May 2022 Friend App Update

We made some significant advances on our internal alpha version of Friend App and showed the app to dozens of people during Miami Tech Month.

Privacy and speed

Two of the biggest blockers for launching were resolved in the past month.

1) Your contact data is very private. So before inviting any beta testers, I wanted to ensure that even I wouldn't be able to see in the database who your contacts are. Contacts are now 100% encrypted and me and my team would have no clue who your friends are and how you're organizing them.

2) In initial app testing, it was taking minutes for the first time contact import, as your data would be backed up in the cloud before you could begin organizing contacts. Now, the initial import takes seconds. We want to make sure Friend App helps you make better use of your time.

Key Features

We are now prepared to go out with some robust features, grouping your friends by interests, using Friend App to initiate messaging, and leaving personal reference notes on each of your friends

En Español

Considering the Latin American background of most of the team, how could we not promote Friend App en español? It may take us a bit longer to get the app itself translated in Spanish and other languages, but it's a start, and I hope it shows a small step towards serving people around the world.

Investors

I've been meeting with potential early investors and hope to continue showcasing the progress we are making.

If interested in learning more, please schedule some time with me on Calendly or send me a DM on Twitter @charleswalter

I'm also using Paperstreet for investor updates. Please sign up here if you would like to receive them

Thank you!

I have to thank my team for all the advances. Jaime, Tawheed, and Alejandra. We are almost ready to release our first version of the app and your dedication to the project is getting us there.

See you around

I hope to see many of you at local events: Miami Tech Happy Hour at Freehold and Brickell Tech Tuesday on May 31st (in my own neighborhood). Happy to share a quick demo.

Please say hello :)

Chuck Walter

Founder, Friend App

Last thing...

If you happen to have gotten this far... I'm wrapping up my current books, The Cold Start Problem by Andrew Chen and Building a StoryBrand by Donald Miller. Up for suggestions for next things to read.