PlanLoops: Developing an Offline Activity Planning Platform

What distinguishes a social platform from a thematic system for group trips to the store, morning runs, chess tournaments? Only how it interacts with the audience. For example, like PlanLoops, where an interactive system for planning and organizing joint activities has been developed.

Learn more about how the BuildApps team implemented the platform!

An investment specialist reached us through word of mouth. Previously, he was engaged in projects of various formats and scales, but now he has switched to small but interesting startups from the USA.

He is also a big fan of a healthy lifestyle and is actively involved in sports. Since this process is less enjoyable alone than with friends, the client decided to develop a specialized system that would facilitate the organization of various thematic events.

The purpose of developing the platform is to unite people around a certain event. That is, to gather like-minded people, for example, for morning runs, shopping trips or other activities. Simply because it's more fun and productive to do what you love with friends.

Interestingly, the customer did not need to implement a separate application, and this was somewhat confusing. Instead, he wanted to create a web application adapted to the mobile format. And all communication was to take place via SMS.

With PlanLoops you can easily:

• Create events. Specify the description, time and place of the event.
• Invite friends. Send invitations to friends and acquaintances via SMS, phone number or QR code.
• Track participation. Get confirmation from invitees so you know who will be there.
• Receive reminders. Don't miss any events with automatic reminders.
• Create groups. Find people with similar interests to organize joint events.
• Track statistics. View detailed statistics about your events to better plan for the future.

The application works as follows: a person creates an activity, for example, a run on Friday, and then sends invitations to his contacts. The system sends an SMS to the phone, where the invited person must confirm or cancel their participation. Before the event, a reminder and a re-clarification are sent whether the invited person will definitely join the event. The event takes place, after which all participants receive feedback on the held activity and are invited to other events.

App Development Took 4 Months. Throughout the 4-month development process, we maintained close communication with the client and conducted regular demo meetings.

• Front-end: React, Next.js, Mantine
• SMS delivery: Twilio
• Chatbot: Dialogflow
• Database: Mongoose, MongoDB
• Programming language: TypeScript
• Cloud hosting: Google Cloud Platform
• Development Process

Web application development: React and Next.js were used to create the web application. These frameworks, combined with the Mantine library, enabled the creation of a dynamic and interactive user interface.

SMS automation: Twilio was used to automate SMS delivery. Twilio is a platform that allows websites and mobile apps to send SMS messages, make phone calls, and organize online meetings.

User request processing: Dialogflow was used to create a chatbot that allows users to interact with PlanLoops via SMS.

Google Maps integration: Google Maps integration was used to display event locations.

Data storage and user authentication: Firebase was used for data storage and user authentication.

Scalable and reliable data storage: Mongoose, MongoDB, and TypeScript were used for scalable and reliable data storage.

Unique Features

• Contact book synchronization: Users can synchronize their contact book with PlanLoops to easily invite friends and acquaintances to events.
• Group creation: Users can create groups based on interests, event themes, and activities themselves.
• Participant addition options: Participants can be added to events via subscription to the organizer, self-registration, or invitation.
• SMS scheduling and automation: Users can schedule and automate SMS notifications for events.
• Administrative panel and interactive SMS template editing: Administrators can manage and edit SMS templates via an interactive administrative panel.

The project was successfully delivered in MVP format and is currently in the marketing stage. The client's feedback has been so positive that we have already begun work on their next project.

Want to implement a similar project? Delegate its development to the BuildApps team!