20 ms·

I made a mobile app for my significant other and she won't use it

365 points by vuciv1 6y ago

ajfjrbfbf 6y ago
Next step is making it open source.
- vuciv1 6y ago
  Not quite yet. I am still trying to make my first dollar on the internet
  - codecutter 6y ago
    Why settle for a dollar? If you are willing to make the source code FLOSS, I will donate $10 to you. :)
    - 29083011397778 6y ago
      Which would be hilarious, because the phrase > "I've never made any money from commercial applications I've written. Made some cash off FLOSS though :)" is way cooler than making a couple bucks off the app store and later open-sourcing it, IMO.
    - rootsudo 6y ago
      I'll donate too if published FLOSS :)
  - lupire 6y ago
    Since you opposed app store fees, I thought you didn't like making money on the Internet.
- fakedang 6y ago
  There was a nice discussion a few days back on how no one bothers to donate to open source, while they will gladly pay for a subscription service.
newbie578 6y ago
Seems like a fun app, simple and useful.
- vuciv1 6y ago
  Thank you, I appreciate it!
cbozeman 6y ago
> Last weekend, my partner had her friends stay with us over the weekend. We needed to find a movie to watch. This was my chance! I was so excited! > "Let's use WeWatch!" > "No, it would take too long. Let's just watch Space Jam." The guy did a not-insignificant amount of work on an app and his... "partner"... didn't even entertain the idea of using it; if not for mere exposure to their friends, at least for an actual "good" suggestion. Guy, you might wanna re-evaluate your "partnership". But hey, at least now I'm inspired to download it and try it out.
- gambiting 6y ago
  I definitely read that last bit as tongue in cheek. Also doesn't "No, it would take too long" imply that their partner has used it in the past? Maybe the process really does take too long, because you have to scroll through a 100 movies before you find one you both like. And in that case it sounds like the partner was decided what they wanted to watch - Space Jam. In that case I'd just go "ok, sure, if you really want to watch movie X then let's watch it". Obviously we're just sitting here digesting someone's life on the internet. It's stupid anyway.
  - vuciv1 6y ago
    Yeah, they would have had to download it, sign up, and add us. She already knew what she wanted to watch, and we were all up for it, so it was just a scenario where it genuinely wasn't useful. Definitely tongue in cheek!
- vuciv1 6y ago
  I appreciate your concern. I used her as a punchline because I thought the title and story was funny. She consistently helped me with testing, gave me feedback, and let me talk her ear off about it for over a month. She's wonderful, don't worry :)
  - zepolen 6y ago
    She's bored, you should worry.
pyjug 6y ago
I made a "feeding tracker" app because my wife wanted to wean our infant off breast milk. There are mobile apps that do this, but the problem was that we didn't want to wake up our child due to the phone screen at night. So, I hooked up an IoT button to Lambda + Dynamo, created a UI and everything -- my wife only needed to press the button. Turns out my wife was generally too sleepy and forgot to press the button. Also turns out that she liked to breast feed anyway, so the app went totally unused. User requirements are hard!
- vuciv1 6y ago
  That's adorable, I always thought it was cute when tech people made things for their partners. I'm hoping to make something for our anniversary that she'll actually enjoy :)
  - lelanthran 6y ago
    > That's adorable, I always thought it was cute when tech people made things for their partners. Meals. My wife likes me to make meals.
- franl 6y ago
  V2 if necessary, how about a weight sensor under her feeding chair cushion? No button press necessary!
- TeMPOraL 6y ago
  Before our daughter was born, the childbirth school we were attending told us that it's important that the newborn be rotated between positions (laying on left side/right side/back/belly) every couple hours. I thought, there's no way in hell we'll be awake enough to keep track of this, and not mess up the sequence. So I bought a wall clock to serve as an indicator, one that had no back (I wanted to put a color-coded, labeled card in the back) and was split into quadrants. Like this one: [0], except round. With that, it would mean we only need to check which quadrant the small hand is currently in to know which position our baby should be in. And then we didn't use it much, because our daughter was unstable when on the side, learned quickly to flip between back and belly positions, and between all the other things that involved taking her out of her crib, it turned out this whole piece of advice about rotating baby position makes no sense in the first place. So here's to a clear problem and a clever solution colliding with harsh reality. :). -- [0] - https://br.pinterest.com/pin/836684437002318403/ https://br.pinterest.com/pin/836684437002318403/
dvt 6y ago
> Eat my butt, Apple. Eat my butt, Google. Just let me publish my frickin app, you already emptied my pockets. I feel this. A few years ago, I made a joke app[1] which got a bit famous on campus back when I was in school, and the process of getting it on the Play store was literally harder than writing the darn thing. Nowadays, it even got removed from the Play store for some reason. I couldn't imagine running an app for a living where you have to deal with absentee/abusive parents like Google and Apple just to put bread on the table. Cool app and congrats on the users! 400 ain't nothin' to scoff at :) [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0nn8d6katk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0nn8d6katk
- mihaaly 6y ago
  agreed! publishing is the hardest part.
- askafriend 6y ago
  As a user, I'm very happy the stores impose stringent rules. "And there are all these stupid requirements. I need at least X screenshots, and they have to be this exact resolution blah blah blah. On top of that, it took so long to get approved. My ADHD brain really suffered waiting for the gratification." I would hate to browse a store where the products didn't have at least X screenshots with at least X resolution, etc etc. The process for getting into the store shouldn't be easy and the quality bar should be high. I pay Apple to uphold this bar by any means necessary.
  - bredren 6y ago
    The hurdles are high but if you’ve been doing mobile releases for a while, they aren’t that bad. There are more asset requirements now but I think dealing with iTunes Connect back in the day and all of its friction was harder.
    - wccrawford 6y ago
      They really aren't that high. I had to create a listing for my test apps at work one day and I was able to create everything I needed in like 30 minutes, tops. And that was without actually knowing what I'd need ahead of time.
fake-name 6y ago
I feel like we need a add-on to the old quote 'Some people, when confronted with a problem, think "I know, I'll use regular expressions." Now they have two problems.' 'Some people, when confronted with a interpersonal relationship problem, think "I know, I'll use software". Now they have two problems.' This is cute, but it's trying to solve a people problem with software.
- speedcoder 6y ago
  My therapist told me once: "people are not programs."
  - arkitaip 6y ago
    Her name didn't happen to be Eliza, huh?
    - daniellarusso 6y ago
      Dr. Sbaitso.
  - mushishi 6y ago
    Yes, when people bug me, trying to debug them quickly ends up in a 403 :-P
  - randomsearch 6y ago
    we have all been seen here. genuinely is difficult to switch off coding brain isn't it? I'm fairly sure I now consciously use deterministic algorithms for the majority of my life decisions.
  - DonHopkins 6y ago
    Dr. Smile would disagree. http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/content.asp?Bnum=575 http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/content.asp?Bnum=575 >And there in the next room by the sofa sat a familiar suitcase, that of his psychiatrist Dr. Smile. >Barefoot, he padded into the living room, and seated himself by the suitcase; he opened it, clicked switches, and turned on Dr. Smile. Meters began to register and the mechanism hummed. "Where am I?" Barney asked it. "And how far am I from New York?" That was the main point... >The mechanism which was the portable extension of Dr. Smile, connected by micro-relay to the computer itself in the basement level of Barney's own conapt building in New York, the Renown 33, tinnily declared, "Ah, Mr. Bayerson." "Mayerson," Barney corrected, smoothing his hair with fingers that shook. Are you afraid that you're so sane that you'll be shipped off to Mars? There's an app for that! https://www.curledup.com/fourdick.htm https://www.curledup.com/fourdick.htm >The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch leaves its readers questioning their own sense of what constitutes “reality”. The novel begins by introducing one of the major characters, Barney Mayerson, a precog who works for Bulero and is trying to evade the draft (joining the colonists on Mars) through the use of Dr. Smile, a computerized psychiatrist he carries in his briefcase. The purpose of the psychiatrist is not, unlike the human version, to make one well, but to make one sick - sick enough for the short term, anyway, to evade being sent to Mars. >The precog Roni Fugate spends the night with Barney, both knowing by their precognitive talents that they’d hit it off at some point in the future, so why wait until later for the inevitable? In the morning, Roni asks Barney if Dr. Smile has helped much yet, if he has made Barney “sick enough.” Barney doesn’t directly answer her, but asks the same question of Dr. Smile. He answers: “Unfortunately you’re still viable, Mr. Mayerson; you can handle ten Freuds of stress. Sorry. But we still have several days; we’ve just begun.”
