9 ms·

HalloApp: a digital space for people who you know and want to connect with

29 points by robinhood 4y ago

nobody9999 4y ago
While I like the idea, AFAICT there's no actual web interface, only access through iPhone/Android apps. Which is a deal-breaker for me. That said, is anyone here actually using HalloApp? If so, what are your impressions so far?
- nicce 4y ago
  Yep, if you want to go with privacy first, then make web interface and let us believe that you at least try to make it privacy friendly by allowing more user control and strict sandboxing. There are anti-patterns in many websites to make people to use native apps - simply because it is easier to collect more user data.
- vmception 4y ago
  Thats because its mobile-first! Like 2016! The founders and their stakeholders all agreed, trendy! Like in 2016! Like Yo! But Hello, but spelled the German way Hallo! and because there already is a social network (and mobile app) called Hello, and other communications apps called Hello, and its also cool to mispell startup names, a web 2.0 staple, like last decade!
- browningstreet 4y ago
  I use it to share certain activity photos with a small group who aren't on Insta/F (like me). For that, it's great. No expectation that it'll be around forever -- it's just real time photos of us on vacation in a way that doesn't bombard Messages.
  - rglullis 4y ago
    I get the use case, I don't get why there is a need for yet-another app for it when there group messaging apps can do that. > in a way that doesn't bombard Messages I'm pretty sure that you can just mute notifications from WhatsApp/Telegram/Matrix/XMPP/Messenger-du-jour...
    - nicce 4y ago
      It has feed about posts like original Facebook without algorithms. WhatsApp et al. does not have.
      - rglullis 4y ago
        Ah, ok. So then the question becomes "why not Mastodon/Pixelfed/Pleroma", especially now that they are implementing "private group" functionality and you can choose who gets to see your posts (besides the usual public/followers-only/private message)?
        browningstreet 4y ago
        I’ve thought of standing up my own private mastodon, but asking these people get mastodon accounts for this single use case isn’t really what any of them want. We’re all social media averse, and mastodon is still like a twitter. hallo is private/closed by default and allows for signals and comments.
        rglullis 4y ago
        Okay, last attempt! Take a look at https://movim.eu/ https://movim.eu/ It's open social media based on XMPP, you can set up your own server if you want.
agluszak 4y ago
https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/dr-evil-air-quotes https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/dr-evil-air-quotes
- dang 4y ago
  (We've since changed the title - more at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31290944 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31290944)
outside1234 4y ago
Its private, free, and with no ads... ... well until we need to make money, when we will sell all of that to someone.
gigatexal 4y ago
And for this to be a viable thing how is this paying for itself or how will it eventually?
ouid 4y ago
""
ladon86 4y ago
Tip: it's not an official grammar rule, but in colloquial terms, scare quotes [1] are often used to indicate that the speaker is being sarcastic or that the quoted thing isn't actually true. So a typical American reader might infer from your title that this app is not _really_ "private" or "free". [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scare_quotes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scare_quotes
- rzzzt 4y ago
  BBC news articles are full of scare quotes then.
  - vmception 4y ago
    A non American publication, exhibit a
  - kube-system 4y ago
    Those are just traditional quotes, used to indicate that the words are something that someone else said, verbatim.
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
  - zem 4y ago
    the bbc usage is scare-quote-adjacent, they mean "this is not us saying this, it is someone else who said it and we are reporting it verbatim" (implied: we make no claims as to its accuracy)
    - rzzzt 4y ago
      I think OP intended to use them in the same way. I can find a direct reference to "private" and "no ads" on the landing page, "free" is not written anywhere so that's a miss.
  - pessimizer 4y ago
geocrasher 4y ago
I "trust" it.
hn_throwaway_99 4y ago
Just took a look at the landing page, but I didn't see any information on how they expect to monetize the app. Are they going to charge for it? I'm fine if they are charging it, but all the problems with social media are pretty much a direct result of their business model. So putting out something that is free, without an explanation of how they eventually expect to pay for it all, is not something I would trust.
- nicce 4y ago
  Based on this [1] article, seems like they add subscription later. I have also seen some mentions about paid features, so maybe subscription unlocks them. [1]: https://www.theverge.com/2021/7/19/22584551/halloapp-private-social-network-by-early-whatsapp-employees https://www.theverge.com/2021/7/19/22584551/halloapp-private...
rglullis 4y ago
What can be done with this that can not be done with a personal WhatsApp/Telegram/Matrix/XMPP group?
egberts1 4y ago
Just let me stop you right there as I reiterate what Apple App Store has to say about HalloApp and its privacy: Data Linked to You The following data, which may be collected and linked to your identity, may be used for the following purposes: * Contact Info Phone number (your most prized privacy info). This is a FULL-STOP right there in these days and ages. * Contacts Contacts (your entire address book, who would want to pull down the proverbial pants and leave their derrière exposed and tangle with the wind?) * Identifiers User ID (probably your Apple ID, after sufficient reverse mapping). * Diagnostic Crash data, not hard to get even more relational mapping from this. ############# # Signal Compare that to SignalApp: * Contact Info That is entire optional and can be left blank within the Settings->Contacts->My Card of which that should always be blank. Nothing to see there, move along.
- lelandfe 4y ago
  > We use your phone number to connect you with friends and family. Beyond that, we never collect, store or use any personal information and never show you ads. Never. For real. From their homepage. Contact Info and Contacts sharing are inherent to this app, it seems. It's worth noting that "beyond that, we never collect [more personal information]" is pretty clearly incorrect, since they do at least also collect contacts. Their Privacy Policy[0] also does not inspire confidence: > We may share personal data we get with service providers who help us provide our Services We're not selling your data, we're sharing it. Which service providers? What are their policies around my data? > We may transfer your personal data to service providers, advisors, potential transactional partners, or other third parties in connection with the consideration, negotiation, or completion of a corporate transaction or proceeding in which we are acquired by or merged with another company or we sell, liquidate, or transfer all or a portion of our business or assets We're not selling your data, we're transferring it. This clause esp. makes me loath to sign up, since all this good will around privacy protections goes away in a sale. Given that this was made by WhatsApp devs, perhaps they understand the value of data... [0] https://www.halloapp.com/privacy/ https://www.halloapp.com/privacy/
  - egberts1 4y ago
    Yep. I concur. Not necessary to have a phone support (such as your entire address book/contacts or your identity/MyCard) fot social indexing in these days and ages. As Signal App have adequately demonstrated that.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
saltedonion 4y ago
How are they going to address the problem of connection creep? (Over time the number of people you add to your friends network increase and cause context collapse)
- MexicanJoe 4y ago
  They will hire you - there now it's your problem.
- TheRealNGenius 4y ago
  That’s not a problem since they have no users.
andreyk 4y ago
So this is basically WhatsApp in terms of functionality?
OceanPowers 4y ago
dang 4y ago
Recent and related: Former Facebook, WhatsApp employees lead new push to fix social media - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31267218 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31267218 - May 2022 (155 comments) also: https://twitter.com/neerajarora/status/1521964283466113024 https://twitter.com/neerajarora/status/1521964283466113024
extheat 4y ago
Terrible name, but good idea. However, the ecosystem for social media apps is so polluted (just open any app store and see all the "social media app" spam) that gaining any sort of market share is likely not possible.
nikolay 4y ago
No web, no thank you! I'm tired of these mobile-only apps like Snapchap and the likes! I want to be able to move from one device and another without having the phone always in my hand!
jimmydeans 4y ago

