Let’s Shhout!
Introducing our first Cord Project, a ridiculously simple app to shout out to all your friends all at once.
Today we’re sharing a little app called Shhout!
That may seem like an odd thing to do. After all, it’s only been a little over a month since we launched our eponymous application, Cord. There’s still a ton to do to take Cord from the app you can download now to our vision of a super simple, super fast voice messaging platform. We’re hard at work on that now, making Cord better with each little update. In fact, we just released a nice sized update, so go check it out! And of course we’re sprinting to release the sorely missed Android version.
So why another app now? Shhout! isn’t really another app, it’s a feature. As we work on Cord, we have tons of little ideas and a million directions we could go. But of course not everything can (or should) be built into the product. Our solution for sharing and testing some of the more promising ideas is to build them as Cord Projects. Cord Projects will be an on-going series of experiments meant to explore voice messaging and how it intersects with the latest technology and trends. Shhout! is the first.
The truth is that sometimes it’s easier to build something simple like Shhout! as a stand-alone product. Keeping things separate also lets us try ideas that might seem a little crazy at first. Check out this quick video for an intro:
Shhout! began with a simple question; what if we built a public and private messaging service into one app? How could we make it clear that you are broadcasting to everyone and not sending a private note to your girlfriend? Basically, we wanted to avoid a Carlos Danger situation.
The solution was to create a new type of interaction, an unmistakable move that makes it clear which ‘mode’ you’re in. Flipping your phone upside down to enter broadcast mode felt perfect. Not only is it a very deliberate action, it puts your microphone front and center. It’s perfect for shouting.
A quick prototype later and we realized broadcast mode was pretty interesting all by itself. By syncing with Facebook, you’re instantly dropped into one big (literal) chat room with all your friends. There’s no need for names or profile pics, since a voice is all you need for identity… or anonymity.
So grab a few friends and give Shhout! a try. It’s available on iOS now. We’ve been using it all summer and it’s been incredibly fun. Shhout! has turned out to be a pretty cool way to invite everyone to a party, taunt friends in your kickball league, or show off your Chewbacca impression. It’s no doubt the fastest way to shout anything to all your friends.
— Jeff & Thomas
