Like most teen boys his age, 15-year-old Ben Herbert loves getting lost in Xbox games and playing soccer with his friends. So naturally, when dad tries to call or text, responding in a timely fashion is usually the last thing on Ben’s mind. Frequently putting his phone on silent also doesn’t help his poor responsiveness.
Totally tired of his son’s lagging or nonexistent replies, his father Nick Herbert, decided to take matters into his own hands.
“[There have] been a few occasions where I’ve tried and tried and still nothing,” said Nick. “It’s generally a culmination of, how can I get in contact with him if I need to?”
As a product manager from the U.K., he used his tech-savvy roots and knack for bringing ideation to fruition to create an ingenious app called ReplyASAP.
The app is designed to let its users send urgent messages that essentially can’t be ignored by the recipient. Messages sent through the app sound off an alarm which can only be shut off once one of two options is selected: ‘snooze for 3 minutes’ or ‘cancel.’
Nick Herbert/Reply ASAP
The sender is then notified which option is chosen. The recipient can’t close the app until one of the options is selected, and it also appears on top of whatever they may have been using on the phone at the time.
Messages can either be scheduled or sent immediately.
ReplyASAP
ReplyASAP is currently only available for Android users, and it’s free for those using it in conjunction with only one person. Otherwise, the fee starts at $1.27. Nick plans on soon developing an iOS version.