We decided to place the various applications we compared on the axes “Catching up” to “Making memories” and “Active” to “Passive.” Active to passive represents how much activation energy is required for the user to get benefit out of the app. Catching up vs making memories refers to the types of connections people can make using the app. We found that these axes were informative to the types of apps that people were drawn to based on their values and goals for themselves.

Smart Contact Reminder

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Smart Contact Reminder’s logo conveys the clearly stated primary goal of this application–to remind you to connect with your contacts. 

Description: This very simple and minimalist app lets the user sort contacts into three categories–inner circle, middle circle, and outer circle–and choose how often they would like to be reminded to reach out to them. It allows users to log their connections and prompts them to log connections when notifications come in from those contacts. When a person fails to reach out to someone, it will continue to remind them and keeps track of how “overdue” that contact is. Finally, the developers introduced a widget which helps passively remind users of upcoming or overdue people to reach out to.

Target audience: This app is designed for “out of sight out of mind” people who may forget to reach out to friends without the consistent reminders. Notably, since it’s only on the Google Play store, it is only accessible to android users. 

Strengths:

• Buttons in-app make it easy to directly text/call contacts without introducing its own communication channel
• It doesn’t require other friends to be on the app in order to benefit the users
• Logs help keep people honest about when and how often they’re communicating and allow them to review their history

Weaknesses:

• Linking contacts with the app has to be done manually, which can feel cumbersome and frustrating
• Some people feel the minimalist design is bland and that the notifications don’t stand out enough
• Logging contacts can feel cumbersome, although some automation has been implemented which improves the experience

Unique features:

• Dynamic timed reminders to reach out to friends
• Logs for those connections

Market Need Fulfillment: People who are not enthusiastic about downloading yet another app but want a consistent reminder to stay in touch that they control, rather than something that’s algorithmically targeted or dependent on others.

CommuniqAI – Easily in Touch

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Description: CommuniquAI lets its users schedule messages to automatically send to contacts to get in touch. Users can pick which contacts they want to reach out to, how often they want to reach out, and have minimal customization over what that message will be. The app offers choice over how much control the user has for when they reach out–the user can either have to approve each text before it goes out or it can go out by default, with the option to disable it. 

Target audience: This app doesn’t seem to cater towards a specific demographic, but has features that primarily benefit friends and family with some options for maintaining professional relationships. Users will have to be comfortable about another app taking action on their behalf and feel that this is the best way to keep in contact with others.

Strengths: 

• The automation makes reaching out extremely easy since the user doesn’t have to take any action (beyond setup) to make it happen. Presumably, further connection is sparked from there hopefully motivated by an internal pressure that, since you reached out, you had better respond.
• Allows flexibility with scheduling and preventing messages from being sent. Automatically prevents automated messages from sending if you missed a call from them or have received a text and didn’t reply.
• Doesn’t require anyone else to have the app downloaded to be valuable to the user.

Weaknesses:

• Does not allow for customized messages (at least not easily)–primarly relies on generic prewritten messages with the option for using AI, which is sometimes unnatural
• Has the risk of feeling disingenuous since it gives the impression that someone is intentionally reaching out when this is just happening automatically
• Interface seems clunky and confusing. Information is often communicated in dense, difficult to parse blocks of text.

Unique features:

• Automated messaging independent of user
• AI generated messages to reduce friction

Market needs fulfilled: This app addresses the need to automatically initiate conversations. As the app is not especially popular, with around 10k downloads and a 3.9 star rating, it doesn’t seem like this is an especially large market.

Houseparty

Houseparty’s logo is fun, welcoming, and social, perfectly matching the app’s purpose of spontaneous video chatting. The bold red background grabs attention and conveys excitement, energy, and warmth. The waving hand emoji is a simple but effective symbol of causal interaction, representing how users can “drop in” and say hi to friends at any time. Overall, the logo effectively communicates Houseparty’s mission of making online socializing feel effortless and fun.

Description: Houseparty was a social video chatting app that allowed users to connect spontaneously with friends through drop-in video calls. Designed for casual and unplanned interactions, it notified users when their friends were online and enabled seamless group video chats. The app also featured built-in games like trivia and Heads Up! to make conversations more engaging.

Target Audience: Houseparty was designed for young adults, particularly post-grads and college students, looking to maintain social connections through casual, spontaneous video calls.

Strengths:

• Encouraged casual, unplanned social interactions.
• Built-in games made video calls more engaging and entertaining.
• Easy-to-use interface with real-time friend availability.

