DUBAI: A mobile app that would freeze kids’ phones until they reply to their parents’ text message is now making waves with tens of thousands of downloads by dads and moms across the world for the value it presents in cases of emergencies.
The app, aptly named RespondASAP and which, according to a report from the Australia Broadcasting Corp. (ABC), was devised around August 2017 by a UK-based product manager apparently tired of his son ignoring his messages, has been proving its mettle in this age of fast-evolving information technology.
The Telegraph, a British national broadsheet has reported too that the app, available in at least four packages with varying rates, has been downloaded by over 100,000 parents in various countries.
Nick Herbert, the instant app wizard, explained on the app’s website that it all started when he one day bought his son a smart phone.
“What I thought was a solution turned into a different problem,” media quoted his as saying. “Because the phone was ‘smart,’ he could play games and watch videos on it. So invariably he keeps his phone on silent so I wouldn’t know.”
The app enables a parent to send messages and make them audible even if the recipient has their phone on silent mode. That noise will continue until the recipient acknowledges it. The app even gives the sender the recipient’s location.
