5 Apps that changed the way I communicate forever

Jo Ippen
Thanksalot Design Collective
3 min readSep 2, 2014

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Texting is dead. A new generation of context-based messaging apps is here to disrupt our communication behaviour. Here’s my favorites:

Can you fix an appointment with friends in 3 taps or less? My friends Nico, Paul & me where tired of endless WhatsApp conversations when we just wanted to meet for a beer after work. So we started working our own solution 2 years, a little side project in form of an iPhone app called “Midddle”.

When we take a look around, we see that we’re in good company: With Yo, a dead simple app became successful that just relies on context. But there are many that I wouldn’t want to miss anymore:

https://taptalk.me/

Taptalk

The guys who made my favorite app «Dingdong» recently released something even better: Taptalk is an amazing way to share your location & a picture with just a single tap. Even though Facebook tried to rip it off, the original is still the best:

https://itunes.apple.com/app/id847490276

https://lo-yo.co/

Lo

Even simpler than Taptalk is Lo — just pull to send your friend your location & receive a notification once they send their location back. If you’re like me, your friends will thank you if send them a “Lo” when you’re running late.

https://itunes.apple.com/app/id905128789

http://thxalot.co/hash/

Hash.

Disclaimer first: This is only a design concept so far, and yes, I was involved in it. Hash is a newsfeed that let’s you save and share moments Twitter-like – but with Hashtags only! If you would like to try it out, go here & sign up for the beta:

http://thxalot.co/hash

http://emoj.li/

Emojli

If you think hashtags are stupid & minimal, behold – here’s the messaging app that let’s you only send Emojis. If this isn’t minimal, then I don’t know what.

https://itunes.apple.com/de/app/emojli-emoji-only-messenger/id911610042?mt=8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iz13HMsvb6o

Somebody

Okay, you actually need to write some words in this app – but not your friend will receive them, a stranger nearby will. They then have the responsibility to find your friend and deliver the message personally. Miranda July’s new app looks more like an art project than an actual tool, but the concept seems really fun — can’t wait for them to extend to more hot spots.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/apple-store/id897593878?mt=8

So what’s going on with the “Meet your friends in 3 taps or less” app? I have good news for you: It’s hitting the App Store soon! Click here and sign up for early access.

And of course, you should follow me on Twitter!

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Jo Ippen
Thanksalot Design Collective

Designer from Berlin, Head of Product Marketing at Wooga, author of «Web Fatale». Portfolio: http://johannesippen.com