Red/Green — Bat-signal for friends

I didn't realize you were working on an app, @maxstoller! (I also see a few familiar faces in those app screenshots: @msg, @nchirls). We've seen a ton of apps designed to help friends make plans and meetup, Swarm being one of the more recent, big launches. None of them have stuck with me and Swarm in-particular is disappointing in that you look slightly lame when creating an event and no one replies. I like that you only show "green" to people you select to avoid this self-conscious embarrassment. That said, why'd you build this, Max? :)

Thanks for posting, Ryan! I built Red/Green. AMA.

I love that now I don't need to make excuses for why I can't hangout with my Android friends :)

"Red/Green, an iOS app that launches today, is looking to simplify telling your friends that you’re down to hang out. Like Yo — remember Yo? — it’s a dead simple app that gives you a simple social binary. You set your status to green if you want to chill, and red when you’re busy. When you set your availability to green, the app gives you a way to set a status and asks “what’s the plan?”" Go @maxstoller

This is so well-designed. To me, one of the most interesting aspect is that you don't have to "green" everybody when you come out of being "red." This is such a subtle way to create what ends up being spontaneous, throwaway subgroups of people. I've already noticed it today when I was trying to find a time for a quick phone call and wanted to communicate that I wasn't ready yet, but when I was ready, it wasn't time to turn on availability for everyone, just the person I wanted to call. My second favorite part of the app is the thoughtful use of deeplinking. The design decision to leave messaging people you already know to the place where it's done best -- existing sms app -- means Red/Green enhances existing behaviors instead of interrupting them. @workflowhq, an app that launched on @producthunt recently, is an example of using deeplinking in a way that makes consumers' lives easier. The way Red/Green sends you directly into a text message with the person you are now ready to communicate with is another. Great job with this. So many of my texts are for coordinating when actual in-person or over the phone conversation is going to happen. I'm looking forward to communicating less about communicating.

signup flow was amazing

Why not just build an entirely sms based version? If your friends don't have the app, it texts them via the app and you see their replies in the app. Could be much more personal on boarding.

Very cool idea. Annoying how thin the tap area is. Tried pulling from the center and tried a few pulls. I'm used to Swarm, which works differently .

There was another app identical to this one 3 years ago which let you turn your status on and off but didn't get traction. I'm blanking on the name unfortunately but it was literally the same thing. One thing I regularly saw in this space was that the inner circle of the average person is not more than a couple people. In such situations, texting was sufficient. Where this starts to make sense (and get responses) is among larger groups. One other lesson from my own experience in this space: people want personal invites to things. A broadcast is easy to ignore. What are you doing to promote/encourage responses from individuals? P.S. Sorry for the rambling response. Just have a lot of thoughts on this space!

What service did you use for phone number authentication? Is it USA only? Great concept, wish you much luck.

Just signed-up and it's using the wrong photo for my profile.

@maxstoller, it's like you read my mind with this app. Even some of the features you're planning on releasing are ones I've thought would be necessary in this sort of experience, e.g. inviting contacts that don't have the app. Now I get to see if it will take off without building it myself :)