Hi I'm Rob, a developer on Hearts. Our goal is to make it easier to send empathy to friends and family even when we're all very busy.
Hearts is very simple, just tap and hold someone's Heart to start sending. You can only send 1 Heart per second, which we think makes receiving Hearts rather meaningful. Your Hearts grow larger the more Hearts you receive, so your screen quickly becomes a picture of the people that care most about you. Finally, when you and a friend hold each other's Hearts at the same time, the app vibrates so you can feel the your heartbeats through the phone.
Isn't this just Yo? We're very excited for Yo as a platform. In a year, I expect to get Yo's from my airline, my barista, and my toaster. But I don't expect to get Yo's from my girlfriend or my dad-- Hearts is designed to build a relationship on empathy that grows over time. We'd love your comments, feedback and Hearts. Thanks
@robbalian this is pretty fascinating.
somehow i think i'd feel more loved getting a Yo from a girlfriend* than a Heart, maybe because the Yo is ironic while a Heart seems... i don't know... forced? maybe my opinion will change in a few months if Yo gets old.
but then again, what a crazy world we live in that we are even having the discussion of what mobile notification service can make us feel more loved. Will hearts build empathy over time? or will it supplant it?
...stay tuned!
*= perhaps this is why i don't have a girlfriend.
@eriktorenberg it is crazy. One more thought:
I think about Hearts as more of an empathy messenger than a mobile notifs service. Here’s why:
1) Getting Hearts means more than just a ping. Sending 10 Hearts means you didn’t do anything else on your phone for 10 seconds. We think there’s value in the time sent
2) There’s history as you mentioned
3) It’s always 1:1. There’s no HeartAll broadcast button, no auto-responders, and you can’t send to multiple people at once. Any time you get a <3 there was a person sending it to you and only you
A few of our early Beta advocates noted that the Heart shape can make the messages feel romantic and a little awkward for platonic friends. We’re excited to see who people use the app with most.
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