Show HN: an app to help your family be on time | Hacker News Reader

Show HN: an app to help your family be on time

needtobounce.com

47 pointsjustinwi27 comments

Google Now has this built in, a card pops up with a map to my destination and tells me when I need to leave. Very useful.

The only difference is that Google Now doesn't include a buffer. I set my appointments based on what time I want to be there instead of the starting time to resolve this.

If I schedule an event that starts at 7:00pm and it is on the other side of town, Google Now will tell me that I need to leave at 6:15pm to make there on time.

ktsmith mentioned the buffer, though, which seems to be the central innovation of Bounce. It factors in extra time that we are prone to forget about. Google Now accounts for traffic, but does it also easily (and automatically) account for extra time to cover some of these:

- find my shoes (the 1yo hid them) - change the baby before I go - whoops, today's trash day, I need to take those out - I need to stop for gas

Many of these things are solvable by pre-planning (especially gas or chore management) and doing them the prior day, but the fact is that many of us still forget to do them, because we don't make an effort to do so. I know I frequently underestimate the time it takes for me to wrangle the kids, and also often forget to account for the likelihood of one-off things like gas/trash/errands. More importantly, when I discover those necessities, I forget to adjust my expected departure time for future events to reflect those new needs.

Thanks for the heads-up on Bounce, guys. The intro video is excellent, and I've installed the Android version.

This is exactly what I was referring to. Two nights a week I take my son to swim lessons at 6pm. Google now will tell me between 13 and 18 minutes before 6pm that it's time to leave as that's all the longer it takes to get there with or without traffic. The problem is that once we are there he has to change clothes which means he would be late for every class if we only left 13-18 minutes before the class. I instead changed the appointment to 5:50PM and he gets there on time including changing his clothes. That ten minute buffer is not accounted for by Now while Bounce appears to try and figure that out.

So apple recurring payments (the ones like magazines) are really only allowed for things that grant monthly content. You can't do apps that have a service component like this through that payment scheme.

You can sell the app 1x with the service bundled in it, launch this as a website service that the apple app store just happens to have a client for (that has no way to take payment), or you can sell consumable credits the user can use in a pre-paid phone esque way to use the service, or lastly you can have a non-automatic way to do a subscription called a "non-renewing subscription" in which the person has to click every month to pay you.

I think you folks have some thinkin about how you're going to do this. Email me in my profile if you'd like to chat about this a bit, I do this for a living and have fought with apple about subscriptions for years for many clients

Will _definitely_ be in touch.

I'd love to buy this for 2 friends, however your cards are too dickish. Anyway to do this with less dickish/no cards?

Great suggestion. Working on alternatives now but, I'm kinda a dick. Any non-dickish suggestions?

"Planning for Traffic is a pain in the rear".

Edgy is fine, until you want to make a gift to your mother in law.

I've pushed new cards, a couple of which are less douchey. If there's still not one that fits the bill I'll make one with the exact text above. Thanks again!

> What exactly do I get? You’re giving a loved one the full version of Bounce free on the day it launches! Everyone else will have to pay $5/month for it.

I'm confused. Does that mean that the preorder version is a one-time purchase to use it forever, or are you merely preordering one month's service?

The pre-order is a one-time payment forever. Thanks, we'll make the wording more clear.

Fixed. Let me know if it's still confusing. Thanks again.

It's much more clear. Props for the speedy response!

I don't see how you're going to get that payment scheme through the app store approval on Apple.

Sorry, I think this money is going to end up having to be given back to people as Apple won't let you do this.

One of the reviews mention android, which is apparently where the prototype is. It's unclear to me, though: is this only for iOS now?

Sorry for the confusion. Yeah, we built a prototype for Android. Now we're asking folks if folks want a full version for the iPhone.

Really interesting launch page - a fantastic way to get customer feedback before writing code... Steven Blank would be proud!

Much needed for WAY too many people.

Unfortunately, people are sensitive about this subject, often fiercely defensive or even in denial about their own chronic lateness...

Still I wish them the best of success and I hope this changes lives in a big way like I know it has the potential to do.

I think your comment is in response to the ability to only gift this app to someone you know who is chronically late, which may hurt his feelings. If you look at the FAQ at the bottom of the page though, you'll see the solution for getting the app for yourself is to gift it to your own email address.

Personally, I know I'm always late, usually because I'll be in the middle of hacking something, lose track of time, and be tardy, so I just self gifted the app. There should probably be two clear ways to back this app though, either by gifting it to someone, or just backing it yourself.

Interesting concept. The fact that you're using Conviva to analyze the effectiveness of the video is good too.

I like what you did with the social proof (testimonials) as well.

Who's your ideal user?

A Twitter button next to the Facebook button at the top would probably help them reach their goal a lot faster.

Thanks for the suggestion. Fixed.

"…help your family be on time" and "needtobounce"

Am I the only one who assumed this was all about procreation in a timely and organised manner?

Yes. What are you talking about.

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