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Remember YikYak? What about Secret?

Both social networking apps became popular in 2014 for their anonymous nature, sparking a wave of anonymous apps in their wake. 💬

With YikYak, students could discreetly communicate (and sometimes gossip) with others nearby. It took off like crazy in universities in America. At one point, investors valued Yik Yak at $400M. In 2017, it shut down.

Secret was all about 'sharing secretly' and raised $35M in its prime. Amid controversy, the app shut down shortly after a major redesign in 2015 (which looked very similar to YikYak).

Both apps faced heavy criticism for enabling bullying and trolling, as anonymity lends itself to bad actors, well, acting bad. 😕

This week, a new pseudo-anonymous app rocketed to #1 in the App Store just a few days after its launch. It's called YOLO, and it lets users receive and answer anonymous messages from their Snapchat followers (in the Snapchat app). Users can then share responses instantly in their Snap stories.

The app was built on top of Snap Kit, and it's reportedly taking off with teens (a group still heavily using Snapchat). But, as we've seen, anonymous apps have historically gone viral with teens, only to crash and burn due to gossip and bullying.

The creators of YOLO are Gregoire Henrion and Clément Raffenoux, who previously co-founded Mindie. Mindie let users share soundtracked video clips to their Snapchat stories and was acquired by Shots Studios in 2016.

Time will tell if YOLO can maintain its momentum, and you can tell us what you think of the app (non-anonymously) here.

For more anonymity, you can check out October, which we wrote about back in November.

Yesterday Google held its annual (giant) developer conference Google I/O, where the company demoed all the products it's been working on.

There was a big emphasis on privacy — Chrome will reportedly implement anti-fingerprinting tech and Incognito Mode will soon be available with Google Maps. The company also pulled back the curtain on a slew of new products that are available now:

📱Google Pixel 3a is Google's new 'affordable' smartphone (it's $399). The phone will also be available (for the first time ever) from carriers other than Verizon, possibly swaying buyers away from Samsung Galaxy devices and iPhones.

📸Google Lens, the company's image recognition software, is now competing alongside Snap, Pinterest and others to digitize and index the real world. As of yesterday, Google Lens lets you snap a photo of a food menu to look up a dish before you order. The feature is available as an app and is also built into the cameras of Google Pixels.

🏠Nest Hub Max is Google's first smart display with a camera. It's 10 inches, and you can use it for things like video calls or home security monitoring. Google also announced it's renaming Google Home Hub to Nest Hub.

👀Google Duplex, Google's AI assistant, is coming to the web. Specifically, the AI will be focused on car bookings and movie ticketing to start.

In a truly bizarre move, Apple has quietly released its first iPhone game in over a decade. Even weirder? The game appears to by a tribute to Warren Buffett, one of Apple's largest shareholders (he currently holds between $40-$50B in stock). 💸

The game is called Warren Buffett's Paper Wizard, where players deliver newspapers (playing homage to Buffet's job as a 13-year-old boy). How to play: you get points for each newspaper that lands at its target, and lose points for hitting things like birds or cards. The game also gets gradually harder as you, the paper boy, travel from Omaha, Nebraska to Cupertino, CA (there are only two levels).

The game is more or less a clone of Atari's 1985 arcade game Paperboy, but is copyrighted and operated entirely by Apple. For context: the last iPhone game Apple developed was Texas Hold'em back when the App Store launched....in 2008. 😳

The game is free to download so give it a whirl and please tell us what you think.

Some more weird games:

💀 Ok, Dracula for kicking skulls
😛 CatchFlake for playing with your tongue
🔷 Tilespace for a puzzle
🐯 Animar for AR wild animals

Happy Monday!

Before starting your week, take a moment to check in with your mental state. On Product Hunt, we've seen a recent uptick in mental health products, as entrepreneurship lends itself to high mental and emotional strain.

This plays into a larger trend in tech: a boom in VC funding for mental health startups. Last year, several hundred million dollars were invested in mental health tech, with startups like Calm ($116M raised), Headspace ($75.2M raised), Talkspace ($56.7M raised) and Shine ($8.3M raised) at the helm.

If you're looking for *different* mental health apps, we've gone down the Product Hunt rabbit hole for alternatives that have launched within the past year:

Nao lets you chat with AI to talk about your emotions 💬

Walk helps you plan walks to get outside more 🌲

Moody helps you pinpoint the nature of your moods 📍

Replika uses AI to help you get to know yourself ☺️

Deeply is a meditation app (and connects to your Spotify!) 😌

Wellnite combines mental health counseling with treatments 💊

You Are Loved allows you to track your family and friends' mental health 👭

Trill offers an anonymous support community 💪

Mental Screening lest you self-test for common issues 🧠

Siempo turns your phone into a healthier digital experience 📱

What would you add to this list? Share it with us on Twitter.

