Build This

This post probably needs needs a preface, so bear with me. A while back, I picked up the domain buildsapps.com (don’t bother checking it, it’s long since expired). The plan was to have weekly or monthly local meetups with a small team of like-minded designers and developers with the goal of building and releasing ‘real’ Android apps. I even had a subdomain (austin.buildsapps.com) set up and ready to go but we couldn’t ever seem to get the project rolling.

Because I’m a nerd who lives mainly on ideas, I can’t seem to let this one go. Every few days I’ll have a random app idea or concept pop into my head, none of which I have any time or skills to build. So I’m bringing my ideas to the internet in the hopes that someone out there might be in search of an idea.

This is the first post in my build this app series. All the ideas I share here are free for the taking. I just wanted a place to discuss my app idea and designs and maybe collect a little feedback. The whole purpose of the original group was the sharpen our skillset, after all.

The idea: an SMS client with a ‘stream’ interface

After years with smartphone SMS apps and their fully threaded messages, I’d like to return to a simpler ‘stream’ style list of messages, something more like Twitter or like SMS functionality of the feature phone days.

I think when using a threaded view it’s harder to put the messages into context with each other. With the current solution (default Android SMS or GO SMS), once you’re in Taylor’s thread, it’s really easy to see when Taylor messaged me and in what order, but that doesn’t help me know if his invite came in before or after the one from Anthony. I’d much rather see my messages in a single stream.

When I log into my email inbox, I don’t see a list of contacts first, with their respective emails filed under each- why would I want that for my SMS messages?

Another thing I’d love for this app to do is enable gravatars (or Twitter avatars) so I don’t have to worry about setting contact images for everyone in my phone book. If I’ve got their email address or twitter handle saved as part of their contact info, look up a current image for me!

I’m sure there are some SMS apps that offer this sort of view, but as far as I know there isn’t one that makes it the primary focus. Someone told me GO SMS Pro has an ‘inbox’ feature, letting you see all messages in one stream. I tried it out for a few days, but the execution left a bit to be desired. I think if a dev took this ‘stream’ style as a primary focus there would be a real audience for the resulting app.

So what now?

I don’t know. I hope that someone builds an app like this. I made a few full-res screens to get the ball rolling. One is the default stream screen. The other is an inline reply. If you want the PSDs, I’ve got those too. They were made in a hurry and probably aren’t very organized, but feel free to use whatever you find inside.

If you want to talk about this concept, leave a comment. I’ll try to reply and maybe work some new ideas into the files. Or leave me an idea for a future app mockup. I’m going to try to keep making them for fun and to sharpen my skills. Feel free to play along.