Loco - Live Location Sharing App

Loco is a simple mobile application built with Expo and React Native that enables users to share and view live locations with friends. It offers a seamless way to connect with others by displaying their real-time positions on an interactive map. Whether you're coordinating a meetup or just curious about where your friends are, Loco makes location sharing straightforward and engaging.

Features

• Live Location Sharing: Share your real-time location with friends, making it easier to coordinate and meet up.
• Interactive Map Interface: View your friends on a map with customizable markers and avatars.
• Friend Requests: Send, accept, or decline friend requests to control who can see your location.
• Search Functionality: Easily search for other users to add as friends or view their profiles.
• Background Location Updates: Continue sharing your location even when the app is running in the background.
• User Profiles: Customize your profile with a unique username and avatar.

Technologies Used

• React Native & Expo: For building a cross-platform mobile application.
• Firebase Realtime Database: To store user data, including locations, friends, and friend requests.
• Expo Location Services: To access and track device location in both foreground and background modes.
• React Navigation: To handle navigation between different screens within the app.
• Expo Notifications: To manage in-app notifications and alerts.
• Lodash Debounce: To optimize location updates and prevent excessive database writes.
• Haversine Formula: For calculating distances between latitude and longitude coordinates.

Getting Started

To run the app locally, clone the repository and install the dependencies:

git clone https://github.com/yourusername/loco.git
cd loco
npm install

Then, start the Expo development server:

expo start

Use the Expo Go app on your mobile device to scan the QR code and launch the application.