[ericwaller]

I find the idea of IRL multi-user UX really interesting. So much of modern computing is built around a 1-to-1 model of users and devices. And then multi-player, collaboration features are built on top of that. Sometimes they’re quite slick (ex. figma) and sometimes they’re pretty clunky (ex. apple family sharing stuff).

But what’s really lacking is a model for multiple people sharing a single computing experience in real life. Companion mode in Google Meet or Spotify Jam are two attempts but both still force you through the one user, one device path.

Two adults sitting in a car shouldn’t have to constantly think “whose phone is this?” connected to CarPlay. Especially when they’re part of the same Apple “family” and on a Spotify family plan.

Two people seamlessly interacting with one “system” would break all sorts of auth and other assumptions, but it seems worth figuring out as computing becomes more and more prevalent in every facet of life.

[naravara]

For the context of a prototypical nuclear family unit it all seems pretty straightforward, but once you introduce extended families, blended families, nannies, or abusive parents or partners you suddenly get a lot of complications and a level of granularity with permissions that would get pretty intricate.

For the CarPlay use case at least some kind of ad hoc “party” entity that all the devices flow into might be interesting. I’m thinking about how with the original StarCraft game one disc had a license for up to 8 instances of the game to play via LAN so you could have a single license key allow a whole LAN party. Some system like that where the auth flows through a “primary” account but everyone in the “party” contributes their own entitlements to it and can provide input.

[pjc50]

> For the CarPlay use case at least some kind of ad hoc “party” entity that all the devices flow into might be interesting

This feels like an under-explored space. I want to allow my guests to use <tech thing> for a period of time; I don't want to have to worry about permanent breakages or security issues. What can I delegate and how?

[jauntywundrkind]

Nexus Q was announced in 2012 (never shippe, and part of the launch emphasized it as a social shared-device. https://youtu.be/7NEXol4he2I#t=1h3m10s

[sparqlittlestar]

My CarPlay with Apple Music shows a QR-code so others may add to the car's playlist. Never used it, coz why wouldn't you trust friends to just open the Music app and add something, coz they rarely have iPhones anyway

[someguydave]

Yep i bet they don’t want to allow these policies because of screwed up and dysfunctional “families” they would suddenly be on the hook to support

[naravara]

Yeah when AirTags were first released there was a rash of articles about them being domestic abuse enablers, including multiple cases of people stalking strangers or surveilling their partners with them. It can get dicey fast.

[xattt]

There’s an opportunity to also build “computing homes”. Say that a number of devices are within a household, some mobile and some desktop.

Imagine harnessing the desktop devices within the home for a family-focused OpenClaw, Xgrid-style, rather than offloading to some server far away that is unaware of the general context of a household.

[pavel_lishin]

I'd wager that not that many households have desktop devices anymore.

[xattt]

Could be an incentive to buy a device that would support it.