Building a Dating App with No Backend: How I used Rust, Tauri 2.0, and P2P Mesh Networking to Fight the Loneliness Pandemic

May 17, 2026 · 3:50 AM UTC ·2 min read · 0 reactions · 0 comments · 43 views

#dating app #privacy #peer-to-peer #rust #decentralized #Ben Sivan #Aura #Rust #Tauri 2.0 #libp2p #SQLCipher #Vite #React

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Ben Sivan developed Aura, a dating app that operates without a central backend by using Rust, Tauri 2.0, and peer-to-peer mesh networking to prioritize user privacy and combat loneliness. The app stores all data locally on users' devices and uses encrypted P2P communication to discover and share profiles in a decentralized network. Aura also implements a relational reputation system to enhance trust without relying on centralized moderation.

Key facts

▪Aura is a dating app built with no central server, using local-first and serverless architecture.
▪The app uses Rust for encrypted storage, P2P networking, and a local machine learning model, while the UI is built with React and Vite.
▪Devices in Aura's network propagate encrypted user profiles through physical movement using a gossip mesh protocol.
▪User trust is managed via a decentralized reputation mesh with locally calculated 'Relational Valence' scores.
▪Aura is open-source under AGPL v3 and is being prepared for publication on F-Droid.

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Publication time	Sun, 17 May 2026 03:50:00 +0000
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try { if(localStorage) { let currentUser = localStorage.getItem('current_user'); if (currentUser) { currentUser = JSON.parse(currentUser); if (currentUser.id === 3354878) { document.getElementById('article-show-container').classList.add('current-user-is-article-author'); } } } } catch (e) { console.error(e); } Ben Sivan Posted on May 17 Building a Dating App with No Backend: How I used Rust, Tauri 2.0, and P2P Mesh Networking to Fight the Loneliness Pandemic #rust #tauri #p2p #privacy The Problem: The "Skinner Box" of Modern Dating Traditional dating apps have a fundamental conflict of interest: if you find a partner, they lose a customer. Their algorithms are designed to keep you swiping, not to help you meet.

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