4 ms·

Airbnb (YC W09) launched an iPhone app

69 points by mrduncan 16y ago

sudont 16y ago
Of note is that someone finally made the UITabBar very pretty.
Timothee 16y ago
Not surprising coming from AirBnB, but this app looks very, very polished. It doesn't look much but the customization of all these standard UI elements (e.g. UITabBar as mentioned by sudont) makes a difference in the end. I would say especially in their market where I have seen websites with more than dubious interfaces.
- bryne 16y ago
  Yeah, this is really pretty pleasing to use. Good on the AirBnB guys. It looks like the "Daily Deals" are exclusive to the app?
  - brianchesky 16y ago
    Yes, for now :)
deleted 16y ago
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ganjianwei 16y ago
Looks like we have a candidate for next year's Apple Design Awards.
- deleted 16y ago
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deleted 16y ago
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sudonim 16y ago
Did you (Airbnb) do any research before deciding to build an iPhone app? Or was it primarily motivated by "cool" factor? (both are valid in my opinion) I've had around 20 people stay at my place through airbnb and I think one person had an iPhone. At least in NY, many people visit from overseas where iPhones are not as prominent. OTOH, Managing bookings on my iPhone is gonna be sweet.
- picasso81 16y ago
  Yes, we had about 2 years of research under our belts from using the site :) I just posted a little bit about our process here: http://www.quora.com/Airbnb/Who-designed-the-Airbnb-iPhone-app http://www.quora.com/Airbnb/Who-designed-the-Airbnb-iPhone-a... Other platforms are also very interesting to us, and we saw this as a good first step into the mobile space. I'm also a host (www.airbnb.com/rooms/12157) and know what it's like to manage a listing on the go. The app includes a first round of features that we feel will make hosting easier, including messaging, guest scheduling, and instant push notifications.
- brianchesky 16y ago
  An iPhone app was the most requested product.
- sudonim 16y ago
  And to follow up on cool factor. As a product person and an airbnb customer, I have taken both my hats off to you. This is a phenomenal v1 iphone app. Great work!
scrrr 16y ago
Slightly off-topic: I tried to use Airbnb recently and although I understand there's a business reason for not being able to contact other people in this website directly, e.g. via email or phone, I found the means by which the website tries to prevent it very annoying. It's not that I wanted to cheat them out of their provision, it was merely for convenience. Pity, because the service is good and exceptionally well designed. But it is not the open Internet I am wishing for. Waiting for a better competitor.

69 points by mrduncan 16y ago

Of note is that someone finally made the UITabBar very pretty.

Not surprising coming from AirBnB, but this app looks very, very polished. It doesn't look much but the customization of all these standard UI elements (e.g. UITabBar as mentioned by sudont) makes a difference in the end. I would say especially in their market where I have seen websites with more than dubious interfaces.

bryne 16y ago
Yeah, this is really pretty pleasing to use. Good on the AirBnB guys. It looks like the "Daily Deals" are exclusive to the app?
- brianchesky 16y ago
  Yes, for now :)

deleted 16y ago

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ganjianwei 16y ago

Looks like we have a candidate for next year's Apple Design Awards.

deleted 16y ago
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deleted 16y ago

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sudonim 16y ago

Did you (Airbnb) do any research before deciding to build an iPhone app? Or was it primarily motivated by "cool" factor? (both are valid in my opinion) I've had around 20 people stay at my place through airbnb and I think one person had an iPhone. At least in NY, many people visit from overseas where iPhones are not as prominent. OTOH, Managing bookings on my iPhone is gonna be sweet.

picasso81 16y ago
Yes, we had about 2 years of research under our belts from using the site :) I just posted a little bit about our process here: http://www.quora.com/Airbnb/Who-designed-the-Airbnb-iPhone-app http://www.quora.com/Airbnb/Who-designed-the-Airbnb-iPhone-a... Other platforms are also very interesting to us, and we saw this as a good first step into the mobile space. I'm also a host (www.airbnb.com/rooms/12157) and know what it's like to manage a listing on the go. The app includes a first round of features that we feel will make hosting easier, including messaging, guest scheduling, and instant push notifications.
brianchesky 16y ago
An iPhone app was the most requested product.
sudonim 16y ago
And to follow up on cool factor. As a product person and an airbnb customer, I have taken both my hats off to you. This is a phenomenal v1 iphone app. Great work!

scrrr 16y ago

Slightly off-topic: I tried to use Airbnb recently and although I understand there's a business reason for not being able to contact other people in this website directly, e.g. via email or phone, I found the means by which the website tries to prevent it very annoying. It's not that I wanted to cheat them out of their provision, it was merely for convenience. Pity, because the service is good and exceptionally well designed. But it is not the open Internet I am wishing for. Waiting for a better competitor.