It wasn’t all that long ago that only a few kids would have a cell phone but today, even elementary school children are carrying them around. These aren’t the old style flip phones we may have had when we were kids, they are smartphones and the kids know how to use them. Parents who supply these smartphones realize they come with responsibility but the kids don’t always ‘get it’.
That is where Herbert comes into the picture. He is a father from the UK and was tired of his son, Ben, not returning the favor of replying to a text. Herbert was happy to supply the phone but Ben wasn’t taking the rules seriously. That is when Herbert got busy. He created the RespondASAP app and it locks a child’s phone until they reply to your text.
Herbert explains why he decided to create this mobile app.
“However, what I thought was a solution turned into a different problem,” Herbert wrote. “Because the phone was ‘smart,’ he could play games and watch videos on it. So invariably he keeps his phone on silent so I wouldn’t know.”
“As such, when I try and contact him, he rarely answers, either because he doesn’t hear the phone or because (and I’ve finally had to admit this to myself) he may be embarrassed to speak to his dad in front of his friends.”
“There are messaging apps that tell you when a message is delivered and seen, but the point is the message can be ignored or not seen because he didn’t hear it,” Herbert explained. “So ReplyASAP is my solution to this problem.”
The app allows parents to send or schedule a message or multiple messages. It will even make the phone turn up the volume for the txt alert, and the sound doesn’t stop until the kid acknowledges it. The app will even give the recipient’s location to the sender.
“During the development process, I spoke to Ben and showed him the designs and thinking behind the app and he likes the idea because he will know that if he gets one of these messages then he will always hear it and will know it’s important.”
“He will also have the ability to send me these messages, so there is a mutual understanding that using ReplyASAP is only for important things and not because he needs new batteries for his Xbox controller.”
YOu can pick up the app for a low price of $1.25 for Android and the iOS version is coming soon.
