Medalliona private social networking app for friends has won praise from Generation Alpha users after the launch of its latest feature, Rollcall.
The app, which allows friends to share photos that then appear in widgets on the home screen, first topped the App Store charts in early 2022, using Apple’s widget system to form the basis of the social network. Instead of updates sent via push notifications, the app widget will update to display your folks’ newly posted photos. This, in turn, will restore engagement inside the app, encouraging users to share their very own photos in return.
Locket’s Rollcall feature takes a similar approach, transforming features of the Apple platform into social networking tools, explains CEO Matt Moss. Moss, a former Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) student scholarship winner, understands that recent formats may also help attract users and attract people.
Rollcall encourages users to share their favorite photos from the past week and uses an iOS feature called Live Activities. This allows the app to make use of the iPhone’s lock screen to draw users’ attention. Introduced in iOS 18, Live classes Allow iOS apps to supply frequent information updates in easy-to-access places like the lock screen and dynamic island (the black bar at the top of the screen).
Apple originally envisioned Live Activities as a way for apps that provide real-time information to update their users, equivalent to when an Uber has arrived or a pizza has been delivered. However, some apps use this technology in unique ways, equivalent to adding a virtual pet frolic on the Dynamic Island, Or displaying texts in real time for the song you are listening to directly on the lock screen.
However, with Locket, Live Activities change into the modern version of push notifications.
“Every Sunday we’ll take over your lock screen and you’ll get this cool live activity that will be displayed right on your iPhone home page,” Moss said. “It’s much like a widget [as it’s] using Apple technology to get in front of individuals and then allow you to share moments you would not share,” he told TechCrunch in an interview in the TechCrunch Disrupt conference rooms last week.
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Using the technology in this manner has already proven successful for Locket, which has over 91 million installs on iOS and Android devices, based on estimates Applications estimates. In its first week of operation, Rollcall Locket recorded greater than one million shares because of the feature, the company said.
Additionally, Moss said well over 25% of the app’s energetic users now post appeals on a weekly basis.
“Live activities attract people much more,” Moss said. “And that’s funny, because when your friends share, they feel like we’re all doing it together.”
About 80% of Rollcall’s initial energetic users were classified as Generation Alpha.
The founder noted that there are some differences between how Generation Alpha and Generation Z use the medallion.
“I think the big difference is… [being] companion element versus most important element. We have many more users now [for whom] The medallion is their most important way of communicating with friends, Moss explained. “Sending photos directly. Sharing photos with 10 or 20 of their best friends. I think that’s a big difference for us,” he added.
As Rollcall grows in popularity, the company is currently exploring learn how to use the feature as a launchpad for other experiences beyond photos. For example, Moss says adding video support is an obvious next step, but he’s also wondering learn how to include music, favorite places you have been to, or prompts to aid you remember the week’s events.
While Locket has no plans to support AI-generated photos or videos like Sora or Meta AI, the company is considering how AI could possibly be used in other ways – for example, to create collages or collect memories from photos.
“While these things can take up a lot of attention,” Moss said, referring to AI applications, “there is something so fundamental and fundamental about communicating and connecting with real people in the world. There will always be a role for it and there will always be demand from humans.”
The company is also considering about how Locket can turn users’ virtual connections with friends into more real touchpoints — even if it’s something so simple as reminding users to call or text a friend.
“I think for us it’s always more like: how can we use these things to really help people connect rather than just be kind of short-term fun and, you know, [that] it can be a huge strength in the long run – to be a place where only people you really know are there,” Moss said.
Today, Locket makes money from subscriptions and claims to have over 100,000 subscribers. Thanks to this, the 15-person company has been profitable since last 12 months.