Weaknesses:

• Privacy Concerns: Users reported issues with “open rooms” allowing unexpected guests to join conversations.
• Limited Professional Use: Unlike Zoom or FaceTime, Houseparty was strictly social and lacked features for formal communication.
• Declining Popularity: With the rise of competing platforms like Discord and FaceTime, Houseparty struggled to maintain a strong user base and was eventually shut down in 2021.

Unique Features:

• Drop-in Video Chats: Unlike traditional video conferencing apps, Houseparty allowed users to “drop in” on friends’ video chats without needing to schedule calls, mimicking spontaneous in-person socializing.
• Games & Activities: The app integrated in-chat games, such as Heads Up! and trivia, fostering engagement beyond just conversation.
• Notification System: Users received real-time notifications when friends opened the app, encouraging organic interactions.

Market Need Fulfilled:
Houseparty addressed the challenge of maintaining friendships post-college by recreating the casual, spontaneous interactions that naturally occur in dorms, libraries, or social spaces on campus. It helped bridge the social gap for young adults transitioning to remote work or living in different cities.

Strava

Strava’s logo reflects energy, movement, and competition through its bold, angular typography and bright orange color. The sharp edges convey speed, while the orange symbolizes motivation and determination. The stylized “A” resembles a mountain peak, representing achievement and progress, with a downward arrow suggesting balance. The simple, modern design ensures strong brand recognition and aligns with Strava’s mission to inspire fitness and community. Its clean and effective look makes it ideal for digital and print branding.

Description: Strava is a fitness tracking app designed for runners, cyclists, and athletes to record workouts, analyze performance, and connect with a social community. It uses GPS to track activities, provides detailed performance metrics, and allows users to compete on segment leaderboards. With social features like following friends, giving kudos, and joining challenges, Strava makes fitness both interactive and motivational.

Target Audience: Strava is designed for fitness enthusiasts, particularly runners and cyclists, who want to track their workouts, analyze performance, and connect with a community of like-minded athletes.

Strengths:

• Combines fitness tracking with a strong social component.
• Encourages friendly competition and accountability through challenges.
• Seamlessly integrates with smartwatches and fitness devices.

Weaknesses:

• Limited Privacy Controls: Users have raised concerns about location sharing and safety.
• Subscription Model: Advanced features like route planning and in-depth analytics require a paid membership.
• Dominant Community: While Strava supports various activities, its core community is heavily focused on cycling and running, limiting engagement for other sports.

Unique Features:

• GPS Activity Tracking: Accurately records running, cycling, and other workouts with real-time performance data.
• Social Network for Athletes: Users can follow friends, give “kudos” (similar to likes), and comment on each other’s activities.
• Segment Leaderboards: Allows users to compete on specific routes and compare times against others.
• Training Insights & Analytics: Provides detailed performance metrics, including pace, elevation, and heart rate analysis.

Market Need Fulfilled:
Strava helps post-grads and young professionals stay connected with friends through shared fitness activities. It fosters motivation by making workouts social, offering a sense of community even when users train alone.

Meetup

The red color of Meetup’s logo conveys energy, excitement, and warmth which are often key emotions connected with social gatherings. To give a friendlier feel to the service, the handwritten-style typography is used. The bubbled background with scattered dots shows individuals coming together to connect, which is Meetup’s goal. This app is less likely to be useful for professional networking because of its casual feel.

Description: Meetup is a platform that connects people through in-person and virtual group events based on shared interests. Users can join or create local communities centered around hobbies, professional networking, fitness, social causes, and more. Events can be free or paid, and they range from casual meetups to formal workshops and networking events.

Target Audience: Meetup caters to individuals looking to build social or professional connections in their local communities. Its primary users include young professionals, hobbyists, and newcomers to an area seeking to integrate into new social circles.

Strengths:

• Helps new city residents quickly build social circles.
• Strong focus on real-world interactions, encouraging genuine connections.
• Diverse range of topics and interests covered.

Weaknesses:

• Some groups require paid memberships or fees to attend events.
• In-person events are location-dependent, limiting remote connections

Unique Features:

• Location-based event discovery with customizable categories.
• Ability to organize and promote events within a dedicated group.
• Integrated messaging for members to communicate before events.

Market Need Fulfilled: Meetup offers a structured way to find and build social and professional circles for post-grads and young professionals who have recently moved out. It addresses the challenge of isolation in a new environment by providing easy access to relevant events and communities.

Airbuds

The Airbuds logo embraces a distressed sticker style aesthetic, adding personality and fun while evoking a raw vibe that would likely resonate with music enthusiasts. The placement of these stickers on an AirPods case reinforces the music-sharing goal and makes the app feel personalized, as if these are your personal AirPods.

