Location is the feature most likely to turn an app for two people into an app about one person checking on another. Here is where we drew the line.
Freshness is stated, never implied
Every location in Adoring carries the time it was last updated, in plain words:
Location last updated 18 minutes ago. We do not round up, we do not fade the
timestamp out after a while, and we never show a position without it.
Pausing is one tap, and it is not a secret
A pause your person cannot see is not a pause, it is a lie with a nicer interface. So pausing shows on both sides, immediately, with no explanation field to fill in. “Paused” is a complete sentence.
What we refused to build
- Arrival and departure alerts.
- Location history you can scroll back through.
- Any notification that fires because someone stopped sharing.
- A score, a streak or a badge attached to any of the above.
Consent that can be withdrawn quietly is not consent, it is a countdown.
Written by
Mira Okonkwo
Writes about the practical side of two lives in two places. Half of the pair that makes Adoring; currently seven hours ahead of the other half.