16 year old iOS developer makes Look

[saoudrizwan]

Look is a social networking app that lets you share anything from vines to CNN articles (as URLs) with friends and then group message (no notifications) about it.

https://itunes.apple.com/app/id814866062

Story: I always find cool things on the internet, from a cool new app to a funny vine, and want to share it with my friends. Okay simple, just text the link to them right? But its not that simple. This method of sharing things is so unorthodox because when the user clicks the link, it open safari, you have to go back to iMessage to continue the discussion, group messaging notifications get annoying, etc.

So that's when I came up with Look. I wanted to make sharing cool things... cool. And after 2 long months of development (and 1 month of waiting for Apple to approve it), I've finally done it.

So what exactly is Look? Well, you add/invite friends, then you can share 'looks' with them. These 'looks' can be links or images and they have a post title. Recipients can then group message about the "cool thing" and favorite it to hold on to it.

I really believe this app makes a break through in social networking, at least for someone like me (teen nerd/tech obsessed.) And that's why I believe in Look, because I know it's something I use, it's something my friends use.

I applied for Y Combinator, so my fingers are crossed, I really hope they see what I see in Look.

What do you think?

[zachlatta]

Great job! Congratulations on shipping.

You may already be doing this, but I'd recommend trying to use it with your friends and taking their feedback into account. Do they want a separate app just for link sharing? Are they reluctant to install another application on their phone just for sending links? Are they using the app when you're not around?

I'm around your age and part of a community of young developers on Facebook. Shoot me an email (in my profile) and I'll add you to the group.

[saoudrizwan]

Well, when you say "link" sharing, its really more than that; Look focuses on sharing links and viewing them/talking about them in-app and then holding onto those cool links forever. Usually in a messaging app, the link/pic starts a discussion and is lost in the long string of messages (and text messaging had annoying notifications from every recipient of the text.)

And yeah I'd love to join, I'll send you an email.

[franl]

Great job shipping something! Doesn't look like something I would use, but I could definitely picture teenage family members of mine using it. Good luck!

[saoudrizwan]

Thanks! And just you wait, a few years from now, you'll be addicted to Look, sending all your colleagues links to cool hacker articles and funny youtube videos :-)

[amauricio]

Great job, the app looks great! Would you talk a little about the development process of this app and what tools/frameworks you used?

[saoudrizwan]

Thanks! I used parse.com for the back end, the front ends all me.

[_ud4a]

great job on getting an app created and out there. however, personally i don't think i would use yet another app just for the sake of sharing links. i already have whatsup which i use on my android to share anything and have the conversation in the same window or group chat.

but again great job on creating the app and good luck!

[saoudrizwan]

well, you gotta try the app to see its potential. Why do so many people use snapchat when you can send pics to friends already through imessage/whatsapp? Because of the interface.

Look simplifies the process of sharing links, pictures, and apps and focuses on sharing cool things, not starting discussions.

[alex_g]

People post on snapchat because of quirky face pics and time limit feature. It keeps people updated with others moods and well- yeah mainly weird face pics. You can send the same pics through iMessage, but not with the time limit feature. Just think about in real life. If you and your friends are being goofy and hanging around, one of you might make a quirky face or pose for a second, but they wouldn't hold that pose forever.

Your app has a great design- really simple and easy to pick up. But when people find links they want to share with their friends, they can send a text message, share it on Facebook, or even on Twitter. I don't think people are as interested in having an app just to share links, but I think you have a solid foundation to do something cool. Rather than targeting it for friends to share links together, try and make it into a idea sharing bulletin board sort of thing. I see you have groups as a feature already. If this was an app where I could add a bunch of people to join a group and then we could all post links, notes, pictures, messages, etc. in the group feed, that would be great! However, this is just my feedback. You saw the vision for the app, so it's your choice to try and take it where you want to go.

[saoudrizwan]

This is why I need Y Combinator. Because I know there are features I can add/subtract from the current app. However my vision is and always will be in tact: share cool things and talk about them.

Thank you Alex, really appreciate the feedback.

[manmeet]

goodluck with ycomb!

[saoudrizwan]

Thank you, I'll need it :-)