Myrtle
Private photo-sharing social network for close circles — built for memories, not likes.
Client Overview
Myrtle is a private social network where people share photos and videos with the friends who were actually there — not the public. We built the full backend in Node.js + MongoDB and a React Native mobile app, integrated Stripe, Twilio, and SendGrid, and shipped on AWS EC2 with CI/CD and SSL for a production-grade launch.
Industries
Technologies
Status
The Challenges
Designing a sharing model that's selective by default — opposite to most social apps.
Generating and managing QR codes for album access that survive offline scenarios.
Building collaborative albums where multiple attendees can contribute media in real time.
Delivering production-grade auth, payments, and notifications in a single launch.
Solutions & Strategies
Private-First Sharing Model
- Designed a permissions model where every album defaults to private and explicitly invited people.
- Built QR-code-based access so attendees can join an album in person at an event.
Real-Time Collaboration
- Streamed photo and video uploads to shared albums for real-time collaboration.
- Layered Twilio chat into albums so attendees can talk about shared memories.
Production Launch
- Integrated Stripe for any in-app purchases and Firebase for push notifications.
- Deployed on AWS EC2 with SSL and CI/CD for a launch-ready, scalable backend.
The Results
✓Key Achievements
- Live on the iOS App Store with a polished React Native experience.
- Real-time collaborative album sharing.
- QR-driven in-person album access.
- Production deployment with SSL, CI/CD, and full notification stack.
★Project Highlights
- Private-first social model — anti-vanity-metrics by design.
- Real-time photo and video streaming.
- QR-code album access for in-person sharing.
- Available on iPhone and Apple Vision Pro.
Technologies Used
Mobile
Backend
Database
Integrations
Infrastructure