Show HN: Mado – video telepresence for families | Hacker News Reader

Show HN: Mado – video telepresence for families

letsmado.com

10 pointswillrocklin5 comments

Mado is a new kind of video chat that strengthens relationships across distances and generations.

Like you, we figured the world had enough video chat apps. A few of us started families, and then we realized the existing options maybe weren’t so great after all. Our families still felt disconnected. Our children and their grandparents simply didn’t know one another. Why?

Families are spread out. According to the AARP, 43% of grandparents have to travel 200 miles or more to see one of their grandkids. Because kids are growing and changing so rapidly, every visit between our kids and grandparents can feel like the first visit all over again.

Families are busy. Today, it’s more likely than not for both parents to work, and older Americans to delay retirement. Kids have school and a range of activities after. Finding the time talk has become a challenge. As one parent told us, “It takes six texts to have one video call.”

Video chat is not as easy as it should be. Every call needs 10 minutes of tech support before a conversation can start. Video chat in little hands can be jarring and interruptive. As one grandparent told us, “[Video chat] just feels like everyone’s doing each other a favor.”

Mado is a new kind of video chat for families that’s designed to help children build relationships with their grandparents who live far away.

Mado makes connecting effortless. Tell Mado when to connect, and it automatically turns on live video to eliminate calling, texting, and tech support. It’s so easy, grandkids and grandparents can get together even if the parents aren’t around.

Mado makes connecting fun. Once together, families can focus on each other. Rather than offer experiences that may seem distracting, Mado helps foster collaboration so families can read, do homework, play games, and more.

So, who do you want to spend more time with? Get Mado, and strengthen a relationship with someone special today.

Thank you!

- The Mado Team www.letsmado.com

The website looks great. I note that you have a few screenshots in the app stores, but none on the website - might be good to add some there too, and if possible, a video would help a lot to demonstrate what it's like to use the app. I'm not in the US, so I can't actually try the app, but I imagine that I'd need to get somebody else involved to really try this out to see what it's like - being able to just watch a video instead would be great.

Hi there, and thanks for the feedback. Good idea to add screenshots to the website - we'll add that to our list. We agree a video would be great, and we have a video on the way.

Congrats on the launch. Though I have to comment as I fall right within your target market. 1. Have Kids 2. Grand parents that require a flight to see. Apologies if The feedback comes across as critical. These are are the thoughts that came to me as I read the site. So I may be an outlier or not in your target market?

Maybe you are targeting grandparents who do not have FaceTime/Whatsapp?

> “A better way for grandparents and grandkids to video chat”

This sounds great. Though Video chat has been in general great(Whatsapp, FaceTime) The primary issue has been more bandwidth on my 3G connection.

> “Every call needs 10 minutes of tech support before a conversation can start. ”

Not really. FaceTime and Whatsapp video calling just work for us.

> Tell Mado when to connect, and it automatically turns on live video to eliminate calling, texting, and tech support.

This could be interesting. the texting is not much of a problem.

> Mado makes connecting fun. Once together, families can focus on each other. Rather than offer experiences that may seem distracting, Mado helps foster collaboration so families can read, do homework, play games, and mo

How? By auto calling? I can not access the app as it is not available in my region.

A few other points: 1. By 4 years my kids are able to call by themselves. They recognise the app icon, and picture and call.

2. Sometimes there is a preference for asynchronous comms. With audio/video recordings

3. A buds kids will use Skype to call their cousins and just leave the video connected For most of the day. Even if they are not actively talking.

Hi, and thanks so much for the feedback. Mado is still in development - including our product positioning - so we have plenty of work in front of us.

1. We are targeting U.S. families with young kids who live 50+ miles away from grandparents, including those who use existing apps because we they have usability issues that make it tricky to get together as easily and enjoyably as they can.

2. Then you're ahead of the curve. We've heard this feedback from lots of families, e.g. grandpa picks up on the iPhone instead of iPad and can't "transfer" their call, etc.

3. Parents tell us it takes a lot of texting to determine when is the right time to schedule a call with their folks and kids. Mado is designed to eliminate this.

4. We have built game playing into Mado (with more activities coming) and we're going to remove things that are distracting like picture-in-picture and red end call buttons.

5. We know little ones are tech savvy. Many, especially at a young age, don't have their own devices, so Mado helps them connect with their grandparents even if the parents are not home.

6. Can you clarify what you mean by "A buds kids will use Skype..." Thank you!

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