Hell is other people- the app that helps you avoid people

So, we’ve done a review of the lover-ly app that is Tinder, we were planning a review of the similarly themed ‘Bang with friends’ app, however it has been unceremoniously dumped from the Apple App store ( for the time being…).

We thought maybe now we should review an app for the people who are not really interested in human interaction, or face-to-face interaction specifically. Cos it be scary. We get that, so this one is for you guys!

The app?  ‘Hell is other people’. Got a nice dystopian ring to it doesn’t it? People are calling this an Anti-social app, and as unfriendly as that sounds, we think that it has definite potential in certain circumstances.

Here’s how it works.

You download the app onto your device. You go out for a quiet Sunday afternoon stroll. Say….say you might not have slept at home last night, say you’re on what some people might call, a ‘walk of shame’. Who you wanna see? Altogether now: No-one.

Change the situation to your good self hung over and wearing track pants and not wanting to see that girl/guy, or when you might not be where you’re supposed to be and yet there you are staring at your very unimpressed boss in the bar down the road.

Or, imagine you’re just somewhere in the world, you walk into a cafe, and look, there’s that guy that does that weird long silence thing between sentences. Or worse, that chick who does the weird silence thing in the middle of  her sentence, and then you react to their weird half sentence, and then you realize that they hadn’t finished and oh my god just walk away.

Here is that magic thing that you’ve been waiting for- a chance to avoid that particular awkward awkwardness.

So, is it really magic? Will I never have to have an awkward social interaction ever again?

Well, no, sorry kids. The above ( and many more too)  are all situations where the Hell is other People App would come in handy- as long as the people you know and want to avoid in certain situations all use the location based social media app Foursquare. Frequently.

If they do, then you’re in luck. The app will track, record and plot your friends most recent check in’s on an ‘avoidance’ map for you, so you know where people are and when they checked in, making it perfect for sneaking around them.

The man behind the app, Scott Garner, a student at New York University’s Interactive Telecommunications Programme, says that he hopes to include check in’s from facebook and geo-tagged tweets in the future.

This would create an even more comprehensive way to avoid your friends in sticky situations, or just, you know, cos your friends suck.

This is not a downloadable app, and you have to me a member of foursquare for it to work. Go to http://hell.j38.net/ to sign up using your foursquare log in information and you can see your ‘Avoidance’ map from there!

Happy avoiding guys!

Image courtesy of Hell is other people.

Friday Afternoon App review: Tinder…

The two newest dating/meetup Apps that everyone is talking about are ‘Tinder’, and ‘Bang With Friends’.

Yes, you read that right.

We at iPhone Antidote take app reviewing seriously so we have tested both of these (…not to the full extent…) and, if you’re interested in meeting up, dating, or, umm… banging people, whether it be Facebook friends or strangers/potential friends, here’s the low down.

Tinder first.

The rather more subtly named Tinder has gained extraordinary popularity spread mainly by college students (those horny buggers). You sign in using your Facebook logon information, although what happens in the app, stays in the app- the (necessary) promise is that nothing will ever be shared on Facebook or posted on any walls!

The app does however use your Facebook profile picture, (cue reminder to make sure your profile picture is you, not you and your boyfriend/girlfriend, a group of people/a cat.)

The app scans the area using preferences set by you in the settings tab. Preferences include- the scannable distance from a 5-mile to a 50-mile radius, and the gender of people that you’re interested in.

Then, it scans. It’s pretty exciting.

And this is the crux of the app. A photo appears on your screen, and you say if you like them or not.

Tinder is mainly based on looks, but you can also see if you have similar interests from Facebook, like the 49’ers or Coachella and you can also see if you have friends in common, which is good to know for many reasons, from ‘oh that’s neat’ to ‘oh god, don’t click like, don’t click like, avoid that awkwardness’.

You have two choices to like or dislike someone. You can click the cross or the heart, or you can swipe left for not interested, right for interested. Warning- this has the potential to become too automatic!

The first time you like or dislike someone, you get a warning asking you if you’re sure – and after that, you’re on your own. Not the end of the world, though.

Once you like someone, if they’ve already liked you, then you get a match! Yay! You now have the ability to message them through the app. You can also get notified if someone you like, liked you back after the fact. That’s a lot of liking.

If you dislike someone, well, no-one will never know. Kind of.

The people who had the most likelihood of being liked, in our humble opinion, was not only good looking people, but people who had good pictures- pictures of famous landmarks, famous people, the people doing awesome things.

Even though the app is designed to be almost purely superficial, it is human nature to respond to other triggers within the photo that suggests personality traits that are more admired- success, adventure, fun etc.

The user average (in our area at least) was 18-24 for girls, and mid to late twenties for boys, but there were ages up to 70 in both genders.

In our testing, guys will say that they like a girl far more easily than girls will say that they like a guy. Kinda like the world, right? Am I right?

Out of about 30 matches, only 2 people messaged after the match, one was super graphic, one was really nice. Sorry really nice guy, iPhone antidote was just testing!! Bad iPhone antidote.

So, Tinder. Definitey an addictive ego boost. Definitely useful for singles, but only if you and the person you match with are in it for the same reasons and you actually talk to the people you match with! Also, kinda like life.

Next time: Bang with friends. Review. Bang with friends review.

Image courtesy of Businessinsider.com