App for Grabs is a new series I'd like to start on "i" on Tech. It's basically an idea I have for an app (whether for mobile or desktop or web), but it seems no one has written that exact app just yet. So, I put this app idea up for grabs. Hence, the name. If you're a developer and you grab this app idea, please feel free to contact me for donations and royalties! :D And I'd be happy to give you more app ideas. If you're evil and you don't even want to credit me, well, I will let the world judge you.
Anyhow, here's my first App for Grabs.
The Problem.
How come we can't just send voice mails at the touch of a button?
For example, I'm working hard all day in front of my computer, and I just want to send my wife a message or a thought. I have three options: email, iMessage, Gmail or FB chat. To do any one of these, I need to launch an app, wait for it to load, in the case of some, wait for the webpage to load. HASSLE. Of course, now, I have easy access to email through my menu bar, but even that takes me 5 clicks and keypresses before I can start actually typing (or dictating) my message. If I use dictation services, that thing takes even longer than if I just type my message.
Another example is on my phone. Like, why does Siri have to transcribe my speech into text, and then send that as a text or iMessage or e-mail, which might be read again by Siri on my recipient's phone? As you can see there is one problem here: Siri (or other similar services) doesn't always get our speech right. Specially when it comes to our very special unique names!
So, there's your app idea.
The Idea - Implementation.
On mobile, the simplest implementation is you launch the app, which immediately presents you your favorites list, you select one, speak your message, press stop, and your voice mail gets sent. The recipient gets a push notification, launches the app, all his/her received messages get automatically played though there's an option to skip, and or to skip and delete. Then, maybe you can configure through some tweak on your Android or iPhone to launch this app by holding down the home button or some other control. The app also has an archives tab where you can review old messages, delete them, e-mail them, etc.
On desktop, I'd like to be able to just press a button -- or two -- to do the same thing. Like on OS X, I'd like to configure the double-press of the Fn key to, instead of start Dictation, launch this app instead. The app should have desktop push notifications as well, and essentially all the same functions as the mobile app idea.
This is implementable on the web, too, but that would have little purpose except perhaps on a Chromebook. Or if the desktop app is OS X only, Windows and Linux users could also use the app. And it should be a similar implementation as the mobile or desktop apps. It should also have push notifications capability.
On the back end, initially it could just use simple POP3 or IMAP protocols (so they're essentially emails) to deliver the messages (i.e. as attachments). This way, other people without the app can send you messages as well as long as they're in the proper format - say MP3. You might then have an e-mail address associated with the app, e.g. username@app.com.
The Idea - Design.
All mobile apps now should look to Letterpress, the hugely popular iOS word game, for design inspiration. Rounded squares and gradients are not always the best thing, you know. It's all about simplicity. And ease of use. Ideally, this app can launch in a second or less.
Future Features.
Future features: automatically crop out lull/dead-air moments, Siri-integration, transcription (for recipients who cannot hear), text-to-speech (for recipients who cannot read), trusted sender's list (i.e. you can't receive messages from people not in the trusted sender's list -- i.e. a white list), and a black list? But I think "invisibility" or "unavailability" is a better option. That way, you can receive some messages, but they won't be marked as read, or so it seems at least to the sender? And... how about a gray list? People here can only send you a message, say, once a week, or once a month. Because you know, when people start feeling the power of this app, they will just flood you with unsolicited hi's and hello's every hour! But then they might have very important messages, so you give them the benefit of the doubt as long as they haven't been the boy/girl who cried wolf!
Differentiation from Competition
I was trying to think of a name for this, and I came up with Voicy or Vmail. It turns out, there are apps with those names and almost the same functionality already on the iOS App Store. But design-wise, they're not the most appealing. And well, no one's using them. Ease-of-use problem? Or simply a marketing problem?
Anyways, I'll keep thinking of a good, unique name for this thing. And it should be something that could become the verb that describes what you're doing with it, much like how Twitter has transformed into "tweeting" and Google has become "googling."
For now, I'm thinking Buzz. We'd have to talk to Google about this, but that's a lot easier than talking to some other small company or some big company from some country, who will just want to keep you from making it big time (i.e. by charging an unreasonably high premium).
So let's call the app idea as "Buzz," for now. I will buzz you when you have buzzed me.
Monetization
There could also be, say, 27 different forms of the same app on the App Store. On the App Store, you'll find the default/basic Buzzer app. Then there's Buzz A, Buzz B, Buzz C, Buzz D, ... up to Buzz Z. The Buzzer app is the app as I just described. Technically, it still takes 2 clicks to start speaking your message using Buzzer. Buzz * (where * = A to Z) is configurable such that each one is dedicated to one and only one contact, so when you launch the app, it is automatically starting to record your message to send to that one specific contact. Once you finish recording, you then get the chance to listen to any incoming messages, change the settings, and so on. On the other hand, when a message comes in, when you open the app, whether via your home screen or app drawer, or through your notifications, it automatically plays the message. Each Buzz * will be maybe like $0.99? Buzzer would be free with an in-app purchase to convert it to like a Buzz *. Some of the "future features" I mentioned could also become in-app purchases of $0.99 each. An ad-laden full version is tempting, but I think that would make this app less desirable. Think Letterpress, man. Everyone loves it. No ads.
Well, there you go! Again, if you're a developer and you grab this app idea, please feel free to contact me for donations and royalties! And I'd be happy to give you more app ideas. If you're evil and you don't even want to credit me, well, let the world judge you.
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