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Show HN: I got tired of using whatsapp and Facebook Messenger, so I wrote my own

7 points by jklp 14y ago

jklp 14y ago
Hi, I'm the author here. Just thought I'd give some background on the app, and also to listen to suggestions and feedback anyone may have I mainly wrote Flip out of my frustrations of using whatsapp (which somehow became the default mobile messaging app of choice) both in its poor usability and (at the time) questionable security measures. I was also getting worried about Facebook's prevalence in every aspect of our online lives, and really didn't like seeing it creep into what I think is our most intimate form of online communications. So I wrote Flip, as an alternative to both of those, and also (hopefully) provide more value than them too. Please let me know what you think. I'd be more than happy to receive any feedback :) Thanks Jerrold
- antihero 14y ago
  Are you planning to do encryption ala BBM? Also not seeing anything here: https://play.google.com/store/search?q=flip+messenger https://play.google.com/store/search?q=flip+messenger so I don't think messenger that allows you to only communicate with people on a specific device is particularly useful.
  - jklp 14y ago
    Hi, I'm not 100% on the encryption scheme BBM uses, but currently all communications for Flip, between the client and the server, are done over https (which was a pain in the arse to get approval for in the App Store). Also, every request from the client is authenticated with a key generated on the client side, and both key, phone numbers, are encrypted and salted on the server side. From what I understood, for a long time whatsapp was plain text communications, and I remember there being a debacle where whatsapp passwords were just device UUIDs, which weren't encrypted or salted (so I made sure both these weren't the case with Flip). As for Flip not being on Android, yes unfortunately I haven't had time to implement an Android version. I work full time, so it's taken me close to 9 months just to get the iPhone version released, so I'm hesitant to spend more time unless the iPhone version does well (and besides, Instagram was iPhone only for a long time :) ) Thanks Jerrold
    - lardissone 14y ago
      The difference with Instagram is that it's only to share photos, you don't need to communicate using it. If you don't launch it multi-platform, I see near dead to it. Sorry, I'm an iPhone user, but I see a lot of messenger apps in the AppStore and the only ones that survives are the ones you can use with ALL your friends, not only the ones that uses specific brand. It's like invite to your party only people driving BMWs. Focus on feature more platforms.
      - joshbaptiste 14y ago
        Indeed.. the usefulness of Whatsapp is the fact that one can talk to friends on most devices ios/Android/BB/Windows/Nokia/Symbian. Anything else ,security, annoyances etc.. are easily ignored by non-techies.
        fakeer 14y ago
        When it comes to text or not to text with friends then some (most of the) times it's ignored by techies also. Most of the times they do not have a choice just like their "non-techie" counterparts. There's another crucial thing that is missing from WhatsApp that is owning/backing up your message and of course it can rule IM space it jumps into web chat. But then they will have to implement an entire identity management system because in reality they do not have one. I find WhatsApp good. Just talk to your friends. That's it. No celebrity feeds (sth called Friend+ or so) like that in KakaoTalk etc.
        jklp 14y ago
        Very good points re: multi-platform. I'm an ex Java developer, so I'll have a look at the Android codebase and see how difficult it is to write an Android version.
jcfrei 14y ago
it looks really slick but damn did you pick a difficult market. anyway, godspeed - i hope at least you got your friends to use it.
- jklp 14y ago
  Yeah in the last year a lot of them have come through, and I've also noticed a large grave yard of apps starting to build up too, GroupMe, Fast Society, etc It's only been on the market for a couple of months so we'll see how it goes :)
- jklp 14y ago
  Oh and yep, most my friends and family use it. They were my early beta testers, and quite good at leading me in the right direction on what was important and what wasn't. The hard part is getting it out beyond my social circle, and I think the other commenters are right re: missing Android support.

7 points by jklp 14y ago

jklp 14y ago

Hi, I'm the author here. Just thought I'd give some background on the app, and also to listen to suggestions and feedback anyone may have I mainly wrote Flip out of my frustrations of using whatsapp (which somehow became the default mobile messaging app of choice) both in its poor usability and (at the time) questionable security measures. I was also getting worried about Facebook's prevalence in every aspect of our online lives, and really didn't like seeing it creep into what I think is our most intimate form of online communications. So I wrote Flip, as an alternative to both of those, and also (hopefully) provide more value than them too. Please let me know what you think. I'd be more than happy to receive any feedback :) Thanks Jerrold

antihero 14y ago
Are you planning to do encryption ala BBM? Also not seeing anything here: https://play.google.com/store/search?q=flip+messenger https://play.google.com/store/search?q=flip+messenger so I don't think messenger that allows you to only communicate with people on a specific device is particularly useful.
- jklp 14y ago
  Hi, I'm not 100% on the encryption scheme BBM uses, but currently all communications for Flip, between the client and the server, are done over https (which was a pain in the arse to get approval for in the App Store). Also, every request from the client is authenticated with a key generated on the client side, and both key, phone numbers, are encrypted and salted on the server side. From what I understood, for a long time whatsapp was plain text communications, and I remember there being a debacle where whatsapp passwords were just device UUIDs, which weren't encrypted or salted (so I made sure both these weren't the case with Flip). As for Flip not being on Android, yes unfortunately I haven't had time to implement an Android version. I work full time, so it's taken me close to 9 months just to get the iPhone version released, so I'm hesitant to spend more time unless the iPhone version does well (and besides, Instagram was iPhone only for a long time :) ) Thanks Jerrold
  - lardissone 14y ago
    The difference with Instagram is that it's only to share photos, you don't need to communicate using it. If you don't launch it multi-platform, I see near dead to it. Sorry, I'm an iPhone user, but I see a lot of messenger apps in the AppStore and the only ones that survives are the ones you can use with ALL your friends, not only the ones that uses specific brand. It's like invite to your party only people driving BMWs. Focus on feature more platforms.
    - joshbaptiste 14y ago
      Indeed.. the usefulness of Whatsapp is the fact that one can talk to friends on most devices ios/Android/BB/Windows/Nokia/Symbian. Anything else ,security, annoyances etc.. are easily ignored by non-techies.
      - fakeer 14y ago
        When it comes to text or not to text with friends then some (most of the) times it's ignored by techies also. Most of the times they do not have a choice just like their "non-techie" counterparts. There's another crucial thing that is missing from WhatsApp that is owning/backing up your message and of course it can rule IM space it jumps into web chat. But then they will have to implement an entire identity management system because in reality they do not have one. I find WhatsApp good. Just talk to your friends. That's it. No celebrity feeds (sth called Friend+ or so) like that in KakaoTalk etc.
      - jklp 14y ago
        Very good points re: multi-platform. I'm an ex Java developer, so I'll have a look at the Android codebase and see how difficult it is to write an Android version.

jcfrei 14y ago

it looks really slick but damn did you pick a difficult market. anyway, godspeed - i hope at least you got your friends to use it.

jklp 14y ago
Yeah in the last year a lot of them have come through, and I've also noticed a large grave yard of apps starting to build up too, GroupMe, Fast Society, etc It's only been on the market for a couple of months so we'll see how it goes :)
jklp 14y ago
Oh and yep, most my friends and family use it. They were my early beta testers, and quite good at leading me in the right direction on what was important and what wasn't. The hard part is getting it out beyond my social circle, and I think the other commenters are right re: missing Android support.