Curate Your Closest Relationships
Inner Friend is a relationship support and tending app that helps you intentionally nurture your closest friendships based on Dunbar's Number research. Instead of endless scrolling, invest quality time in real relationships.
Face Time, Not Ad Time.
Research by anthropologist Robin Dunbar shows humans can maintain meaningful relationships at different scales:
- Core (5) — Your closest confidants, the people you trust most
- Inner (15) — Close friends you connect with regularly
- Outer (50) — Good friends and your extended circle
- Naybors (variable) — Trusted neighbors for mutual aid and emergencies
- Acquainted (150) — People you know well enough to greet
- Role Models (unlimited) — People whose life stories inspire you
- Parasocial (unlimited) — Celebrities and content creators you follow
- Intentional Limits — Science-backed caps on each tier help you focus on quality over quantity
- Private by Default — Your lists stay on your device; account creation is optional
- Tending Reminders — Get notified when you haven't contacted someone in a while
- Drag & Drop — Easily reorder and tend to friends within tiers
- Multiple Contact Methods — Phone, FaceTime, WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram, SMS
- Naybor SOS — Quick access to trusted neighbors for emergencies and mutual aid
- Keys Shared — Securely track who has keys to your home for emergencies
- Emergency Entry Permissions — Define when naybors can enter during emergencies
- Cookie Consent — Granular control over cookies (essential, functional, analytics, marketing)
- Data Export — Export all your data anytime in JSON format (Data Liberation Front compliant)
- Account Deletion — 30-day grace period with full data removal
- Consent Management — View, manage, and withdraw consent at any time
- Age Verification — GDPR Article 8 compliant for users under 16
- Mutual Discovery — Optionally discover when friends have you on their list too
- Bridging Protocol — Core and Inner feeds emphasize calls and meetups over passive likes
- Bulk Contact Import — Import contacts from phone, vCard, or CSV files
- 23 Languages — Full translations including accessibility labels
- RTL Support — Arabic, Urdu, and Hebrew with proper right-to-left layout
- Prominent Language Selector — Easily switch languages from any page
Inner Friend supports 23 languages with complete translations including accessibility labels:
| Language | Endonym | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| English | English | LTR |
| Chinese | 简体中文 | LTR |
| Hindi | हिन्दी | LTR |
| Spanish | Español | LTR |
| French | Français | LTR |
| Arabic | العربية | RTL |
| Bengali | বাংলা | LTR |
| Portuguese | Português | LTR |
| Russian | Русский | LTR |
| Japanese | 日本語 | LTR |
| Punjabi | ਪੰਜਾਬੀ | LTR |
| German | Deutsch | LTR |
| Javanese | Basa Jawa | LTR |
| Korean | 한국어 | LTR |
| Telugu | తెలుగు | LTR |
| Vietnamese | Tiếng Việt | LTR |
| Marathi | मराठी | LTR |
| Tamil | தமிழ் | LTR |
| Turkish | Türkçe | LTR |
| Italian | Italiano | LTR |
| Urdu | اردو | RTL |
| Hebrew | עברית | RTL |
| Blesséd | Blesséd | LTR |
- React + TypeScript
- Vite for fast development
- Tailwind CSS for styling
- shadcn/ui component library
- Supabase for optional persistence and auth
- Framer Motion for animations
- React Query for data fetching
- i18next for internationalization
- Vitest for testing (1300+ tests)
- Node.js 18+ (install with nvm)
# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/LifesaverLabs/inner-friend-circle.git
# Navigate to the project
cd inner-friend-circle
# Install dependencies
npm install
# Start the development server
npm run devThe app will be available at http://localhost:5173.
# Run all tests
npm test
# Run tests in watch mode
npm run test:watch
# Run tests with coverage
npm run test:coverageInner Friend embraces these principles:
- Quality over Quantity — Cognitive limits are real; honor them
- Asymmetry is Natural — Not all relationships are symmetrical, and that's okay
- Privacy First — Your relationships are yours; we don't need your data
- Intentional Design — Leave the app to spend time with the people you've listed
- Bridging, Not Broadcasting — Encourage real connection over passive engagement
We welcome contributions! See CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.
Help translate Inner Friend into more languages or improve existing translations. Translation files are located in public/locales/[language-code]/.
- Code: MIT License
- Content: CC0 1.0 Universal
Copyright (c) 2025 Lifesaver Labs Public Benefit Corporation and Lifesaver Labs Koalition