The next Pokémon Go has arrived, and it's Harry Potter-themed. Unfortunately, the game is only available in an open beta in Australia and New Zealand right now.

Niantic Labs, the company behind Pokémon Go, is working on a similar AR-style game, dubbed Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, where players will encounter magical objects in the real world. From the comments:

“Will this happen to every major franchise? 🤔It looks pretty fun, looking forward to giving it a shot once its available elsewhere.” - Aaron

“Probably gonna be a success, but it just looks like a Pokémon Go clone with replaced graphic assets” - Tobias

The beta version of the game is now live in the App Store and Google Play in those two regions (let us know what it's like if you live there!).

This game is reportedly expected to be more complicated than Pokémon Go was, and will require collecting a mix of artifacts and skills to advance. Harry Potter superfans will also have an advantage, since they'll already be familiar with the ~wizarding world.~

A worldwide release date is yet to be announced, but it's supposedly coming sometime in 2019.

To get your Harry Potter fix until then, check these out:

✨ Learn how to code a wand
🃏 Play Cards Against Muggles
💬 Turn your Intercom into Harry Potter
👀 Print videos Harry Potter style

“We are out to build the next place for canonical knowledge on the Internet” - Jude Gomila, Founder at Golden

This is the optimistic idea behind Golden, a Wikipedia alternative for billions of niche topics, companies, technologies and futuristic concepts.

This is a big undertaking. Wikipedia has been around for the past 18 years (yes, we looked this up on Wikipedia) and is known across the internet as an amazing resource for information. Naturally, Golden's launch had some mixed reactions:

“I feel the two greatest advantages this website will have over Wikipedia are the accessibility and reliability.” - Daniel

“Wikipedia is a non-profit which has democratized knowledge for millions of people - why would you want to compete with that?” - Nick

“There is a ton of potential here. I much prefer this UX to the Wiki UX. I have always had a problem with how Wikipedia updated its content.” - Zaigham

“Looks like a smarter Wikipedia (both for readers and editors). Plus a real business model so you don't have to bother people for money all the time. I can imagine Golden making a huge positive impact on society.” - Nathan

The business model: Golden will be free to use, but the startup plans to make money by charging large companies who want more advanced queries and AI tools for their own data. The company has also raised a $5M seed round.

The problem with Wikipedia: Jude cites that the issue with Wikipedia is its “arbitrary notability threshold,” meaning topics pages are deleted for not being notable enough.

The Golden approach: Golden is kicking things off with topics like cell- and plant-based meats, cryptocurrency consensus mechanisms, microbiomes, artificial intelligence and startups. The company also wants to give contributors a more user-friendly UI. Folks can already embed videos, academic papers and other multimedia content onto Golden pages.

The long-term mission: Golden wants to cover over 10 billion topics over time, and plans to use AI to help in its curation of information.

Add your thoughts and questions about Golden here.

Earlier this week, Marriott revealed that it is rolling out an Airbnb-esque service called Homes & Villas, which will allow folks to rent upscale properties through the hotel chain.

The program began last year with a small pilot with homes in London, and now includes 2,000 luxury homes in more than 100 different cities. As the world's largest hotel company, Marriott already has a presence in 40 of these markets. With Homes & Villas, the chain is expanding to hard-to-reach destinations like the Amalfi Coast, North Lake Tahoe and Saint-Tropez.

The luxury homes will all be equipped with Wi-Fi and hotel-equivalent amenities. These properties will really be more of a competitor to Airbnb Plus, which launched last February to offer hotel-like services to its customers.

It seems like Airbnb wants to be more like Marriott, and Marriott wants to be more like Airbnb. 🤔 From the comments:

“Marriott’s challenge (and current strength) is an old-school hospitality mindset rooted in real estate and in-person service, whereas Airbnb focused building on scalable software that connects people. It will be interesting to see if Marriott can scale this efficiently.” - Justin

To start, Marriott is reportedly renting out properties like:

🍷 A four-bedroom cottage on six private acres of California wine country
🌊 An oceanfront villa in Anguilla with a private beach
🏰 An 18th century Irish Castle that sleeps 17 guests

For other unique travel accommodations, you can also try out PlansMatter (for architecture lovers) or Hipcamp (Airbnb for campsites) or Selina (boutique lodging for nomads).

