A free iPhone app has been released that is designed for the three quarters of smartphone users who admit to using their device while in the bathroom. The aptly named Pooductive lets users chat and play games with individuals or groups of people who are also answering the call of nature.
The app originally started life as a kickstarter project earlier this year. Developer Ricardo Gruber was attempting to raise 10,000 Euros (about $11,276) with the following Pooductive pitch:
Think of it as a magic wonderland where ’pooducters’ from around the globe can anonymously meet to enjoy their time of zen, peace and quite together, by conversing, philosophising, playing games and sharing ideas with each other. You can add friends, have group chats or simply play 1 on 1 games. You could call it a messenger or gaming app if you want, but it’s so much more. It’s a community, made up of people who are all in the same position as you…pardon the pun.
Sadly, the campaign was cancelled after it only managed to raise 184 Euros ($207) from the three individuals who backed it. Despite not reaching its target, Gruber has now decided to release the iPhone chat app for free.
The app lets users set a local radius limit, allowing people to chat to any fellow bathroom dwellers nearby. It also comes with a global setting which gives access to Pooductive users around the world. The app boasts two main features: a button to send a pre-set “I’m wiping” message, and a menu that broadcasts a graphic desciption of a user's bathroom visit from a list of selectable song titles. Anyone wanting to leave the app just has to press flush.
Rather than being nothing more than a juvenile app, Gruber and Pooductive co-developer Marco Hernandez explained that they want to use their product to raise money and awareness towards clean water and hygiene issues in developing countries.
“We hope to connect Pooductive with some big charities that focus on both clean water and improving hygiene in developing countries. We’re working as fast as we can to realise our mission and get the charities we have already connected to on board. We hope that through this, Pooductive can have a positive impact - past connecting people on the loo - which has always been our intention,” the pair said in an e-mail.
In a recent study of phone habits, 75 percent of those questioned admitted to surfing the web, using apps, e-mailng and texting while in the bathroom - with more than 90 percent saying they had answered calls. One in five men even said they have participated in conference calls.
Image credit: Freer / Shutterstock
https://www.techspot.com/news/61846-there-now-instant-messaging-app-use-bathroom-called.html
