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Ask: Can an app survive without push notifications?

2 points by prsnly ↗ HN
Hello HN, I've been working on an app that aims to make communication more meaningful by building a messaging platform that encourages you to communicate on your own time and strictly one on one. No friend requests. No push notifications. No endless feed of content from hundreds or thousands of "friends".

We launched our iOS app (share extension, and watch extension) this summer, but the product is still evolving so I'm trying to gather some opinions.

The app is called prsnly (http://apple.co/1iuuGGT ) currently out for iOS and we're working on finishing the web/mobile/android app. You can currently share images, text, video or voice notes within a thread and you can have multiple threads with one person at a time.

So, do you think I'm shooting myself in the foot sticking to a strict "no push notifications" policy? Most apps survive strictly because of push notifications, but I want to build something meaningful such that people want to use it because that's how they share with the people they love.

Any and all thoughts are welcome.

Help me make communication personal again!

4 comments

[ 3.3 ms ] story [ 30.8 ms ] thread
nceruchalu
Hey I just checked out your app on the App Store and I should tell you it looks really clean! As someone who makes iOS apps I know how valuable feedback on your work can be.

Regarding the lack of push notifications, I believe it works for apps like fitness and news apps. However a new messaging app like yours installed on a user's phone will need to inform said user of occasional updates as that's what we now expect of social networking products. Might not necessarily be push notifications but maybe a daily email summary would work?

prsnly
Thanks for the feedback! I tried to keep it simple, clean and straightforward, so thank you for noticing :)

The daily digest email is an interesting suggestion. My only concern is people considering that a push notification. Originally, the stance on no push notifications was to encourage people to communicate with people they actually care about and not just communicate with people notifications are telling them to communicate with. It's a nice low pressure system not intended for anything critically important that needs to be delivered right this second. (My girlfriend and I have threads for vacations, but we also have simple grocery lists, etc. Oh, you can also create threads with yourself. So it's kind of like journaling with friends. Or scrapbooking. Messaging is a side effect possibly.

Email digest could be cool. Thanks for your input and your time! Much appreciated

itsmillertime4u
I actually hate notifications and turn them off on just about every app that has them. They are attention grabbers that often take me away from other important tasks at hand.
prsnly
This is one of the motivating factors behind Prsnly. I know many people, myself included that turn off push notifications (or don't enable them) where possible. I'm trying to see if a notification-less system will help make more meaningful experiences take place. I want people to take their time back and get back to the real world.

edit: question: Does having your notifications turned off make you feel better when you discover content or interact with an app that otherwise would have pushed a notification?

I feel the internet used to be about discovery