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Thaw — Meet people you should know, but don't
Thaw is an app that uses mutual interests to connect people looking to make friends nearby. Think of it like Tinder for friends, with an emphasis on creating features that help facilitate real-life connections (beyond simply matching).
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Mr. Mason
Just got the app. Bio helper is a really cool feature. Would love to see this app grow!!! Good luck guys! @naterankin
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@coschaos Thank you! We've had a lot of people tell us that bios have been really helpful for learning more about potential friends and others say that it's tricky to write bios, so we tried to come up with a solution to address both. Glad you like it!
So, do socially-driven apps are still launched only locally and avoid the international landscape?
Bog Note: Not available in New Zealand (and I assume, other markets as well?). Is Thaw another slow grabber that says "we're unable to provide support/compliance outbounds" and yarns alike?
Not very.. social?
@lyondhur Hey, not sure I fully understand what you're asking. Ultimately our goal is to grow Thaw to a level where it's able to help anyone, regardless of location, meet people and make new friends nearby. We think we'll do a much better job of that in the long term by launching in the US and improving the product in nearby markets first (Seattle, and the US in general).
@naterankin .. or, you allow the app itself, as well as its user base, to help with that improvement by making it available to as many people as possible.
Apart from services where international licensing limitations are a reasonable obstacle — I assume not at all an issue here — forgive me mate, but I see no reason why the app couldn’t receive the input and the engagement of a wider audience that’s not limited to one country.
Perhaps a little bit more objective clarity around your reasoning for this could help. What’s the real issue here then?
What kind of improvements could you achieved only in the US that are detrimental if otherwise exposed to the rest of the world?
I don’t see any reason why Thaw would shy away from broader exposure and engagement as a means for “improving” itself in a contained manner.
Not flying an explanation for me here mate..
PS: Thaw collects an awful lot of data (reading from its TOS). Would this be the reason in any way why it can (or should) only operate in the US initially?
And, as other asked here, how does the architecture for security, privacy and data protection look like? Could you elaborate/expand on that as well please?
@naterankin as far as I am concerned, you’re welcome to ignore my questions above.
After fully reading your TOS and how it’s worded, what kind of data is retained and how it’s processed, I would not even think about signing up for it.
On a positive note, kudos for the design. Looks nice though.
@lyondhur - The reasoning behind this decision to launch in the US only (for now) is pretty simple: We are a very small team. The safety of our users is paramount, so this requires quite a bit of moderation. In addition to our normal roles we all have to respond to reported/flagged profiles in a timely manner as well as fielding requests for new features, new interests people would like to see in the app, technical issues, etc.
Thank you for the interest in our app! We would be thrilled to be at the level where we can comfortably release it around the world, so it's awesome to see people asking for it.
Any plans for India yet? Digital marketers don't get invited to a lot of events here and it is very hard to network. This would be a great place to be in touch with people with similar interests - work or play!
@nam No concrete timeline as of right now, though of course we would love to make the app available in India! We are working on growing the company and launching on Android in the US for now, and will start looking to expand after that. In the meantime, good luck on the networking!
You guys using native code for iOS? Anyways, how you intend to monetize on the app? How about security, is my personal data secured, and do I own it, or you guys intend to sell it to 3rd parties for ad-monetization in the near future? How's this different to technologies such as FB and Snapchat, that uses user content fo ad displaying, and how about censorship? Anyways, I like the design, clean and very appealing. :)
Looking forward to using this when you launch in Australia 👍
Any plans on how to moderate users who might use the app for dating e.g. flagging behaviour patterns or a reporting system?
@lachlankirkwood We're looking forward to that, too! :) And yes, users are able to report concerning/inappropriate behavior. If the behavior is flagrant we permanently ban users, but we're building a tool that will allow users to correct certain behaviors that got their profiles flagged (gibberish bios, photos that appear possibly fake, etc.).
@torchstephen Currently just available in the US, but hoping to expand in the not-too-distant future! Thanks for checking us out, though :)
Looks like a really well-thought-out app and something like this is very much needed.
I tried to download it but apparently it’s not available in my area. I assume it’s only available in the US then? I understand it’s location-based and not localized in other regions so there wouldn’t be any people using it here anyway, BUT this could be used to make online friends in addition to real life friends, couldn’t it?
@anna_0x Thank you! Correct, we're only available in the US for now. I think our platform could work well in other applications - making online friends, as you suggested, or to connect people romantically - but at the moment we're focused on delivering the best possible product to help people make friends IRL.
@naterankin I totally get that, focusing is a good thing. But if it's successful maybe you can make a separate app that lets you connect with people online? That way you keep the main app focused on one thing. Jus a thought~ Good luck, wish I could try this!
@anna_0x That's a great idea! Hopefully we get to a point where that makes sense to pursue :)
@imed_gh Thanks! Looking forward to getting Thaw out on Android soon!
Right now we have ~130 interests to choose from, and more on the way. Users are able to request new interests, and we add them based on demand. Off the top of my head I'd say the most requested interest has been Pokémon Go - it's been really fun (and helpful!) to see which interests users would like to see in Thaw :)
@naterankin okay, good to know. I myself would like 2 types of interest : [ anime/movie/manga.. ] and [ productivity tips and apps ]
@imed_gh Duly noted! Anime is already an interest - we had lots of requests for that, too - but I'll add the others to the requested list.
Hey Product Hunt,
We're excited to share Thaw with you! It can be hard as hell to make new friends as an adult, and we're trying to change that.
There are other friend-matching platforms out there, but we don't think they've nailed it yet. Here are some ways we're trying to with Thaw:
- Match with anyone, not just your own gender identity.
- Match based on mutual interests (or dislikes), not just age/proximity.
- Broadcasts to help you to find spontaneous activity partners from within your matches.
- Photo sets to learn more about your matches' interests.
- Bio helper for when your creative juices aren't flowing and you could use a hand writing your bio.
We're iOS-only for now - with Android in the works! - and available anywhere in the US, but focused on growing in Seattle. A big thanks in advance if you download Thaw outside of Seattle and are an early user wherever you are!
Would love to hear your thoughts/feedback and answer any questions :)
@naterankin love ideas like these! working on something similar and wish you all the best of luck! we need more stuff like this!
@edisonjoao6871 Thanks, and likewise! Keep me posted on your progress, I'd love to check out what you're working on.
@naterankin of course. Don't listen to people that say why we need this, oh there's already this, bla bla bla. Keep going!