Once there was one app called Yo. All it did was send your friends the message “Yo”. It was one of the best mobile apps ever made, and while it still exists everyone deleted it years ago and no one is left for Yo. Now a new app, Honk, wants us to go to Yo again, but this time we say, “Honk.”
Horn primarily positions itself as a messaging app designed to make text-based chat feel more like an IRL conversation. After you download the app on iOS (no Android yet), open a chat with a friend and you will see a live stream of what the friend is typing in real time. There is currently no group chatting. This is all about recreating a one-on-one interaction, complete with the ability to feel comfortable telling secrets as every message disappears as soon as it comes. You’ll still want to limit your real secrets to Signal or an old-fashioned whisper in the ear, but this works for the fun stuff.
We tried it out and everything seems to be fine. You can send photos or animated responses that explode on the screen, but most of the time you talk to one person while watching him correct typos or decide to say something else. Has anyone ever texted you something and immediately followed up with, “I shouldn’t have said that”? Well, that person had no excuse. They should have viewed their message before sending it. But on Honk, a user can finally blame a bad message on a reckless slip of the tongue (or finger).
But you can’t just load an info dump on your friends when they’re not around …they must be in the app to see messages. If you want to chat with a friend, you have two options: open the app and see who’s online or send them a Honk. The Honk button sends them a notification saying: “[Insert friend name] you honked. “If a user presses the button a second time, a message will be sent with the text”[Insert friend name] you honked again. “
While the real-time messaging may appeal to some people, I would say that sending a Honk is Honk’s real great feature, and it is mainly to be used to transmit cryptic tours. I just need everyone to download the app for a short while so I know my Honks are going to find a home.
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