During the exciting events of this week’s Mobile World Congress, a new startup emerged, aiming to go beyond Instagram’s latest reveal – a “Friend Map” feature. Swayy, an iPhone app, takes a unique approach by allowing users to share their future desired location, rather than just their current whereabouts.
The founder of Swayy, Daneh Westropp, explains the purpose behind this intriguing concept. “Instead of constantly coordinating plans with your friends through text or calls, Swayy lets your followers know where you’ll be next and gives them the chance to ‘serendipitously co-locate’ with you.”
The app also allows users to share their future location with customized groups, such as family members, work colleagues, or even the general public (only those who are also on the app, as it doesn’t have a public web version).
This begs the question, why bother with this app when there are already methods of coordinating plans? Westropp shares her belief that “Swayy allows for more spontaneous outings and creates chance encounters.” As she elaborates, “You have total control over who can see your future location.” For example, if you want your friends to know you’ll be attending a specific event or conference, you can publish it on Swayy and specify the location within the city.
This personalized touch can lead to more exciting and unexpected experiences with friends and acquaintances. However, as with any new app or service, Swayy is currently facing a challenge – without a significant user base, it cannot fulfill its potential of creating spontaneous encounters.
Although I did manage to convince a few friends to join the app and test it out with me, we were all located in the same city, making it difficult to create a chance encounter in a different location.
But, if I can get more friends to join and build a critical mass, and they do the same, there is a higher likelihood of bumping into each other while they’re in the future locations they’ve shared on the app.
The app generates a news feed of where your friends will be in the future, rather than where they currently are. This can be advantageous when trying to arrange a spontaneous meetup or “grab a usually-hard-to-organize-random-drink.”
Swayy is most suitable for users in metropolitan areas where there is a larger pool of potential encounter opportunities with acquaintances, whether for work or leisure. As Instagram might anticipate, knowing where your friends are in the present moment isn’t particularly useful if you can’t physically get to them in time.
Furthermore, unlike Instagram’s “Friend Map,” which is only visible to a select list of “close friends” or no one at all, Swayy allows for more personalized and curated lists of users who can see your future location. This feature is particularly valuable for maintaining privacy, especially for female users, according to Westropp, who has made it a priority since the app’s inception.
“When a user publishes a ‘Sway,’ others in their network can join and a group chat can be set up for all the people ‘Swayying’ to that location,” Westropp explains. Additionally, users are prompted to confirm their planned arrival to the stated destination.
Although Swayy may face tough competition against the tech giants who have already incorporated location features into their platforms, this app’s ability to create highly curated and specific lists of users could prove to be its greatest asset. With its innovative and privacy-conscious approach, Swayy may just find its place in the market, enticing users with the promise of exciting and spontaneous encounters in the near future.
