TapChat Messaging App
Wormhole, video walkie-talkie concept
The bet:
People long for the casual communications that early platforms like AOL instant messenger provided. Low-stakes, always-on, and the assumption that if you’re using the platform, you are down to actually communicate.
Friends could FaceTime or Facebook video chat. Some do. Many seldom do. It is too high-stakes, awkward. It’s why SMS / instant messaging reigns supreme.
The solution:
It’s an app intended for folks who have Google / Amazon hubs, a permanent(ish) iPad in a room, or even their desktop or mobile device handy and open while desk-dwelling. Think: the cubicle or home-office tethered, keyboard class.
It’s a social / messaging app. You add friends and can see their little profile pics in a grid. Your friend has a green dot status. You tap and hold their face.
By tapping and holding, you are now instantly broadcasting your mic and camera to your friend’s device. You can’t see or hear them, but they can see and hear you. You’ve opened a one-way wormhole where they can see and hear you. Your head has appeared on their device. It’s like you’ve popped into their room. You are a live, video walky-talky speaking into the void of their home or office. It’s like being in the same house as them, yelling to them through their bedroom door. Will they open the door?
When the friend taps back: BOOM. Two-way communication. The wormhole is fully open. You are having a live chat, just like FaceTime. Your friend is talking to you, and you decide to stop tapping. You let go.
Now the tables have turned. Your friend is doing the tapping. Their face continues streaming to your device. However, you go to grab a cup of coffee. Your friend can no longer see or hear you; you stopped tapping. But since they’re tapping and talking, you can hear them down the hall while you pour your drink.
It’s low stakes. It’s instant. It’s surprising. It’s fun. People can come and go. Pop in and out. Have a long convo, or just a fun snippet. It’s like sharing a big vacation house with everyone you know and love. You can pop into rooms, yell at people through their bedroom door, meet up in the living room, come and go as you please. Very informal. Very engaging.
It starts with friends and family, but I imagine there could be commercial applications: customer service experiences? Following celebrities you like? Imagine if a top influencer you love and follow had permissions to pop onto your iPad at random while you’re at your desk slogging along? They do it to delight fans. Or maybe a brand wants to pop in randomly with some type of personalized offer?
Ok, what about if the app is closed or backgrounded?
Statuses play a key role.
If your app is open, friends perceive you as green dot. They know that when they tap, their face is going to show up on your live and open device, with certainty. The wormhole can be opened.
If your app is closed or backgrounded, your dot is yellow. When your friend taps and tries to initiate broadcast, TapChat will send you a notification that someone is trying to chat. When you tap the notification, the app opens and your dot is now green. The friend tapping begins broadcasting and you see their face. Again, they can only see you if you decide to tap back.
In summary, an app and UI of this nature could bring back the casual communications of yesterday. Low-stakes, instant, fun, and an implicit understanding that when the dot is yellow or green, people are actually down to chat.