Show HN: Tosynch – reconnect with your friends and meet often
tosynch.comI built this app to solve problem I had, and perhaps others too. I have been finding tough stay in touch with friends. Other than occasional hi/hellos, there is lack of meaningful interactions ongoing basis. Tosynch helps with connecting with existing friends, without calendar setup. It does one thing only and focuses on that. There is no hidden agenda of selling personal data for ads, nor any scheme around increasing likes. There is no discovery mechanism, and no public profiles. If we want to reduce our usage of phones and devices, we don't need another app to helps us constrained. We want to create more opportunities to meet people we already know. Tosynch helps increase those opportunities. It nudges after a chosen period, to reconnect and meet. Feedback appreciated.
Even though the idea is noble, and the cause is sound, I don't really see, from a technical standpoint, how would this help? After witnessing the rise of cyberspace from the very beginning, it is clear by now that it can never foster healthy human relationships. That's a failed experiment. Real people around you are the real treasure in your life, and only spending time with your friends can bring something meaningful to your life. But, most people rely on their phones to keep them organized nowadays. Hence, a simple website is not enough. Not even a PWA. To have people really reminded you need native apps, in order to be able to send notifications. That brings the costs up significantly, unless you can piggy back on top of NTFY or Pushover or similar. On the other hand, all modern messaging apps like, for example, Signal, Telegram, WhatsApp, already support the necessary features, like: organize a group, invite people to join, set a topic, set a custom notification sound, and finally schedule a message/reminder for the group. I'm not saying that there is no room for something like ToSynch, but given how hard it is to get everyone to start using a new app, it looks to me like it needs more work, more features, more platforms, more apps.
Appreciate your thoughtful response. Your point on technology having failed to foster human relationships so far has lot of truth in it. But if we don't do anything, it is about get even worse. Hence primary design of the app is not to keep you hooked in the app. More features are in the works. One about group meetings, I have got several requests for. What you laid out is a tough challenge. Most people are so taken up by the constant dopamine hit of getting something from phone every few minutes that anything less than a native app is not even a starter. Yet, here I am. I don't want perfect to be enemy of good. Do what I can. I have been using it, and few of other friends, and it is has definitely facilitated meetings which would not have happened otherwise.