Had a Tinder fail recently? Avoiding your Personal trainer because you’ve missed your last two sessions? You need (a) Cloak, an app that uses Instagram & Foursquare to help you disconnect from the people you’d rather not see.
Damage:
Free to download via the iTunes App Store
What you need to know:
- iOS app available from the Apple App store
- not available on Android yet
What we think you should know:
The app aims to be, from what I can tell, ‘The Marauders’ Map’ of the tech world. For those who aren’t super Harry Potter fans like me, it will show you where your Instagram & Foursquare “friends” are any time. Cloak uses their social media check-ins to track their movements on a map. The concept is pretty magical – imagine being able to avoid people you don’t want to see just by checking your phone?
Sadly, there are gaping holes in version 1 of Cloak. If your stalkers aren’t avid users of Instagram & Foursquare then they could be standing behind you right now and Cloak wouldn’t be able to tell you. High five yourself now if you actually turned around. Double high five yourself if you actually think you’re cool enough to have a stalker.
Version 2 will be able to access your Facebook & Twitter “friends”. Maybe then it will be my sidekick in all things avoidance – until then, I’m just going to practice the mostly fail proof move of “look the other way”.
So rad:
- idiot proof setup
- sleek look & feel
- flag, tag & alert function
- quirky concept
Makes us sad:
- Not available on Android
- Needs to incorporate a few more social media platforms