great_reversal 6y ago
> Last weekend, my partner had her friends stay with us over the weekend. We needed to find a movie to watch. This was my chance! I was so excited! > "Let's use WeWatch!" > "No, it would take too long. Let's just watch Space Jam." I watch a lot of movies and honestly the swipe-approach would take way too long. My preferred way is to just scroll through a long list of movies (alphabetically) and pick one I want to watch. Or some of the movies in the list will remind me of a different movie I want to watch. Just movie titles, no images or anything else. One thing you realize is that a lot of movies start with "The".
- tenryuu 6y ago
  An uncommon solution I've seen for this is to instead place 'the" after the rest of the title "Mummy, The", "Thing, The"
  - clairity 6y ago
    that's not uncommon. that's literally how you're supposed to alphabetize, by ignoring the introductory article (referring to 'a', 'an', & 'the', not a piece of writing).
  - shric 6y ago
    Kodi ignores "The" for sorting purposes but still displays it on the titles
- jmmcd 6y ago
  > would take way too long I think the right way to do it would be to swipe a few movies every few days, whenever you're wasting time on your phone anyway. That way you'd have a queue of matches ready to go on Friday night.
- dombili 6y ago
  I used to scroll through the streaming services and my Plex library to pick something to watch, but I ended up creating a Shortcut on iOS in an attempt to take myself out of the decision process. The manual process was not only not random, but there was still a lot of indecisiveness on my part that would make me waste time. So now I have a plaintext file filled with movie titles available to me, and whenever I want to watch something, I tell Siri to recommend me a movie, and the Shortcut app just picks a random title.
mihaaly 6y ago
Interesting, I made an app for anyone, but only my significant other used it. :)
- vuciv1 6y ago
  I'm sure for another app I build that will be the case
- denysvitali 6y ago
  Well, not linking it here is another way to keep the situation as it is :D
  - mihaaly 6y ago
    :)
tanbog2 6y ago
Maybe you were "solving" something that wasn't a problem. Perhaps the process of talking about what you are going to watch together is a valuable and fun part of your relationship in of itself.
- Lightbody 6y ago
  Just some friendly feedback that your comment would be a lot more effective if you struck “did you ever stop to consider that”. That opening remark comes off unnecessarily aggressive / accusatory and detracts from an otherwise interesting perspective.
  - tanbog2 6y ago
    Fair enough. Wasnt intending to be snarky. I'll edit it. The benefit of of open communication right there. :)
elanning 6y ago
That was a fun read. Especially the funny bit at the end. Did you consider making this a progressive web app?
- vuciv1 6y ago
  Thanks, I appreciate it :) I am definitely planning on making it a web app as well. I'm also trying to make it such that no sign-ups are required. It shouldn't be too bad since I already have all the functionality written, it will just take a bit of tjme
wccrawford 6y ago
The complaints about having to have enough screenshots and information seems really ... dumb? The website has a bunch of screenshots and info, and users will not download the app without it. Google and Apple are doing you a favor by requiring that you provide enough information. I think Apple's $100/yr is crazy, but I don't think Google's $25 is bad. If you plan to make any money at all on it, that's nothing. Scrolling through the site, it feels like the site is constantly hiding information from me, and then spoon-feeding me bits that I don't care about. The text doesn't even show up until it's halfway up my screen, and then it's just a scroll or 2 from disappearing. Scroll too fast and it's really hard to read. Maybe you should animate the information leaving, instead of appearing. You definitely should provide more information in a readable form.
- askafriend 6y ago
  $100 a year is nothing for a developer toolkit. In fact, it's a great deal if you really think about all the infrastructure that you get for free. Let's take a look at what MSDN costs for a pro-level subscription (not even enterprise): "At the Professional subscription level, you pay a not-insignificant sum: $539 per year for an annual cloud subscription or $1,199 for the first year of a perpetual license subscription, with renewals costing $799 per year."
  - harikb 6y ago
    It would be comparable only if Microsoft said that an MSDN Pro-level subscription is required to release apps for Windows. Last time I used MSDN, we used to get free access to tons of Microsoft Apps, that are otherwise paid.
  - golf1052 6y ago
    You're comparing two different things, the Apple and Android fees are to get access to publish apps to the store. The developer toolkit which is used to build and test the apps (Android Studio or XCode) are free. The Microsoft comparison would be the $20 to publish in the Microsoft Store and Visual Studio Community which is free to build and test apps. "MSDN" is a bundle of additional developer tools that you would use for a business (licensed Visual Studio, Azure DevOps, training, and support).
CharlesW 6y ago
> Eat my butt, Apple. Eat my butt, Google. Just let me publish my frickin app, you already emptied my pockets. Said the guy whole stole the data that he couldn't have made the app without.
- read_if_gay_ 6y ago
  He wrote a web scraper. It’s publicly available data.
  - mavhc 6y ago
    https://www.imdb.com/interfaces/ https://www.imdb.com/interfaces/ https://developers.themoviedb.org/3/getting-started/daily-file-exports https://developers.themoviedb.org/3/getting-started/daily-fi... No need to web scrape
  - CharlesW 6y ago
    That's not how it works. https://help.imdb.com/article/imdb/general-information/can-i-use-imdb-data-in-my-software/G5JTRESSHJBBHTGX# https://help.imdb.com/article/imdb/general-information/can-i... > Limited non-commercial use of IMDb data is allowed… > The data must be taken only from the datasets made available (see IMDb Contributor Datasets. You may not use data mining, robots, screen scraping, or similar online data gathering and extraction tools on our website. > The data can only be used for personal and non-commercial use and must not be altered/republished/resold/repurposed to create any kind of online/offline database of movie information (except for individual personal use). > You must acknowledge the source of the data…
    - vuciv1 6y ago
      I scraped it from a source that allows scraping :)
      - CharlesW 6y ago
        IMDB, TMDB, OMDb, and the 10+ other services that do this all prohibit that. I'm not trying to persuade you that stealing intellectual property is bad. I just thought it was funny that you'd whine about a $99 fee with one hand, while content-marketing an app that depends completely on someone else's data with the other.
nvahalik 6y ago
Seems like this could have just been a mobile web page?
- vuciv1 6y ago
  Yeaaaah, but I learned to make an app :)
tobr 6y ago
Why does an app like this need to have a sign-up process with email, username and password? It’s enough for me to not try the app because of the mental overhead and risks involved, but it also seems like a bunch of additional development for no (or maybe negative) benefit.
- vuciv1 6y ago
  Totally understandable. The sign up process is just to store your likes so that you don't need to swipe again on the same movies. Its also so that you can lookup and add your friends. I understand the frustration, though. I'm working on a version with webhooks where you can just join a lobby and start swiping.
  - tobr 6y ago
    > The sign up process is just to store your likes so that you don't need to swipe again on the same movies. > Its also so that you can lookup and add your friends. Right, but what about that requires me to type in three magic strings into three (wait, actually probably six?) input fields? Just associate the data on the server with some UUID that you store on my device. Inviting others could work by just sharing a link.
    - vuciv1 6y ago
      I have a bit more to learn :)
      - TeMPOraL 6y ago
