I have a question for our Android-using brethren who've had the opportunity to play with Now. I've read a bit about it over the past few weeks, and I've been excited about a port to iOS, but now that I have it, I'm not sure how or if it'll fit into my life day-to-day.
At first brush, all I see is a weather widget. I know there's more to it, but where exactly does the magic happen? What have you done (if anything) to maximize its value?
The subject is an implied first person. (i.e., "I" or "we.")
I see this kind of omission as a way for cowards to avoid explicitly standing behind their request, both to diminish their own disappointment if the recipient says no or ignores them and to mitigate the chance that the recipient perceives their note as 'needy.'
Though I agree that the tagline's a little confusing, the first two bullet points ("Never ask for a friend's Wi-Fi password again" and "Sync passwords between your tablet and phone") gave me a clearer understanding of what they're doing here.
Irrespective of the quality of their explanation, your cynical assumption (read: projection) that in comparing themselves to Dropbox they're just trying to "seem disruptive" or to put on airs is disheartening. I don't know these guys, but why not give them the benefit of the doubt? Couldn't they be comparing themselves to Dropbox for another reason – namely, that Dropbox is great at syncing, and that, just perhaps, their app is great at syncing too?
(Frank here, one of the co-founders of CallingVault.)
'Privacy' in the context of our service means two things, but in the comparison to GV, it really means that we'll never scrape your texts or voicemails for ad targeting or use your activity to build a profile of who you are.
It also means – and we share this with GV – that you can keep your personal number private by giving out your CallingVault number instead.
Frank here – one of the co-founders of CallingVault. Here's how we look at it:
We wanted to charge the lowest price possible for a CallingVault line, so we made text and minute purchasing a la carte. This way, you get the line (including unlimited voicemail) for $3.25/month and you add only the texts and minutes that you need. We think our rates on texts and calls (as low as 1¢/txt and 2.2¢/min) are competitive.
We're always looking to get our prices as low as possible without jeopardizing the sustainability of our business (which means never showing ads, never selling customer data in any way, and ensuring that we can be around for the long haul to provide the kind of support we do now) and our goal is to be as transparent as possible (except with our customers' information). Can you point me to other services that charge less?
A UX guy's perspective, now that I've used the app a little:
* The "I want to explore..." box doesn't really scream SEARCH BOX at me. My first instinct was that it was a kind of "I'm Feeling Lucky" button. You might be able to make it a little 'searchier' just by getting rid of the all caps and left-aligning the text.
* Scrolling through the Places menu is pretty laggy (on my iPhone 4S, at least), especially when compared to scrolling through photos, which is lightning fast.
* I love the pleasantness of the copy/messaging in the app. When it prompted me to share, I couldn't help but tweet it. One thing you might consider doing for that menu in particular is making it a two-step thing instead of a three-step thing. Right now, you ask the user if they'd like to share, then which network they'd like to share with, then they have to do the actual sharing. Why not unify that first and second step into a single prompt?
* In the pane in which the I Want To Explore box has focus, the spacing/balance could be improved. One way to improve it might be to remove the Location Filter tag altogether.
Sweet app. Downloaded and ready to use tomorrow in NYC.
One thing: kerning. The 'A' in the wordmark is in no-man's land! T and G are friendly letters, and I'm sure they'd be more than happy to snuggle up on that A.
As much as I truly, truly loathe criminals of any sort, lionizing vigilantism, especially when the self-appointed avenger threatens violence, is misguided at best and dangerous (read: deadly) at worst.
Please, if your phone is stolen, don't chase down the thief yourself. It just isn't worth it.
This app isn't meant to be used in the subway – it's meant to used before you go down into the station. All the lines supported in the app have signs in their stations with the same live schedule information.
I responded to this on the other post regarding the Poke app on the homepage:
Sure, it's like SnapChat, but isn't that always the dynamic in this industry: the Feature Qua Product (simplicity, focus) vs. Feature Qua Feature (integration)? Some folks, like those who use Buffer, for example, simply prefer tightly-focused, standalone apps while others prefer ones that do more, that integrate many features into a (sometimes) cohesive product a la HootSuite.
Personal note: while I'd have been tempted to compare them to Apple or Google in the past, Facebook's turning out to be a lot more like Microsoft for the web, appropriating features or buying companies to Do Everything, even if they're not the best in each vertical.
Sure, it's like SnapChat, but isn't that always the dynamic in this industry: the Feature Qua Product (simplicity, focus) vs. Feature Qua Feature (integration)? Some folks, like those who use Buffer, for example, simply prefer tightly-focused, standalone apps while others prefer ones that do more, that integrate many features into a (sometimes) cohesive product a la HootSuite.
Personal note: while I'd have been tempted to compare them to Apple or Google in the past, Facebook's turning out to be a lot more like Microsoft for the web, appropriating features or buying companies to Do Everything, even if they're not the best in each vertical.
Generally speaking, I'm militantly rational. My rational brain is engaged in perpetual combat with my powerful Italian-American emotions, and I feel as though even if I win most of the battles, the war will never end.
Except in sports. I love my Mets, Devils, and Giants (screw basketball) with the heat of a thousand stars. My rational brain recognizes the utter absurdity of it, but I simply don't care. It's fun almost because it doesn't make any sense.
In a way, being an avid, emotionally invested fan of something so insignificant is practice for the very real emotional ups and downs inevitably experienced in 'real' life. Sports instruct us both in how to react to traumatizing events (in a safe, controlled environment) and in how to feel, how to attach ourselves emotionally to something.