Herenow - Send and receive messages with anyone within 100 metres of your location.

[captainbenis]

Hi all,

Herenow is my app I built about 2 weeks ago and released with a few days (the iPhone version took longer because of the long app store review process).

Herenow lets you send and receive messages with anyone within 100 metres of your location. If no one is around, your message will be delivered to the next person to arrive at your location.

It uses background GPS, push notifications, and is a hybrid app (it's mostly all native, but displaying the messages uses a webview).

I'd love to get your feedback on it.

Herenow

Ben

 

[RazzMaTazz]

Considering that GPS drains the heck out of my battery, would you please explain why I should want this?

To get advertisements about specials from restaurants/bars/shops?

Or am I supposed to care what strangers think? If there were a chalk board up and people wrote that they liked the ribs or the salad or the pilsner or something, I don't think I could be bothered to read it. But that's just me.

I don't get it.

 

[captainbenis]

Herenow doesn't actually use GPS. It uses wifi positioning, so when your phone sweeps for nearby wifi hotspots, it works out an approximate position (to within 50 metres) and notifies my app. My friends and I have been running herenow for a few weeks any haven't noticed any extra battery usage.

I might add advertising from restaurants/bars/shops later on, but that's not in there at the moment, currently the app is good for:

* Sending messages to your coworkers (who are all near you)
* Leaving reviews of things at businesses

I understand if you're not interested in what strangers think, but I think there might be people who are intersted - or I might be totally wrong - it's a bit of a social experiment.

 

[athegn]

How would I stop you sending these messages to me?

Sorry but I see this as no different to you standing in the street and shouting so that all within a 100 metres hear you.

 

[captainbenis]

You can't stop messages at the moment, only by uninstalling the app.

I think it's a bit different from shouting at people on the street. People won't think you're crazy if you use this app... .. also your message will be left there for the next people to arrive. It's more like writing a message in chalk on the street.

 

[UncleMike]

...Or am I supposed to care what strangers think?...

I don't get it.

Isn't caring what strangers think (and do) the reason for Twitter's popularity? That said, I don't get it either.

 

[RazzMaTazz]

Isn't caring what strangers think (and do) the reason for Twitter's popularity? That said, I don't get it either.

But in the case of Twitter, you can choose whom you want to follow (or stop following), like a favorite sports team/player or something, not just every random stranger on the street.

 

[UncleMike]

I see there's an important difference, but I don't get Twitter either.