The app started as a simple prototype in our office of small startup studio. We discovered super fun nature of anonymous ephemeral messaging, so decided to give it a try.
We got about 10K organic installs in 1 week. So people sure miss something in anonymous messaging field. Actually we aim to acquire as more as possible Secret`s ex-users - we believe that there are at least 10M of people looking for a new tool to enjoy anonymous conversations with others in close proximity.
Last time I checked, iOS has about 14% market share, while Android has 79%... Especially for something meant to be by proximity only, you'd want the highest chance of it being on the phones of people nearby... heh. Instead, this gets released on iOS only. Good luck with that.
But aren't iOS users most likely to spend money? Thus making them the perfect users to target if you're eventually going to show ads, or rent their information, or monetize in any way?
Yep. iOS users tend to spend more, in general. Think of this in the context of the specific application, though.
This is a proximity-based messaging. Without people nearby with the app, you have no one to talk to. At that point, ads or renting of information are meaningless... because it won't be used.
For a proximity-based application like this, purposely excluding the majority of smartphone users seems like it will be a limiting factor in its adoption.
But, who knows, maybe this is all intentional. I'll optimistically assume they are beta testing with iOS users until the kinks at worked out and can release to Android.
There's a similar app [0] that's so incredibly popular at universities here in Germany right now that even mainstream media wrote about it already. I'm actually surprised how good the moderation works there, messages that gather more than 5 downvotes are immediately removed so the self-moderation works quite well. How are you dealing with that (I don't see any up/downvote/report buttons)?
If you swipe left on the message in the list you get "mute" option. Then you can mute it not to get notifications on the updates or report the message. For now when reported message is reviewed by our team.
It might just be me but I found the landing page a little aggravating in that the bottom of the phone was cut off and I couldn't scroll down to put it entirely in view. I'm probably just a weird edge case though. The color scheme looks great.
I didn't even realise you were supposed to scroll until I eventually saw the tiny vertically-aligned text saying "Scroll down to see more" - when will they learn?
How do you prevent the same downfall that Secret faced? It seems that part of it resulted from negativity, bullying, etc. That said, I like the design and concept though.
- We are not responsible for the information you can receive or send via Nod App. Our users are free to share any kind of messages. We ask you to stay polite and don’t be offensive or do harm to anybody.
Really ? Anonymous texting with no limits on message content and you (a) expect people to stay polite, and (b) want to denounce all responsibility ?
Sure (b) is achievable (possibly) legally by having a huge disclaimer on usage of the app, but I think it's being somewhat disingenuous to think this won't be abused.
Edit: Will there at least be the ability for a user to block / report other messages ? I assume as you have the device ID this could be achieved technically.
Seems kind of disingenuous to make an app that has similar functionality to a few others, including Secret which in some countries was legally barred due to bullying problems, and then just say it is "up to the users to not bully".
You have to take some responsibility for the things you put out in the world.
Secret was an awesome app, it has not only inappropriate content but a lot of cool jokes, stories, news etc.
It was closed not because people haven't used it but because it went not the way founders wanted.
We don't have over expectations in the field.
My point is that the Secret founders, who thought long and hard about this, concluded that the social cost (harassment, etc.) outweighed the benefits ("cool jokes", etc.). I am imploring you to learn that lesson instead of repeating the same mistakes--and harming others.
That does not sound anonymous at all, if you know the device ID, you are totally trackable. Maybe change your pitch to "pseudonymous"? Anonymity is important and this is not actual anonymity.
thanks. we'll consider that.
just for information apps with phone verification use "anonymous" in description too. we are way more anonymous than secret and many other out there.
However, I'm wondering, instead of connecting to a central server, is there apps do pure peer to peer sharing, possibly by relaying thru bluetooth when internet is down?
We don’t store users location history. User's device only sends its geolocation and we use it simultaneously under messaging. All geolocations are erased by newer ones.
Please don't post comments that are dismissive of new work in this way. It's fine to ask a genuine question, but not to make a dismissive swipe in the form of a question.
No this is not anonymous in the cryptographic sense. It's anonymous insofar a you don't advertise your identity. "Anonymous" is the rule of the game, not a comment on network security features.
We got about 10K organic installs in 1 week. So people sure miss something in anonymous messaging field. Actually we aim to acquire as more as possible Secret`s ex-users - we believe that there are at least 10M of people looking for a new tool to enjoy anonymous conversations with others in close proximity.