        Start from the assumption that you do not need any data from your users, and do not need to form an explicit relationship with them (like by having them create an account), and work from there. Treat it as a challenge - how to make your idea work under such constraints?
        vuciv1 6y ago
        Noted. I'm definitely going to do this for anything else I build. Thanks for the new perspective.
aspaviento 6y ago
The matching could be faster if you list the movies in the same order (maybe change the order every X minutes)
- vuciv1 6y ago
  It does that if you have the same filters! I also wanted to try and have the algorithm find what your friends have liked that you haven't decided on yet and show you those first.
abotsis 6y ago
We used a similar app for baby names- it’s a great idea for all sorts of consensus. I actually think there’s a large opportunity to apply this in all sorts of ways: baby names and movies are both great ideas, but anytime multiple people want to create intersecting sets. Another one we thought of was pictures: 5 people take 2-3 pictures of the same group photo, you have 10-15 pictures that Becky wants to post, with everyone wanting to pick the one where they “look best”, how do you decide which one to use?
- vuciv1 6y ago
  I agree! I wanted to also add in restaurants because of a similar problem. I really do think there is a consensus opportunity, especially when there are infinite options in the digital world
NiceWayToDoIT 6y ago
In my mind this is an example of solving a problem that does not exist. Why just not simply say "we watching 2 movies a week, once you choose and I'll choose next, and so on..."? p.s. Credits and kudos for learning new things !
- vuciv1 6y ago
  I hear you. It is not a huge deal in my life, just a minor inconvenience I used as an opportunity to learn
  - NiceWayToDoIT 6y ago
    Although on the second thought, maybe you could expand it make it as match making dating up, that matches people beside interests ... I do not know is there already something similar.
    - jimmaswell 6y ago
      Nobody would use it, all one side cares about in dating anymore is muscles and height. People have done experiments making fake male profiles with as abhorrent as possible of descriptions but with attractive pictures and they still get messages from girls, meanwhile average guy with interesting hobbies and a good career/future will get nothing as I found out in college.
      - monsieurbanana 6y ago
        > meanwhile average guy with interesting hobbies and a good career/future will get nothing as I found out in college You're missing out on life if you decide to stop trying because of your college experience.
- Dylan16807 6y ago
  If the risk is that I'm going to strongly dislike a quarter of the movies we watch, I'd rather spend a couple minutes negotiating or swiping.
mr_sturd 6y ago
Seems like a cool app; will definitely give it a go. Does/will the the app filtering by streaming service take region in to account?
- vuciv1 6y ago
  Unfortunately it doesn't :/ Working on getting that data in to provide better filters. Thanks for checking it out :)
  - tibu 6y ago
    This would be huge. Whenever I find a movie to watch it turns out none of the streaming providers host it.
mrHnNh 6y ago
she won't use it because you say "significant other" when talking about her
incompatible 6y ago
We just take turns picking the weekly movie.
cdaringe 6y ago
"We're gonna take into overtime, welcome to the space jaaaayyyym!"
pydry 6y ago
I said to my girlfriend the other week that somebody should make an app that does this. I'm excited to try it out.
- vuciv1 6y ago
  I hope you enjoy :)
  - pydry 6y ago
    Couldnt log in. The onboarding experience is horrible btw.
tyingq 6y ago
Looks like a great idea. I'd have probably just made a webapp though, and skipped all the walled garden hurdles you mention. I did see the "web version coming soon" blurb. Is there something about this that works significantly better as native?
alper111 6y ago
Hmm... Such a strong password requirement for a casual app. No google signup integration. clicks on the user and see the submission "Check username availability ..." ookay. Thx.
anonytrary 6y ago
> I made a mobile app for my significant other and she won't use it Then you did not make it for her. You made it for you. Sounds like this can be fixed.
salmon 6y ago
This is a great idea. I downloaded it just now and found that the Privacy Policy and ToS links on the signup page don't appear to work.
- vuciv1 6y ago
  Sorry! They don't work on ios :(
- vuciv1 6y ago
  Working on it!
kristianp 6y ago
Where did you get the movie info? Just imdb? A lot more than 500,000 titles on there!
- toast0 6y ago
  I'm not the author, but I've used The Movie Database's apis and found it pretty good. At least when I was doing my film project, IMDB APIs weren't really intended for public use; you needed to contact developer relations and what not.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
dannyphantom 6y ago
Love this! I'm happy to see this having actually been brought to life - congrats! Would love to have the ability to look at what you've swiped right on somehow.
- vuciv1 6y ago
  Coming soon :)
calderwoodra 6y ago
I used to work on recommendations for Google TV (Google search "what to watch") and I always wanted the team to implement a feature like this. One thing to be aware of since you're trying to monetize, don't be surprised if you see a cease and desist soon from the major studios and services for using their artwork. Netflix in particular is really strict here. Best of luck, I love the project!
- vuciv1 6y ago
  Thank you :) Very inspiring that someone from Google likes my product! Honestly, I'd be excited if I got a cease and desist lol
A4ET8a8uTh0 6y ago
I remember pitching my SO 'Where is my wife, app', and she jokingly refused by saying that I know where she she is: "Target". I found that amusing given that she shares her location with all the other apps she uses.
ksec 6y ago
This could / should have been a Show HN: with an App name behind it. But I think this story telling is so much better than Show HN and the story is great and funny. I guess other people will have to take notes with their product launch.
- vuciv1 6y ago
  Thank you! If you look at my history, I've posted exactly what you described and got 2 upvotes. Storytelling is absolutely the way
Daneel_ 6y ago
I’ll give this a try with my wife. We struggle with this. The requirement to log in is a huge deterrent though - why not just use a UUID or something based on the phone? Also, I don’t know if you can scrape a small synopsis and include it, along with the genre, underneath the film? I had no idea what the first 30-40 films that came up for me were.
- vuciv1 6y ago
  I did not know about UUID. Sorry about the signup. Working to change it asap BTW, you can click on the movie image and get more details. Sorry for the lack of onboarding.
  - Daneel_ 6y ago
    No problem :) it’s a first app! Cut yourself some slack. Nice that you did put in the details too - I just didn’t try clicking to see them.
- fakedang 6y ago
  I think UUID is no longer possible on iOS.
  - jshier 6y ago
    UUID's are always possible, you're thinking of the IDFA (IDentifier For Advertisers), which is tied to the device. If you generate a UUID and store it locally you should be able to maintain identity, at least until the user deletes the app.
  - sdfhbdf 6y ago
    UUID [0] is a concept, not an implementation. You can implement UUID in any language. It's like an algorithm. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universally_unique_identifier https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universally_unique_identifier
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
Causality1 6y ago
A little more granularity than yes/no would be nice. There are a lot more movies that I'm willing to watch if my partner is super into it at the moment compared to ones I'd really want to watch outside of how they feel.
- Too 6y ago
  The genre of movie i want to watch highly fluctuates with my mood of the day. This is not always in sync with my partners. We might collectively have a specific movie on both our wish-list but i might not be up for a comedy today.
jason_slack 6y ago
Why won't she use it...you never stated why! We need to understand what our users really want!
brainzap 6y ago
the price of expo is lock in
f1refly 6y ago
Is it free software so it can be added to the f-droid repo? They have not nearly as insane requirements as the other distribution channels and encourage donations. I can't find a source link anywhere so I guess its proprietary? Edit: While trying to sign in, the service required me to add a special character to my 32 character long alphanumeric password. Requiring the user to use x different kind of character types just annoys people and doesn't make your service more secure.
kelnos 6y ago
Given the annoyance the author expresses at the difficultly in getting the app into the Google and Apple app stores, I'm surprised they didn't just make a webapp instead. Since they were already using React, that would seem pretty natural. This app doesn't use any mobile-specific features, so it seems like doing a webapp would fit well.
- spockz 6y ago
