Most people who own a Smarthphone know that they can set it to vibrate instead of ringing, for occasions when ringing might annoy other people, such as when in a library, at a movie or even more importantly at a live event such as attending the symphony. Now, a group identified only as “ToGetHer Tech” has created an app for sale in the iPhone Store that allows a person on one iPhone to control the vibration on another.
Mashable Tech’s, Sarah Kessler in reviewing the app found it rather amusing. She points out that the developer, who she says is a guy named Justin Wilcox, makes it very clear what users might decide to do with the app, without actually saying it. Its product description says, “Rob and Sara love each other but work keeps them apart more than they’d like.” Users are to understand that if purchased (for $9.99) Rob could soon be controlling Sara’s phone from afar, possibly adding to other material sent back and forth between the two to assist them with their long distance play.
Kessler explains that Wilcox wrote the app after doing something similar while working on an Xbox program for Microsoft, and then finding himself and his girlfriend separated for a time. For that time period, their cell phones were their only connection, causing Wilcox to add a feature that would allow the two of them to be more intimate.
The folks over at the Sydney Morning Herald apparently caught wind of the new app and decided to jump into the fray, though neither the editor there, nor Ms. Kessler would divulge whether they had actually purchased and tested the new app themselves. The Herald seemed less amused, and worried that users that stumbled across the app in the iPhone store might be offended, wondering how Apple’s decency committee had allowed it to pass through. Also, there was a bit of a worry about hygiene issues, thought that certainly seems one that could be resolved with just a little bit of ingenuity on the part of the user.
What’s perhaps most interesting is what such an app says about how society is evolving. People are apparently spending so much time at work, traveling or tending to other things that they find a simple iPhone app can help their relationship survive the time spent apart, rather than simply rearranging their schedules to figure out a way to spend more time together in person.