29 points by robinhood 4y ago

While I like the idea, AFAICT there's no actual web interface, only access through iPhone/Android apps. Which is a deal-breaker for me. That said, is anyone here actually using HalloApp? If so, what are your impressions so far?

nicce 4y ago
Yep, if you want to go with privacy first, then make web interface and let us believe that you at least try to make it privacy friendly by allowing more user control and strict sandboxing. There are anti-patterns in many websites to make people to use native apps - simply because it is easier to collect more user data.
vmception 4y ago
Thats because its mobile-first! Like 2016! The founders and their stakeholders all agreed, trendy! Like in 2016! Like Yo! But Hello, but spelled the German way Hallo! and because there already is a social network (and mobile app) called Hello, and other communications apps called Hello, and its also cool to mispell startup names, a web 2.0 staple, like last decade!
browningstreet 4y ago
I use it to share certain activity photos with a small group who aren't on Insta/F (like me). For that, it's great. No expectation that it'll be around forever -- it's just real time photos of us on vacation in a way that doesn't bombard Messages.
- rglullis 4y ago
  I get the use case, I don't get why there is a need for yet-another app for it when there group messaging apps can do that. > in a way that doesn't bombard Messages I'm pretty sure that you can just mute notifications from WhatsApp/Telegram/Matrix/XMPP/Messenger-du-jour...
  - nicce 4y ago
    It has feed about posts like original Facebook without algorithms. WhatsApp et al. does not have.
    - rglullis 4y ago
      Ah, ok. So then the question becomes "why not Mastodon/Pixelfed/Pleroma", especially now that they are implementing "private group" functionality and you can choose who gets to see your posts (besides the usual public/followers-only/private message)?
      - browningstreet 4y ago
        I’ve thought of standing up my own private mastodon, but asking these people get mastodon accounts for this single use case isn’t really what any of them want. We’re all social media averse, and mastodon is still like a twitter. hallo is private/closed by default and allows for signals and comments.
        rglullis 4y ago
        Okay, last attempt! Take a look at https://movim.eu/ https://movim.eu/ It's open social media based on XMPP, you can set up your own server if you want.

agluszak 4y ago

https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/dr-evil-air-quotes https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/dr-evil-air-quotes

dang 4y ago
(We've since changed the title - more at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31290944 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31290944)

outside1234 4y ago

Its private, free, and with no ads... ... well until we need to make money, when we will sell all of that to someone.