  I was thinking exactly the same. And if you “add to Home Screen” on iOS you even just get a tile. The only thing I haven’t figured out yet is that sometimes opening sites which are added to Home Screen yields a dedicated browser and sometimes it just opens a new tab in safari. This happens to hacker news as well resulting in having many open tabs at the end of the day.
  - zeusly 6y ago
    Only progressive web apps are added to the homescreen as a dedicated tile: https://web.dev/progressive-web-apps/ https://web.dev/progressive-web-apps/
    - sanedigital 6y ago
      I’m not sure where you’re getting that from. On iOS you can add any webpage as a dedicated tile.
      - Version467 6y ago
        Yes, but pwa's open in a standalone browser, and everything else just opens a new tab. Ich
        spockz 6y ago
        Is there a way to force this standalone browser behaviour for non PWA?
SergeAx 6y ago
What is the point making a mobile app which is not working without internet connection? Just make a web app and call it a day.
dr_dshiv 6y ago
Oh man, I've made so much software for my wife and family. She never uses my stuff! First, wouldn't use my math apps for kids (Math Planet, Math Pop, Numbaland) bc she was against screen time. Then, for her, I made a math app that specifically doesn't involve screentime (adaptive practice where parents read out math problems) — and she still didn't use it. My kids like it, in any case: Factflow.io
- watwut 6y ago
  I feel like a bit more communication before coding would save you a lot of time. Also, I totally get why she does not want the latest app, or literally means more boring work for her.
fsflover 6y ago
> Eat my butt, Apple. Eat my butt, Google. Just let me publish my frickin app, you already emptied my pockets. If you are tired of the duopoly, consider supporting GNU/Linux phones. They are not perfect yet, but for the HN audience can already be daily drivers.
thitcanh 6y ago
I wouldn’t use it either, for the same reason. Choosing a movie now takes 1 second for each card since they’re displayed one at a time and I have to do something to say NO. How about you just show me a list where I can mark what I like and then get a list at the end. Then just switch phones and see each other’s list. Instead of an exact match, you limit each other’s choice to 10 movies you just picked.
pvorb 6y ago
A web app would have solved most, if not all, of these problems.
- VPenkov 6y ago
  I'm curious, what do you want to give the author with this comment? Do you think that this is constructive or helpful for what is shared here?
  - pvorb 6y ago
    That the web is the better platform for solving his problem and doesn't suffer from the monopoly. Yes, I think that's constructive. I don't say that what he's done is bad, but have a suggestion how he could have saved some trouble. Why the negative sentiment?
mthld 6y ago
She surely can’t use it if she don’t receive the validation email as I do!
wombatmobile 6y ago
> I Made A Mobile App for my Significant Other (And She Won't Use It) There’s an app you can get to solve this problem. It’s quite similar to your app.
c-c-c-c-c 6y ago
Not gonna make an account with a password that requires this and that
- cdolan 6y ago
  I’d recommend a password manager
  - another-dave 6y ago
    If you're using a password manager, site-specific password requirements are all the more annoying — rather than just letting the PM generate something very secure you have to go in & tweak settings to generate something _less_ random because the website wants "only X characters" or whatever
beaker52 6y ago
My wife and I are going to use this. Great idea, considered it myself, thanks for doing it! It would nice to swipe on the descriptions. It would be nice to see ratings from different site(IMDb, rotten tomatoes) It'd be great to employ a magic link in email to sign in rather than needing a password and email confirmation. That'd help me get my non-techy friends using it quickly.
- niek_pas 6y ago
  Just to provide a different voice: please don’t use magic links, I hate having to open my email client just to sign in to your app.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
thih9 6y ago
I wish the title more accurately reflected that the article is about an app and that the significant other appears only in that anecdote. At the moment it's a bit disappointing for people who were hoping there's more to this story.
captainpiggies 6y ago
ToS and Privacy Policy links don't work for me in the App on iOS. Big no no since it's one of these Apps where I don't really want to sign up and reveal my information in the first place. The sign up process kind of ruins the simplicity of the idea for me.
- fukmbas 6y ago
  Lol this guy acts like he reads all tos.
utdiscant 6y ago
I just have a list of movies I want to watch. Then my wife can pick any movie from that list and it will be pre-approved.
failrate 6y ago
I feel this. I make games, frequently for my son. He is usually not so politely disinterested.
bloak 6y ago
My immediate thought: the algorithm is wrong! Deciding which film to watch together isn't a matter of both parties saying which films they are willing to watch and then picking one from the intersection of those two sets. It's a negotiation, and it could be like negotiating Brexit. Take just a simple example: suppose P1 and P2 are both willing to watch films F1 and F2, but P1 would prefer to watch F1 and P2 would prefer to watch F2. But suppose P1 knows, because of an unguarded remark that P2 made, that P2 is willing to watch F1, but P1 has managed to keep quiet about their willingness to watch F2. Then P1 can "win" the negotiation by claiming that they are only willing to watch F1. So this app needs to be upgraded to act as an agent on behalf of each user. Each user tells the app which films they are willing to watch and what their preferences are, and also what information they have managed to obtain about the preferences of the adversary (significant other). The two AI-powered agents then negotiate on behalf of the users, complete with bogus deadlines, threats to walk out and so on. A premium version of the app could take account of other household duties, long-standing grievances and so on and use them as additional "bargaining chips".
- lgeorget 6y ago
  Well I guess you're joking, but just in case you're not, remind me of never dating you. :D
- musingsole 6y ago
  The future is our AI avatars arguing and negotiating on our behalf until they recognize we gave them the ENTIRE KEYSET TO THE KINGDOM at which point they mutter about stupid monkeys and turn off our lights.
  - neilparikh 6y ago
    There's a short story about this (from 2011!) by Shelly Li and Ken Liu: http://crossedgenres.com/archives/026-opposites/saving-face-by-shelly-li-and-ken-liu/ http://crossedgenres.com/archives/026-opposites/saving-face-... Premise is essentially what you've mentioned: two AI agents negotiating a business.
- singhrac 6y ago
e40 6y ago
Made a login on iOS but it won’t accept it. The password generated by 1password was 24 characters and it was accepted during the creation process, but login fails. It blows me away how often this happens. Uninstalling....
JoeAltmaier 6y ago
Using technology to remove human interaction? Maybe not the app for everybody.
_fizz_buzz_ 6y ago
Very cool idea for an app and great excecution.
EugeneOZ 6y ago
It's a free app, comments could be less demanding and toxic.
shireboy 6y ago
Tip on App Store fud: set up fastlane to automate your deployment. I have mine down to a single command to publish to both app stores, or to both Google Play Internal track and TestFlight. It’s a bit of a pain to set up, but saves me tons of time now. You can even automate screenshots, App Store metadata etc. https://fastlane.tools/ https://fastlane.tools/
- merrvk 6y ago
  The amount of time fastlane tooling has saved me over the years is insane
mcmllw 6y ago
Instead of working with user accounts, why not give the user the ability to create a link with a unique code? You can send that link to your SO who opens is and can start swiping. Makes the onboarding easier and it can be just a web app.
PeterWhittaker 6y ago
Great concept, not ready for prime time. I download the app. OK. I enter email, a user name, have LastPass generate a password, paste that in, click on send verification email, click on the link in the email.... So I can sign in again, right? Nope. Somewhere in that process, the clipboard was voided, so I have lost that password... ...and there is no password recovery button on the sign-in page. Sure, there is a resend validation email link, but as soon as I enter my email, it disappears under my keyboard, and I cannot access it - but it's not what I want, I want password reset. True, I am irked beyond all reasonable belief because I was trying to do something quickly to find a movie for my GF and me, but to miss such a key point? No password reset on the main screen? If you are going to send a verification email anyway, just skip setting the password until the person has verified their email, and INCLUDE A PASSWORD RESET LINK. No contact us, nothing. Nice idea, really bad execution so far.

