I don't understand the interaction with agents. Are they basically like IFTTT? Ie, i can setup scenarios (when i walk into home, when i connect to my car bluetooth) and it will trigger an action?
I like the idea of more IFTTT-like apps, but i'm not sure what usefulness the fact that this is a Launcher has. But perhaps that's because i'm only paying attention to the IFTTT-like feature.
Hi, my name is William Dahlheim from Stockholm, Sweden, and it's me and my team that are behind Thing. You're spot on - the basic idea is much like IFTTT but we allow for more steps and more triggers.
Triggers, for example, can be time, location, wifi and/or weather based. These will cause one or more actions to fire. We call them Agents and an Agent can look like this:
When I arrive at Grand Central Terminal play "Hotline Bling" in Spotify and request an UberLUX from 70 E 42nd St to Aquavit if it's snowing.
Here, the triggers are location and weather, of course. Actions are play a track in Spotify and request an Uber. Thing is a way of using building blocks such as Spotify, Uber, Philips Hue, weather, bluetooth, wifi and more to connect yourself seamlessly to services on your terms. The idea is that apps themselves are "just" containers for the service they connect to, so why not combine them in a coherent and seamless way? We chose to do this as a launcher as then Thing will be front row center between the user and the device and not an app like all other.
Anecdotally, as an example, a dear friend of mine was on a date recently that was going quite well. He set up an agent that got him an Uber form the restaurant and took him home. Another agent that he created in the Uber turned on his Bluetooth speaker at home and played some Barry White and dimmed his Philips Hue lamps to a reddish color. A bit of everyday magic.
There's more of course, but I think you get the idea. Thing also curates your apps based on your behaviour and presents you with the apps you're most likely to use at any given time of day. We're big fans of app discovery and grew tired of the wall of apps most phones are today. Rethinking mobile UX!
I'm happy to answer any questions you might have. We're super excited about it and hope you'll like it! Feel free to reach out at william@thing.se to me personally or join our Google Group at https://plus.google.com/communities/100847411380430672830 - we'll post some tips and trick and discuss upcoming features and suggestions. Of course, for more info check out https://thing.se
Try it out, I think you'll like it! Age is not a factor, my dear father is 74 and he uses it (no pressure from the family, of course...). Even if you don't use the agents, the app stream that curates your apps and our overall approach of "within a thumb's reach" resonate very well with our users so far. Actually, give it a couple of days and I'm positive that you'll find that you get more efficient with your phone!
I like the idea of more IFTTT-like apps, but i'm not sure what usefulness the fact that this is a Launcher has. But perhaps that's because i'm only paying attention to the IFTTT-like feature.