gigatexal 4y ago

And for this to be a viable thing how is this paying for itself or how will it eventually?

ouid 4y ago

ladon86 4y ago

Tip: it's not an official grammar rule, but in colloquial terms, scare quotes [1] are often used to indicate that the speaker is being sarcastic or that the quoted thing isn't actually true. So a typical American reader might infer from your title that this app is not _really_ "private" or "free". [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scare_quotes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scare_quotes

rzzzt 4y ago
BBC news articles are full of scare quotes then.
- vmception 4y ago
  A non American publication, exhibit a
- kube-system 4y ago
  Those are just traditional quotes, used to indicate that the words are something that someone else said, verbatim.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
- zem 4y ago
  the bbc usage is scare-quote-adjacent, they mean "this is not us saying this, it is someone else who said it and we are reporting it verbatim" (implied: we make no claims as to its accuracy)
  - rzzzt 4y ago
    I think OP intended to use them in the same way. I can find a direct reference to "private" and "no ads" on the landing page, "free" is not written anywhere so that's a miss.
- pessimizer 4y ago

geocrasher 4y ago

I "trust" it.

hn_throwaway_99 4y ago

Just took a look at the landing page, but I didn't see any information on how they expect to monetize the app. Are they going to charge for it? I'm fine if they are charging it, but all the problems with social media are pretty much a direct result of their business model. So putting out something that is free, without an explanation of how they eventually expect to pay for it all, is not something I would trust.

nicce 4y ago
Based on this [1] article, seems like they add subscription later. I have also seen some mentions about paid features, so maybe subscription unlocks them. [1]: https://www.theverge.com/2021/7/19/22584551/halloapp-private-social-network-by-early-whatsapp-employees https://www.theverge.com/2021/7/19/22584551/halloapp-private...

rglullis 4y ago

What can be done with this that can not be done with a personal WhatsApp/Telegram/Matrix/XMPP group?

egberts1 4y ago

Just let me stop you right there as I reiterate what Apple App Store has to say about HalloApp and its privacy: Data Linked to You The following data, which may be collected and linked to your identity, may be used for the following purposes: * Contact Info Phone number (your most prized privacy info). This is a FULL-STOP right there in these days and ages. * Contacts Contacts (your entire address book, who would want to pull down the proverbial pants and leave their derrière exposed and tangle with the wind?) * Identifiers User ID (probably your Apple ID, after sufficient reverse mapping). * Diagnostic Crash data, not hard to get even more relational mapping from this. ############# # Signal Compare that to SignalApp: * Contact Info That is entire optional and can be left blank within the Settings->Contacts->My Card of which that should always be blank. Nothing to see there, move along.

lelandfe 4y ago
> We use your phone number to connect you with friends and family. Beyond that, we never collect, store or use any personal information and never show you ads. Never. For real. From their homepage. Contact Info and Contacts sharing are inherent to this app, it seems. It's worth noting that "beyond that, we never collect [more personal information]" is pretty clearly incorrect, since they do at least also collect contacts. Their Privacy Policy[0] also does not inspire confidence: > We may share personal data we get with service providers who help us provide our Services We're not selling your data, we're sharing it. Which service providers? What are their policies around my data? > We may transfer your personal data to service providers, advisors, potential transactional partners, or other third parties in connection with the consideration, negotiation, or completion of a corporate transaction or proceeding in which we are acquired by or merged with another company or we sell, liquidate, or transfer all or a portion of our business or assets We're not selling your data, we're transferring it. This clause esp. makes me loath to sign up, since all this good will around privacy protections goes away in a sale. Given that this was made by WhatsApp devs, perhaps they understand the value of data... [0] https://www.halloapp.com/privacy/ https://www.halloapp.com/privacy/
- egberts1 4y ago
  Yep. I concur. Not necessary to have a phone support (such as your entire address book/contacts or your identity/MyCard) fot social indexing in these days and ages. As Signal App have adequately demonstrated that.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

saltedonion 4y ago

How are they going to address the problem of connection creep? (Over time the number of people you add to your friends network increase and cause context collapse)

MexicanJoe 4y ago
They will hire you - there now it's your problem.
TheRealNGenius 4y ago
That’s not a problem since they have no users.

andreyk 4y ago

So this is basically WhatsApp in terms of functionality?

OceanPowers 4y ago

dang 4y ago

Recent and related: Former Facebook, WhatsApp employees lead new push to fix social media - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31267218 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31267218 - May 2022 (155 comments) also: https://twitter.com/neerajarora/status/1521964283466113024 https://twitter.com/neerajarora/status/1521964283466113024

extheat 4y ago

Terrible name, but good idea. However, the ecosystem for social media apps is so polluted (just open any app store and see all the "social media app" spam) that gaining any sort of market share is likely not possible.

nikolay 4y ago

No web, no thank you! I'm tired of these mobile-only apps like Snapchap and the likes! I want to be able to move from one device and another without having the phone always in my hand!

jimmydeans 4y ago