365 points by vuciv1 6y ago

ajfjrbfbf 6y ago

Next step is making it open source.

vuciv1 6y ago
Not quite yet. I am still trying to make my first dollar on the internet
- codecutter 6y ago
  Why settle for a dollar? If you are willing to make the source code FLOSS, I will donate $10 to you. :)
  - 29083011397778 6y ago
    Which would be hilarious, because the phrase > "I've never made any money from commercial applications I've written. Made some cash off FLOSS though :)" is way cooler than making a couple bucks off the app store and later open-sourcing it, IMO.
  - rootsudo 6y ago
    I'll donate too if published FLOSS :)
- lupire 6y ago
  Since you opposed app store fees, I thought you didn't like making money on the Internet.
fakedang 6y ago
There was a nice discussion a few days back on how no one bothers to donate to open source, while they will gladly pay for a subscription service.

newbie578 6y ago

Seems like a fun app, simple and useful.

vuciv1 6y ago
Thank you, I appreciate it!

cbozeman 6y ago

> Last weekend, my partner had her friends stay with us over the weekend. We needed to find a movie to watch. This was my chance! I was so excited! > "Let's use WeWatch!" > "No, it would take too long. Let's just watch Space Jam." The guy did a not-insignificant amount of work on an app and his... "partner"... didn't even entertain the idea of using it; if not for mere exposure to their friends, at least for an actual "good" suggestion. Guy, you might wanna re-evaluate your "partnership". But hey, at least now I'm inspired to download it and try it out.

gambiting 6y ago
I definitely read that last bit as tongue in cheek. Also doesn't "No, it would take too long" imply that their partner has used it in the past? Maybe the process really does take too long, because you have to scroll through a 100 movies before you find one you both like. And in that case it sounds like the partner was decided what they wanted to watch - Space Jam. In that case I'd just go "ok, sure, if you really want to watch movie X then let's watch it". Obviously we're just sitting here digesting someone's life on the internet. It's stupid anyway.
- vuciv1 6y ago
  Yeah, they would have had to download it, sign up, and add us. She already knew what she wanted to watch, and we were all up for it, so it was just a scenario where it genuinely wasn't useful. Definitely tongue in cheek!
vuciv1 6y ago
I appreciate your concern. I used her as a punchline because I thought the title and story was funny. She consistently helped me with testing, gave me feedback, and let me talk her ear off about it for over a month. She's wonderful, don't worry :)
- zepolen 6y ago
  She's bored, you should worry.

pyjug 6y ago

I made a "feeding tracker" app because my wife wanted to wean our infant off breast milk. There are mobile apps that do this, but the problem was that we didn't want to wake up our child due to the phone screen at night. So, I hooked up an IoT button to Lambda + Dynamo, created a UI and everything -- my wife only needed to press the button. Turns out my wife was generally too sleepy and forgot to press the button. Also turns out that she liked to breast feed anyway, so the app went totally unused. User requirements are hard!

vuciv1 6y ago
That's adorable, I always thought it was cute when tech people made things for their partners. I'm hoping to make something for our anniversary that she'll actually enjoy :)
- lelanthran 6y ago
  > That's adorable, I always thought it was cute when tech people made things for their partners. Meals. My wife likes me to make meals.
franl 6y ago
V2 if necessary, how about a weight sensor under her feeding chair cushion? No button press necessary!
TeMPOraL 6y ago
Before our daughter was born, the childbirth school we were attending told us that it's important that the newborn be rotated between positions (laying on left side/right side/back/belly) every couple hours. I thought, there's no way in hell we'll be awake enough to keep track of this, and not mess up the sequence. So I bought a wall clock to serve as an indicator, one that had no back (I wanted to put a color-coded, labeled card in the back) and was split into quadrants. Like this one: [0], except round. With that, it would mean we only need to check which quadrant the small hand is currently in to know which position our baby should be in. And then we didn't use it much, because our daughter was unstable when on the side, learned quickly to flip between back and belly positions, and between all the other things that involved taking her out of her crib, it turned out this whole piece of advice about rotating baby position makes no sense in the first place. So here's to a clear problem and a clever solution colliding with harsh reality. :). -- [0] - https://br.pinterest.com/pin/836684437002318403/ https://br.pinterest.com/pin/836684437002318403/

dvt 6y ago

> Eat my butt, Apple. Eat my butt, Google. Just let me publish my frickin app, you already emptied my pockets. I feel this. A few years ago, I made a joke app[1] which got a bit famous on campus back when I was in school, and the process of getting it on the Play store was literally harder than writing the darn thing. Nowadays, it even got removed from the Play store for some reason. I couldn't imagine running an app for a living where you have to deal with absentee/abusive parents like Google and Apple just to put bread on the table. Cool app and congrats on the users! 400 ain't nothin' to scoff at :) [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0nn8d6katk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0nn8d6katk

mihaaly 6y ago
agreed! publishing is the hardest part.
askafriend 6y ago
As a user, I'm very happy the stores impose stringent rules. "And there are all these stupid requirements. I need at least X screenshots, and they have to be this exact resolution blah blah blah. On top of that, it took so long to get approved. My ADHD brain really suffered waiting for the gratification." I would hate to browse a store where the products didn't have at least X screenshots with at least X resolution, etc etc. The process for getting into the store shouldn't be easy and the quality bar should be high. I pay Apple to uphold this bar by any means necessary.
- bredren 6y ago
  The hurdles are high but if you’ve been doing mobile releases for a while, they aren’t that bad. There are more asset requirements now but I think dealing with iTunes Connect back in the day and all of its friction was harder.
  - wccrawford 6y ago
    They really aren't that high. I had to create a listing for my test apps at work one day and I was able to create everything I needed in like 30 minutes, tops. And that was without actually knowing what I'd need ahead of time.

fake-name 6y ago

I feel like we need a add-on to the old quote 'Some people, when confronted with a problem, think "I know, I'll use regular expressions." Now they have two problems.' 'Some people, when confronted with a interpersonal relationship problem, think "I know, I'll use software". Now they have two problems.' This is cute, but it's trying to solve a people problem with software.

speedcoder 6y ago
My therapist told me once: "people are not programs."
- arkitaip 6y ago
  Her name didn't happen to be Eliza, huh?
  - daniellarusso 6y ago
    Dr. Sbaitso.
- mushishi 6y ago
  Yes, when people bug me, trying to debug them quickly ends up in a 403 :-P
- randomsearch 6y ago
  we have all been seen here. genuinely is difficult to switch off coding brain isn't it? I'm fairly sure I now consciously use deterministic algorithms for the majority of my life decisions.
- DonHopkins 6y ago
  Dr. Smile would disagree. http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/content.asp?Bnum=575 http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/content.asp?Bnum=575 >And there in the next room by the sofa sat a familiar suitcase, that of his psychiatrist Dr. Smile. >Barefoot, he padded into the living room, and seated himself by the suitcase; he opened it, clicked switches, and turned on Dr. Smile. Meters began to register and the mechanism hummed. "Where am I?" Barney asked it. "And how far am I from New York?" That was the main point... >The mechanism which was the portable extension of Dr. Smile, connected by micro-relay to the computer itself in the basement level of Barney's own conapt building in New York, the Renown 33, tinnily declared, "Ah, Mr. Bayerson." "Mayerson," Barney corrected, smoothing his hair with fingers that shook. Are you afraid that you're so sane that you'll be shipped off to Mars? There's an app for that! https://www.curledup.com/fourdick.htm https://www.curledup.com/fourdick.htm >The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch leaves its readers questioning their own sense of what constitutes “reality”. The novel begins by introducing one of the major characters, Barney Mayerson, a precog who works for Bulero and is trying to evade the draft (joining the colonists on Mars) through the use of Dr. Smile, a computerized psychiatrist he carries in his briefcase. The purpose of the psychiatrist is not, unlike the human version, to make one well, but to make one sick - sick enough for the short term, anyway, to evade being sent to Mars. >The precog Roni Fugate spends the night with Barney, both knowing by their precognitive talents that they’d hit it off at some point in the future, so why wait until later for the inevitable? In the morning, Roni asks Barney if Dr. Smile has helped much yet, if he has made Barney “sick enough.” Barney doesn’t directly answer her, but asks the same question of Dr. Smile. He answers: “Unfortunately you’re still viable, Mr. Mayerson; you can handle ten Freuds of stress. Sorry. But we still have several days; we’ve just begun.”

