Show HN: IPster – Peer-to-peer simple job notifications | Hacker News Reader

Show HN: IPster – Peer-to-peer simple job notifications

ipster.io

60 pointsipster_io36 comments

Not sure if anyone still here or will get notified.

Just wanted to share the release of version 2 (+Events & +Public notifications) of IPster.

Website is still basic so don't beat me on that. Once there is some clarity, landing page will get better. See this for a quick overview: https://ipster.io/cheat-sheet/

Outside of HN, I got a lot of feedback, many different ideas and opinions, one common theme I picked up was that contextual conversation and the ability to converse privately on a given topic was well received. Heard that one person wanting to use IPster to organise 'Reiki' sessions ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

Given the kind of usage; I have implemented 'Events'. Events are notification with an attached timestamp. Recipients of such notification can mark them as 'attending' which sets an alarm (a push notification for iOS and Android) to be sent 30min before the start time.

No matter what type of notification, a job, a question or event, you have the ability to discuss with context.

Think of a simple event like dev meetup, where you can let people know and discuss before, during and after the event.

The second addition is 'Public' notifications. In addition to 'All my followers' and 'Selected followers' you can now create notifications which are public. Public notifications are visible on your profile page and help users see what you are sharing before they decide to follow you. In future these can be used for better user discovery and ipster.io feeds. Use public notifications to gain more following if you like. There are some related features coming in future releases, I will share the roadmap in next few days on the site.

There is 0 information on the landing page that tells what this is. The 4/18 “in a nutshell” link doesn’t count. That info needs to be up front and center.

Yes, landing page needs a lot of work. Been busy building the app. Will get there. Thanks for checking out.

The ipster cheat sheet was actually more clear for me than the "in a nutshell" page: https://ipster.io/cheat-sheet/. I thought it was some kind of server queue monitoring tool until I read that.

Thanks, yeah I got the similar feedback from some other mates. I will consolidate the posts. I guess, if IPster is useful, things will follow.

Another question is : How do make money? Your business model is not very clear either.

A honest answer would be, there is no clear business model at this stage.

IPster is supported by my other projects so this can go on for years supporting a large number of users.

If Ipster is really useful, business model will also evolve.

Very cool! I really love this idea, though I picked up a few things I found weird:

* Search kicks in properly at 3 characters, but removing a character (so aaa <- aa) produces results

* Same UUID used for invite links and profile images (may not actually be a 'problem' at all) - as a result of this and the wording of the 'follow invite' popup, I can give the impression that someone has invited someone else to follow them I guess? [1][2][3]

* Fully editable notifications with no signs of edit or history - makes context a little weird potentially

Other than this it'd be nice to have an opt-in follow option (so I get to approve followers) - along with discovery of followers/followed for contacts? Not sure how far that extends beyond app scope though, at least without becoming another LinkedIn :D

[1] Example: IPster.io account image = https://app.ipster.io/api/f/avatar/npWDSXiTsWVpSNFO95Oh7z3eC...

[2] IPster.io invite link = https://app.ipster.io/invite#npWDSXiTsWVpSNFO95Oh7z3eCy13

[3] Wording is "IPster.io has sent you a request to follow", which may/may not be misleading :P

Thank you for testing and a detailed feedback!

> * Search kicks in properly at 3 characters, but removing a character (so aaa <- aa) produces results -----

I see, yeah there is some work needed there :)

> * Same UUID used for invite links and profile images (may not actually be a 'problem' at all) - as a result of this and the wording of the 'follow invite' popup, I can give the impression that someone has invited someone else to follow them I guess? ----

So to build your own network, you would share this link with others so they can easily find you and follow. But I see what you mean, probably wording needs to be adjusted.

> * Fully editable notifications with no signs of edit or history - makes context a little weird potentially ----

Its a good idea, so something like wiki/confluence edit history? The problem I see with that; what if I made a mistake and I did not want anyone to see that. Since the topic of job search can be sensitive, I am not sure if edit history would be desirable? At this stage it shows that sender has edited the notification. ----

And to your last point. It's very hard to keep things simple and as you said, without making it another linked in.

For now, you can block users. I went for twitter model instead of facebook/linkedin. But that combined with email/messaging kind of threaded/focussed discussion.

I think there are some really great points here.

Thanks for the super speedy reply! Good to see the intention behind things as well :D

I had no idea about the edit mark tbh - don't think I checked properly ;) cool that makes sense - history perhaps not as much as just signs of editing sounds like a decent balance.

Very very cool - perhaps with follower approval it could just be a mutual follow check. So if my notifications are 'closed' and you follow me, then I need to follow you back to 'approve'. Feels pretty frictionless. :)

Thanks again for a super cool tool!

Ooh, since this I've had another thought - instead of open/closed networks, 'just' have a third option for how to share a notification - "my approved list" or "people who follow me and I follow back" or something along those lines, just less awkward wording.

Might be easier said than done as well. :D please shoot me down as necessary :)

This is all very helpful, and it's great to see different perspectives.

I can assure you that for the next version there will be something along these lines.

One of the thoughts we had: Let users add their followers to the named/virtual groups which can be configured or changed anytime. Something like 'trusted', 'my previous company', 'friends' etc..