Description: Airbuds is a social music-sharing app that allows users to see what their friends are listening to in real time. By integrating with Spotify and Apple Music, it creates a passive social experience where users can discover music through their networks.

Target Audience: Airbuds primarily appeals to music lovers who enjoy discovering new songs through their social circles. It caters to users who want to passively engage with their friends’ listening habits and allows them to message about or react to songs their friends are listening to.

Strengths:

• Seamless integration with Spotify and Apple Music.
• Encourages organic music discovery through social connections.
• Simple, clean interface designed for easy navigation.

Weaknesses:

• Niche appeal; primarily relevant to music enthusiasts.
• Limited direct interaction between friends.

Unique Features:

• Real-time music listening updates from friends.
• Ability to “react” to friends’ music choices.
• Integration with social media for seamless sharing.

Market Need Fulfilled: For post-grads and young professionals adjusting to life after college, Airbuds provides an effortless way to maintain a sense of connection with friends through shared music preferences. It serves as a low-pressure, passive social tool for keeping up with distant friends’ activities.

Locket

Locket’s logo is reminiscent of physical lockets in both its color and its main iconography, the heart. Calling back to the physical inspiration of this app and its name helps ground the user in the purpose of the app. The gold color and the heart also instill a feeling of warmth and love, which communicates the app’s goal of connection with loved ones.

Description: Locket allows users to add photos that will automatically appear as widgets on their friend’s phones. Friends can react to images through emojis and then sending messages, and Locket also allows for users to add a widget that shows only one person’s content.

Target Audience: Locket’s target demographic is Gen Z iPhone and Android users and is intended to be an app used by strong social ties.

Strengths:

• Prevents spam and feed inundation by limiting the number of friends users can have on the app
• Encourages social adoption by requiring users to invite 5+ friends before they can use the app
• Utilizes a relatively new and novel medium, widgets as a form of passive engagement for users

Weakness:

• Many users have complained about suddenly losing their Locket history
• Locket’s Terms of Service dictate that any photo sent through the app can be used by the company however they want, which is a privacy concern
• Some users dislike the requirement to add 5+ friends at the start – they would prefer to only add one particular person (e.g. a significant other)

Unique Features:

• Use of widgets
• Monthly summaries of the memories you have sent and received
• Photos cannot be imported from your phone’s photos and must be taken in the moment

Market Need Fulfilled: Locket was created by a man beginning a long distance relationship. The goal of the app was to provide a low-effort way to stay in touch, create small surprises, and share daily lives with people you do not see every day. Locket fills the niche for those who are looking for a medium to share photos and do not want to deal with an app or a feed (since posts are not public and friends are limited on the app, there is no concept of an “influencer” in the app).

BeReal

BeReal’s logo’s simplicity reflects the simplicity of the app’s goals themselves. The black and white color is easy to focus on, but ultimately unobtrusive. The addition of the period in the logo also makes the app’s name feel like a command: “Be Real” with people. The design counters many of the attention-grabbing social media apps that are more commonplace, which ties in strongly to the app’s perception as an “anti-social media” social media app.

Description: BeReal sends a notification to its users at the same time around the globe. For two minutes, users post a picture of what they are doing from both their front and back camera. After posting (and only after posting), users can scroll through the pictures from that day and react using either pictures of their faces or text messages. Users can also scroll through their own pictures in a calendar form to see their own memories.

Target Audience: BeReal’s target audience is Gen Alpha, Gen Z, and Millenials who are exhausted by the current social media landscape and who carry their phones often.

Strengths:

• Uses push notifications with a memorable phrase (“Time to BeReal”) to catch users’ attention at the chosen time of day
• Requires users to post before being able to access content, ensuring active participation
• Strong and simple integration of camera capabilities in app, minimizing the users’ learning curve

Weakness:

• For full participation, users must have their cell phone with them at all times
• Still has a social media “feel” due to its feed-like structure and the ability to friend strangers on the app
• Many users still put effort into their photos (choosing to post late so they can post while doing something cool, avoiding their face in photos if they don’t look their best, etc.), which counters the app’s mission of authenticity.
  • A common complaint that “BeReal is turning into every other social media app”

Unique Features:

• Global push notifications at the same time
• Limited app interactions based on participation
• Requires photo from both front and back camera for use

Market Need Fulfilled: BeReal satisfies the need for users who want to share their lives in (at least seemingly) casual ways. It allows users to interact with social media in a much more limited capacity, helping those who crave online connection but are wary of the time-suck and doomscrolling that can be associated with it.