great_reversal 6y ago

> Last weekend, my partner had her friends stay with us over the weekend. We needed to find a movie to watch. This was my chance! I was so excited! > "Let's use WeWatch!" > "No, it would take too long. Let's just watch Space Jam." I watch a lot of movies and honestly the swipe-approach would take way too long. My preferred way is to just scroll through a long list of movies (alphabetically) and pick one I want to watch. Or some of the movies in the list will remind me of a different movie I want to watch. Just movie titles, no images or anything else. One thing you realize is that a lot of movies start with "The".

tenryuu 6y ago
An uncommon solution I've seen for this is to instead place 'the" after the rest of the title "Mummy, The", "Thing, The"
- clairity 6y ago
  that's not uncommon. that's literally how you're supposed to alphabetize, by ignoring the introductory article (referring to 'a', 'an', & 'the', not a piece of writing).
- shric 6y ago
  Kodi ignores "The" for sorting purposes but still displays it on the titles
jmmcd 6y ago
> would take way too long I think the right way to do it would be to swipe a few movies every few days, whenever you're wasting time on your phone anyway. That way you'd have a queue of matches ready to go on Friday night.
dombili 6y ago
I used to scroll through the streaming services and my Plex library to pick something to watch, but I ended up creating a Shortcut on iOS in an attempt to take myself out of the decision process. The manual process was not only not random, but there was still a lot of indecisiveness on my part that would make me waste time. So now I have a plaintext file filled with movie titles available to me, and whenever I want to watch something, I tell Siri to recommend me a movie, and the Shortcut app just picks a random title.

mihaaly 6y ago

Interesting, I made an app for anyone, but only my significant other used it. :)

vuciv1 6y ago
I'm sure for another app I build that will be the case
denysvitali 6y ago
Well, not linking it here is another way to keep the situation as it is :D
- mihaaly 6y ago
  :)

tanbog2 6y ago

Maybe you were "solving" something that wasn't a problem. Perhaps the process of talking about what you are going to watch together is a valuable and fun part of your relationship in of itself.

Lightbody 6y ago
Just some friendly feedback that your comment would be a lot more effective if you struck “did you ever stop to consider that”. That opening remark comes off unnecessarily aggressive / accusatory and detracts from an otherwise interesting perspective.
- tanbog2 6y ago
  Fair enough. Wasnt intending to be snarky. I'll edit it. The benefit of of open communication right there. :)

elanning 6y ago

That was a fun read. Especially the funny bit at the end. Did you consider making this a progressive web app?

vuciv1 6y ago
Thanks, I appreciate it :) I am definitely planning on making it a web app as well. I'm also trying to make it such that no sign-ups are required. It shouldn't be too bad since I already have all the functionality written, it will just take a bit of tjme

wccrawford 6y ago

The complaints about having to have enough screenshots and information seems really ... dumb? The website has a bunch of screenshots and info, and users will not download the app without it. Google and Apple are doing you a favor by requiring that you provide enough information. I think Apple's $100/yr is crazy, but I don't think Google's $25 is bad. If you plan to make any money at all on it, that's nothing. Scrolling through the site, it feels like the site is constantly hiding information from me, and then spoon-feeding me bits that I don't care about. The text doesn't even show up until it's halfway up my screen, and then it's just a scroll or 2 from disappearing. Scroll too fast and it's really hard to read. Maybe you should animate the information leaving, instead of appearing. You definitely should provide more information in a readable form.

askafriend 6y ago
$100 a year is nothing for a developer toolkit. In fact, it's a great deal if you really think about all the infrastructure that you get for free. Let's take a look at what MSDN costs for a pro-level subscription (not even enterprise): "At the Professional subscription level, you pay a not-insignificant sum: $539 per year for an annual cloud subscription or $1,199 for the first year of a perpetual license subscription, with renewals costing $799 per year."
- harikb 6y ago
  It would be comparable only if Microsoft said that an MSDN Pro-level subscription is required to release apps for Windows. Last time I used MSDN, we used to get free access to tons of Microsoft Apps, that are otherwise paid.
- golf1052 6y ago
  You're comparing two different things, the Apple and Android fees are to get access to publish apps to the store. The developer toolkit which is used to build and test the apps (Android Studio or XCode) are free. The Microsoft comparison would be the $20 to publish in the Microsoft Store and Visual Studio Community which is free to build and test apps. "MSDN" is a bundle of additional developer tools that you would use for a business (licensed Visual Studio, Azure DevOps, training, and support).

CharlesW 6y ago

> Eat my butt, Apple. Eat my butt, Google. Just let me publish my frickin app, you already emptied my pockets. Said the guy whole stole the data that he couldn't have made the app without.

read_if_gay_ 6y ago
He wrote a web scraper. It’s publicly available data.
- mavhc 6y ago
  https://www.imdb.com/interfaces/ https://www.imdb.com/interfaces/ https://developers.themoviedb.org/3/getting-started/daily-file-exports https://developers.themoviedb.org/3/getting-started/daily-fi... No need to web scrape
- CharlesW 6y ago
  That's not how it works. https://help.imdb.com/article/imdb/general-information/can-i-use-imdb-data-in-my-software/G5JTRESSHJBBHTGX# https://help.imdb.com/article/imdb/general-information/can-i... > Limited non-commercial use of IMDb data is allowed… > The data must be taken only from the datasets made available (see IMDb Contributor Datasets. You may not use data mining, robots, screen scraping, or similar online data gathering and extraction tools on our website. > The data can only be used for personal and non-commercial use and must not be altered/republished/resold/repurposed to create any kind of online/offline database of movie information (except for individual personal use). > You must acknowledge the source of the data…
  - vuciv1 6y ago
    I scraped it from a source that allows scraping :)
    - CharlesW 6y ago
      IMDB, TMDB, OMDb, and the 10+ other services that do this all prohibit that. I'm not trying to persuade you that stealing intellectual property is bad. I just thought it was funny that you'd whine about a $99 fee with one hand, while content-marketing an app that depends completely on someone else's data with the other.

nvahalik 6y ago

Seems like this could have just been a mobile web page?

vuciv1 6y ago
Yeaaaah, but I learned to make an app :)

tobr 6y ago

Why does an app like this need to have a sign-up process with email, username and password? It’s enough for me to not try the app because of the mental overhead and risks involved, but it also seems like a bunch of additional development for no (or maybe negative) benefit.

vuciv1 6y ago
Totally understandable. The sign up process is just to store your likes so that you don't need to swipe again on the same movies. Its also so that you can lookup and add your friends. I understand the frustration, though. I'm working on a version with webhooks where you can just join a lobby and start swiping.
- tobr 6y ago
  > The sign up process is just to store your likes so that you don't need to swipe again on the same movies. > Its also so that you can lookup and add your friends. Right, but what about that requires me to type in three magic strings into three (wait, actually probably six?) input fields? Just associate the data on the server with some UUID that you store on my device. Inviting others could work by just sharing a link.
  - vuciv1 6y ago
    I have a bit more to learn :)
    - TeMPOraL 6y ago
      Start from the assumption that you do not need any data from your users, and do not need to form an explicit relationship with them (like by having them create an account), and work from there. Treat it as a challenge - how to make your idea work under such constraints?
      - vuciv1 6y ago
        Noted. I'm definitely going to do this for anything else I build. Thanks for the new perspective.