And while creating a notification: You have options 'All my followers', 'Selected followers' and a new option 'selected group(s) -> and you select one or more group'

To add, currently users can switch off searchability of their profiles. In addition, I think you are right; it would be good to have options to: 'Open network' - anyone can follow 'Closed network' - approve followers..

Cool idea and - judging from a first glance - executed very well.

One small thing: Searching "ipster" in the Apple App Store searches for "hipster". Unsurprisingly there are many apps with "hipster" in their name. It took me a while to realize that I had to click on "Search for ipster instead" to find your app.

Yeah, same with google search. Once it has some download and usage history, hopefully search algorithms will adapt.

They will. Everybody said I was crazy for using "keygen" as my business name and that I would never rank well -- lo and behold, I'm now #2 for the term only behind Wikipedia. Owning a common word/name just takes hard work and some time.

I often find myself reaching out to friends either to let them know of an opportunity or asking for help. I guess like most of you I go with a mix of linkedin messages, whatsapp, sms etc.

Nothing wrong with that but this approach has no context and hard to organise.

I always wondered, it would be nice to discuss things with some context and privacy. I don't know about you but I usually do not post public messages on linkedin or twitter when I am employed and looking for the next gig..

After speaking with some of my friends and colleagues, I think (or atleast they were nice enough to make me feel that way) there is a need for such a network.

Give it a go and see what you think. This is here to stay, will keep evolving so any constructive feedback is really appreciated.

Hi. In Ukraine we have very popular service in IT for anonymous searching for a job https://djinni.co/

Your idea seems similar to this service

I had a look (I think few weeks ago). In terms of network, I think IPster is suppose to be more peer to peer, as in; it doesn't have to be between a company and a candidate. If I am working somewhere and I know my company is looking for someone, I can just ping my friends so they know.

Thanks for sharing

As others have said, very well designed, both the UI and the UX.

I have doubts that there'd be a good uptake on this as a "job hunt" app, but it has this fantastic potential for creating multicast networks centered around other topics or interests. From cooking, to music, to architecture, etc. Heck, it may even be something as generic as "stuff I find interesting". Sort of like an RSS reader with a feedback loop. A content discovery app, basically. If you have a good taste in X, you will get a following of those interested in X.

Though, as per usual, this will then loosen its focus and make it less appealing to those after a specific function, like a job search.

Thank you! I have been thinking about this since I started to work on IPster. True, it can be anything. But focus is what makes it useful and relatively easier to get the idea across, at-least in the beginning. I will be delighted to see what other use cases people come up with.

Nice attempt at pulling meaningful matters out of the noise. I think this will benefit from greater network effects if the app explained the use cases better. Somehow the ‘p2p simple job notifications’ phrase doesn’t really tell me anything.

Also, noticed a bug in the app on iOS where you sign up and then get taken to the Timeline for the first time. If you slide back for whatever intuitive reason, you get taken back to the login screen and you can’t login unless you fully close and reopen the app.

Thanks for reporting the bug. I was able to reproduce it, will be fixed with the next release (very soon).

Regarding the slogan or phrase; it's a start, I am getting a lot of feedback here and on other channels. Will come up with something better to get the message across. Also, the landing page will be redesigned to help understand the product better.

Just a quick note. In case you wanna pass on feature requests, bug reports etc, you can follow user (ipster.io) from within the app and I will follow you back. You can then send me direct notifications.

I will think of another 'public' way to have you participate better.

It’s definitely interesting. I’m torn between suggesting features and wanting it to stay simple. My worry is it will stay as it is and be a series of people with one follower but full contact discovery would be tricky without making it icky.

Will keep an eye on it.

Thanks, I guess everyone can play a part to get it across. All I know is that IPster is here to stay and will keep pushing.

interesting concept. so it is like a mix of linkedin and mailbox. though it is not quite clear if it is intended for HR reps, or exclusively peer to peer. I could see this work very well with referral programs that companies usually have. or is this going to be more of a contract/freelance type of thing?

Thanks. You are absolutely right, internal referrals is one of the use cases. HR can use IPster before opening an opportunity to the outside world. In most cases, they have to use intranet which no one really cares about or reads (at-least not in large organisations).

The initial idea was to help short term contractors and friends/colleagues helping each other.

But I believe IPster should evolve in to something what people want it to be. It just have to be useful.

Looks like a more mature mobile solution to a desktop application I have written. It looks very nice.

Really appreciate it!

What’s the advantages over using group chat in WhatsApp, Telegram, WeChat?

There are some key differences.

Notifications in IPster are like topics. Recipients decide if they wanna engage in group discussion or start a private 1:1 chat 'on that topic'.

These chat threads are attached to the notification, so even if you are chatting 1:1 your chats are organised and connected to the job notification.

Once you will start using you will find more to it. Like you can recall a notification, when you do so; you can still keep the discussion history but the discussion is closed.

Also, for a network like IPster you dont necessarily want or have people in your phone address book, you dont need a phone number, either yours or someone you wanna connect to.

Looks awesome!

Thank you!

Cool - is this made with ionic?

It is, Ionic + Capacitor but I had to do some coding in Swift (iOs) and Java (Android) to make things work. Cant say if it will stay that way. Evaluating flutter.. lets see.

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