of mutual liking between users, matching to chat, but having both users interested in attending an event or venue at a certain time, increasing the chances of meeting up in person. Chats were to expire shortly after both users had reached the location, or when the event is over, decreasing the amount of time spent talking via the app and forming a real connection instead.
Lean methodology and staged roll-out
Our step-by-step development process provided Outoo with the flexibility to evolve the app's feature-set, interface, and user experience over time based on valuable feedback from real users.
We initially launched Outoo exclusively on iOS, limited to the Worcester area. This allowed gaining initial feedback from users, helping to grow the app's feature-set tailored to fit the market based on user feedback. As users are central to the Outoo experience, it was important to focus on growing the app in specific targeted areas so as to overcome the classic 'chicken and egg' problem, where no one wants to use an app because no one is using it.
Delivering the mobile app
The finished mobile application is available on both iOS and Android, covering the vast majority of the mobile market. Users can sign in with Facebook, automatically setting up their Outoo account populated with their details and photos. Once signed in, users are able to search for events taking place in their current location or a chosen city, view event information, see who's attending, and mark themselves interested in going.
'Liking' a user sends them a chat request, notified via a push notification, which they must accept before a conversation can begin. Users can chat via instant messaging until the event ends, including photo messaging, after which the conversation expires. Users are notified if one of their matches physically arrives at the event location, where they can meet up. In-app purchases are available to re-activate expired chats, where the event has ended, granting users a second chance if they missed the opportunity.
Want to build your own mobile app?
Looking to develop software that's greater than the sum of its parts?
Send us a message