Sooo time for a vacation? ✈️

Yesterday, co-working giant WeWork (which recently rebranded to The We Company) announced that it confidentially filed for an IPO in December.

WeWork will join a growing class of tech firms that have recently gone public, including Lyft, Zoom and Pinterest. Uber and Slack are also expected to IPO in the coming weeks, followed by Airbnb later this year. 💸

The company has reportedly not yet picked bankers, and did not reveal financial information in the filing.

Since WeWork was founded in 2010, it has largely defined the co-working category, growing from one work space in New York City to a global network of offices. Throughout it's tenure, the company has invested in startups like The Wing, and made 13 acquisitions, including services like Meetup and Managed by Q.

WeWork also had a few of its own launches over the years, so we decided to take a trip down memory lane to find out what folks thought of its different *experiments.* 👀

When WeWork got into co-living:

“As a current WeLive member, I can tell you that this new living community is amazing! Apartments are fully furnished, very modern and everyone is extremely friendly. This made my move from SF to NY so much easier.” - Florent

When WeWork opened a private school:

“Maybe one of the most important things that WeWork can do. I hope it pans out so I can send my future offspring there.” - Joshua

When WeWork unveiled in-house convenience stores:

“Interesting move for WeWork, following its expansion into hospitality. At their scale they've become a distribution channel for CPG, similar to Cargo's Uber/Lyft-focused marketplace.” - Ryan

WeWork is now hoping that public investors believe it can turn a profit from its different visions. The company was last valued at $47B.

P.S. You can get 10-20% off a WeWork membership through our Founder Club program. Just an FYI. 💪

P.P.S. If WeWork isn’t your jam, use Workfrom to find a cafe with WiFi and power outlets to camp in.

We want to send you to Brazil, for free! Let's call it endorsing the digital nomad life. Enter to win here.

Courtesy of our friends at Dollar Flight Club and World Nomads, this free trip to Brazil includes roundtrip flights (and travel insurance) to Rio de Janeiro. Think beaches, warm weather and crossing one of the 7 wonders of the world (IRL) off your bucket list.

After you win, download all of these travel apps to make the most of your trip. You can use things like:

👋 Friend Theory for connecting with people while you travel
🎒 Bounce for storing your luggage
😋 What to Eat In for discovering local food

“Blockchain technology has the ability to completely change what it means to own and ultimately value a digital creation” - Dannie Chu, co-founder and CEO of MakersPlace

MakersPlace launched on Product Hunt yesterday with a unique mission: a marketplace to purchase digital art on the blockchain. The company was founded by early Pinterest employees, and just raised $2M in seed funding.

How it works: When artists upload their work to MakersPlace, they verify their identity (through an integration with Civic) by taking a photo of their driver's license. An Ethereum-based token is then generated with the artists's name, the name of the artwork, its edition number and the date. This allows artists to simply establish proof of ownership for each work.

“It’s this creator-first approach that has allowed us to introduce and onboard hundreds of digital creators onto the blockchain over the last months. Many who have never heard of or care to understand the details of blockchain technology, but simply wish for a better solution to protect and make money from their digital creations.”

On the buyer side, it's also remarkably easy. While you typically need a digital wallet to make purchases on the blockchain, MakersPlace recognizes that a lot of people down already own a digital wallet or Ether, creating a barrier for this type of sale. So the company partnered with Stripe to support credit card purchases, and then MakersPlace will issue you a digital wallet.

While digital art has traditionally been deemed 'less valuable' than physical art, MakersPlace hopes to make digital art more authentic with this approach. Each and every work has been digitally signed and issued by the creator, making every single purchase unique. To make money, MakersPlace takes a 15 percent cut of each sale.

The art world has been traditionally rooted in insular, relationship-driven practices, and when it comes to adapting new technologies, has been particularly slow to the uptake. But as digitally-native platforms are becoming more and more common for all types of commerce, that's gradually starting to change.

Platforms like Artsy ($100M raised) have managed to make inroads in the space — the site makes money by hosting live online auctions and over 2,000 galleries pay monthly subscriptions to advertise work on the site. Earlier this year, online auction house Paddle8 was acquired by The Native to create an auction that accepts bitcoin. Sotheby's — an old school art auction house — recently bought AI startup Thread Genius to build out its image recognition tech. For displaying digital art in your home, there's also Meural, which was acquired by Netgear. For buying and selling goods on the blockchain, there's Rare Bits and SuperRare. 👀