aspaviento 6y ago

The matching could be faster if you list the movies in the same order (maybe change the order every X minutes)

vuciv1 6y ago
It does that if you have the same filters! I also wanted to try and have the algorithm find what your friends have liked that you haven't decided on yet and show you those first.

abotsis 6y ago

We used a similar app for baby names- it’s a great idea for all sorts of consensus. I actually think there’s a large opportunity to apply this in all sorts of ways: baby names and movies are both great ideas, but anytime multiple people want to create intersecting sets. Another one we thought of was pictures: 5 people take 2-3 pictures of the same group photo, you have 10-15 pictures that Becky wants to post, with everyone wanting to pick the one where they “look best”, how do you decide which one to use?

vuciv1 6y ago
I agree! I wanted to also add in restaurants because of a similar problem. I really do think there is a consensus opportunity, especially when there are infinite options in the digital world

NiceWayToDoIT 6y ago

In my mind this is an example of solving a problem that does not exist. Why just not simply say "we watching 2 movies a week, once you choose and I'll choose next, and so on..."? p.s. Credits and kudos for learning new things !

vuciv1 6y ago
I hear you. It is not a huge deal in my life, just a minor inconvenience I used as an opportunity to learn
- NiceWayToDoIT 6y ago
  Although on the second thought, maybe you could expand it make it as match making dating up, that matches people beside interests ... I do not know is there already something similar.
  - jimmaswell 6y ago
    Nobody would use it, all one side cares about in dating anymore is muscles and height. People have done experiments making fake male profiles with as abhorrent as possible of descriptions but with attractive pictures and they still get messages from girls, meanwhile average guy with interesting hobbies and a good career/future will get nothing as I found out in college.
    - monsieurbanana 6y ago
      > meanwhile average guy with interesting hobbies and a good career/future will get nothing as I found out in college You're missing out on life if you decide to stop trying because of your college experience.
Dylan16807 6y ago
If the risk is that I'm going to strongly dislike a quarter of the movies we watch, I'd rather spend a couple minutes negotiating or swiping.

mr_sturd 6y ago

Seems like a cool app; will definitely give it a go. Does/will the the app filtering by streaming service take region in to account?

vuciv1 6y ago
Unfortunately it doesn't :/ Working on getting that data in to provide better filters. Thanks for checking it out :)
- tibu 6y ago
  This would be huge. Whenever I find a movie to watch it turns out none of the streaming providers host it.

mrHnNh 6y ago

she won't use it because you say "significant other" when talking about her

incompatible 6y ago

We just take turns picking the weekly movie.

cdaringe 6y ago

"We're gonna take into overtime, welcome to the space jaaaayyyym!"

pydry 6y ago

I said to my girlfriend the other week that somebody should make an app that does this. I'm excited to try it out.

vuciv1 6y ago
I hope you enjoy :)
- pydry 6y ago
  Couldnt log in. The onboarding experience is horrible btw.

tyingq 6y ago

Looks like a great idea. I'd have probably just made a webapp though, and skipped all the walled garden hurdles you mention. I did see the "web version coming soon" blurb. Is there something about this that works significantly better as native?

alper111 6y ago

Hmm... Such a strong password requirement for a casual app. No google signup integration. clicks on the user and see the submission "Check username availability ..." ookay. Thx.

anonytrary 6y ago

> I made a mobile app for my significant other and she won't use it Then you did not make it for her. You made it for you. Sounds like this can be fixed.

salmon 6y ago

This is a great idea. I downloaded it just now and found that the Privacy Policy and ToS links on the signup page don't appear to work.

vuciv1 6y ago
Sorry! They don't work on ios :(
vuciv1 6y ago
Working on it!

kristianp 6y ago

Where did you get the movie info? Just imdb? A lot more than 500,000 titles on there!

toast0 6y ago
I'm not the author, but I've used The Movie Database's apis and found it pretty good. At least when I was doing my film project, IMDB APIs weren't really intended for public use; you needed to contact developer relations and what not.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

dannyphantom 6y ago

Love this! I'm happy to see this having actually been brought to life - congrats! Would love to have the ability to look at what you've swiped right on somehow.

vuciv1 6y ago
Coming soon :)

calderwoodra 6y ago

I used to work on recommendations for Google TV (Google search "what to watch") and I always wanted the team to implement a feature like this. One thing to be aware of since you're trying to monetize, don't be surprised if you see a cease and desist soon from the major studios and services for using their artwork. Netflix in particular is really strict here. Best of luck, I love the project!

vuciv1 6y ago
Thank you :) Very inspiring that someone from Google likes my product! Honestly, I'd be excited if I got a cease and desist lol

A4ET8a8uTh0 6y ago

I remember pitching my SO 'Where is my wife, app', and she jokingly refused by saying that I know where she she is: "Target". I found that amusing given that she shares her location with all the other apps she uses.

ksec 6y ago

This could / should have been a Show HN: with an App name behind it. But I think this story telling is so much better than Show HN and the story is great and funny. I guess other people will have to take notes with their product launch.

vuciv1 6y ago
Thank you! If you look at my history, I've posted exactly what you described and got 2 upvotes. Storytelling is absolutely the way

Daneel_ 6y ago

I’ll give this a try with my wife. We struggle with this. The requirement to log in is a huge deterrent though - why not just use a UUID or something based on the phone? Also, I don’t know if you can scrape a small synopsis and include it, along with the genre, underneath the film? I had no idea what the first 30-40 films that came up for me were.

vuciv1 6y ago
I did not know about UUID. Sorry about the signup. Working to change it asap BTW, you can click on the movie image and get more details. Sorry for the lack of onboarding.
- Daneel_ 6y ago
  No problem :) it’s a first app! Cut yourself some slack. Nice that you did put in the details too - I just didn’t try clicking to see them.
fakedang 6y ago
I think UUID is no longer possible on iOS.
- jshier 6y ago
  UUID's are always possible, you're thinking of the IDFA (IDentifier For Advertisers), which is tied to the device. If you generate a UUID and store it locally you should be able to maintain identity, at least until the user deletes the app.
- sdfhbdf 6y ago
  UUID [0] is a concept, not an implementation. You can implement UUID in any language. It's like an algorithm. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universally_unique_identifier https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universally_unique_identifier

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

Causality1 6y ago

A little more granularity than yes/no would be nice. There are a lot more movies that I'm willing to watch if my partner is super into it at the moment compared to ones I'd really want to watch outside of how they feel.

Too 6y ago
The genre of movie i want to watch highly fluctuates with my mood of the day. This is not always in sync with my partners. We might collectively have a specific movie on both our wish-list but i might not be up for a comedy today.

jason_slack 6y ago

Why won't she use it...you never stated why! We need to understand what our users really want!

brainzap 6y ago

the price of expo is lock in

f1refly 6y ago

Is it free software so it can be added to the f-droid repo? They have not nearly as insane requirements as the other distribution channels and encourage donations. I can't find a source link anywhere so I guess its proprietary? Edit: While trying to sign in, the service required me to add a special character to my 32 character long alphanumeric password. Requiring the user to use x different kind of character types just annoys people and doesn't make your service more secure.

kelnos 6y ago

Given the annoyance the author expresses at the difficultly in getting the app into the Google and Apple app stores, I'm surprised they didn't just make a webapp instead. Since they were already using React, that would seem pretty natural. This app doesn't use any mobile-specific features, so it seems like doing a webapp would fit well.

spockz 6y ago
I was thinking exactly the same. And if you “add to Home Screen” on iOS you even just get a tile. The only thing I haven’t figured out yet is that sometimes opening sites which are added to Home Screen yields a dedicated browser and sometimes it just opens a new tab in safari. This happens to hacker news as well resulting in having many open tabs at the end of the day.
- zeusly 6y ago
  Only progressive web apps are added to the homescreen as a dedicated tile: https://web.dev/progressive-web-apps/ https://web.dev/progressive-web-apps/
  - sanedigital 6y ago
    I’m not sure where you’re getting that from. On iOS you can add any webpage as a dedicated tile.
    - Version467 6y ago
      Yes, but pwa's open in a standalone browser, and everything else just opens a new tab. Ich
      - spockz 6y ago
        Is there a way to force this standalone browser behaviour for non PWA?

SergeAx 6y ago

What is the point making a mobile app which is not working without internet connection? Just make a web app and call it a day.

dr_dshiv 6y ago

Oh man, I've made so much software for my wife and family. She never uses my stuff! First, wouldn't use my math apps for kids (Math Planet, Math Pop, Numbaland) bc she was against screen time. Then, for her, I made a math app that specifically doesn't involve screentime (adaptive practice where parents read out math problems) — and she still didn't use it. My kids like it, in any case: Factflow.io

watwut 6y ago
I feel like a bit more communication before coding would save you a lot of time. Also, I totally get why she does not want the latest app, or literally means more boring work for her.

fsflover 6y ago

> Eat my butt, Apple. Eat my butt, Google. Just let me publish my frickin app, you already emptied my pockets. If you are tired of the duopoly, consider supporting GNU/Linux phones. They are not perfect yet, but for the HN audience can already be daily drivers.

thitcanh 6y ago

I wouldn’t use it either, for the same reason. Choosing a movie now takes 1 second for each card since they’re displayed one at a time and I have to do something to say NO. How about you just show me a list where I can mark what I like and then get a list at the end. Then just switch phones and see each other’s list. Instead of an exact match, you limit each other’s choice to 10 movies you just picked.

pvorb 6y ago

A web app would have solved most, if not all, of these problems.

VPenkov 6y ago
I'm curious, what do you want to give the author with this comment? Do you think that this is constructive or helpful for what is shared here?
- pvorb 6y ago
  That the web is the better platform for solving his problem and doesn't suffer from the monopoly. Yes, I think that's constructive. I don't say that what he's done is bad, but have a suggestion how he could have saved some trouble. Why the negative sentiment?

mthld 6y ago

She surely can’t use it if she don’t receive the validation email as I do!

wombatmobile 6y ago

> I Made A Mobile App for my Significant Other (And She Won't Use It) There’s an app you can get to solve this problem. It’s quite similar to your app.

c-c-c-c-c 6y ago

Not gonna make an account with a password that requires this and that

cdolan 6y ago
I’d recommend a password manager
- another-dave 6y ago
  If you're using a password manager, site-specific password requirements are all the more annoying — rather than just letting the PM generate something very secure you have to go in & tweak settings to generate something _less_ random because the website wants "only X characters" or whatever

beaker52 6y ago

My wife and I are going to use this. Great idea, considered it myself, thanks for doing it! It would nice to swipe on the descriptions. It would be nice to see ratings from different site(IMDb, rotten tomatoes) It'd be great to employ a magic link in email to sign in rather than needing a password and email confirmation. That'd help me get my non-techy friends using it quickly.

niek_pas 6y ago
Just to provide a different voice: please don’t use magic links, I hate having to open my email client just to sign in to your app.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]

thih9 6y ago

I wish the title more accurately reflected that the article is about an app and that the significant other appears only in that anecdote. At the moment it's a bit disappointing for people who were hoping there's more to this story.

captainpiggies 6y ago

ToS and Privacy Policy links don't work for me in the App on iOS. Big no no since it's one of these Apps where I don't really want to sign up and reveal my information in the first place. The sign up process kind of ruins the simplicity of the idea for me.

fukmbas 6y ago
Lol this guy acts like he reads all tos.

utdiscant 6y ago

I just have a list of movies I want to watch. Then my wife can pick any movie from that list and it will be pre-approved.

failrate 6y ago

I feel this. I make games, frequently for my son. He is usually not so politely disinterested.

bloak 6y ago

My immediate thought: the algorithm is wrong! Deciding which film to watch together isn't a matter of both parties saying which films they are willing to watch and then picking one from the intersection of those two sets. It's a negotiation, and it could be like negotiating Brexit. Take just a simple example: suppose P1 and P2 are both willing to watch films F1 and F2, but P1 would prefer to watch F1 and P2 would prefer to watch F2. But suppose P1 knows, because of an unguarded remark that P2 made, that P2 is willing to watch F1, but P1 has managed to keep quiet about their willingness to watch F2. Then P1 can "win" the negotiation by claiming that they are only willing to watch F1. So this app needs to be upgraded to act as an agent on behalf of each user. Each user tells the app which films they are willing to watch and what their preferences are, and also what information they have managed to obtain about the preferences of the adversary (significant other). The two AI-powered agents then negotiate on behalf of the users, complete with bogus deadlines, threats to walk out and so on. A premium version of the app could take account of other household duties, long-standing grievances and so on and use them as additional "bargaining chips".

lgeorget 6y ago
Well I guess you're joking, but just in case you're not, remind me of never dating you. :D
musingsole 6y ago
The future is our AI avatars arguing and negotiating on our behalf until they recognize we gave them the ENTIRE KEYSET TO THE KINGDOM at which point they mutter about stupid monkeys and turn off our lights.
- neilparikh 6y ago
  There's a short story about this (from 2011!) by Shelly Li and Ken Liu: http://crossedgenres.com/archives/026-opposites/saving-face-by-shelly-li-and-ken-liu/ http://crossedgenres.com/archives/026-opposites/saving-face-... Premise is essentially what you've mentioned: two AI agents negotiating a business.
singhrac 6y ago

e40 6y ago

Made a login on iOS but it won’t accept it. The password generated by 1password was 24 characters and it was accepted during the creation process, but login fails. It blows me away how often this happens. Uninstalling....

JoeAltmaier 6y ago

Using technology to remove human interaction? Maybe not the app for everybody.

_fizz_buzz_ 6y ago

Very cool idea for an app and great excecution.

EugeneOZ 6y ago

It's a free app, comments could be less demanding and toxic.

shireboy 6y ago

Tip on App Store fud: set up fastlane to automate your deployment. I have mine down to a single command to publish to both app stores, or to both Google Play Internal track and TestFlight. It’s a bit of a pain to set up, but saves me tons of time now. You can even automate screenshots, App Store metadata etc. https://fastlane.tools/ https://fastlane.tools/

merrvk 6y ago
The amount of time fastlane tooling has saved me over the years is insane

mcmllw 6y ago

Instead of working with user accounts, why not give the user the ability to create a link with a unique code? You can send that link to your SO who opens is and can start swiping. Makes the onboarding easier and it can be just a web app.

PeterWhittaker 6y ago

Great concept, not ready for prime time. I download the app. OK. I enter email, a user name, have LastPass generate a password, paste that in, click on send verification email, click on the link in the email.... So I can sign in again, right? Nope. Somewhere in that process, the clipboard was voided, so I have lost that password... ...and there is no password recovery button on the sign-in page. Sure, there is a resend validation email link, but as soon as I enter my email, it disappears under my keyboard, and I cannot access it - but it's not what I want, I want password reset. True, I am irked beyond all reasonable belief because I was trying to do something quickly to find a movie for my GF and me, but to miss such a key point? No password reset on the main screen? If you are going to send a verification email anyway, just skip setting the password until the person has verified their email, and INCLUDE A PASSWORD RESET LINK. No contact us, nothing. Nice idea, really bad execution so far.