A <---> B <---> C
A and B are 1 mile apart. B and C are 1 mile apart. B can see what both A and C say, but A can't see what C says to B and hence will see out-of-context messages from B.
It looks like Kiwichat attempts to solve this by having dedicated chatrooms rather than just phasing people in and out of visibility to each other based exclusively on proximity, though I'm curious what happens when you physically leave the coverage area for a chatroom.
In the distant past, there was a chat system that had the A <--> B <--> C distance problem. People used it and were very happy with it despite that limitation. It was called CB Radio.
also the grey amount would be updated in real time if the user is say, travelling on a bus. so messages can change greyness dynamically.
On the desktop anyway, it just trusts that I am where I say I am.
At the moment, nothing happens, user stays in a group chat.
meaning, "1 mile radius" seems pretty arbitrary, so why not just grab a square mile of real estate based on lat/long? you could do all kinds of localized things with social venues that way -- local events, restaurants, concerts, etc.
Oh, and I'd love it if we could use underscores for our names.
[edit: you know fellow developers this type of display is depressing, you could at least say something upbeat to us folks in the middle of nowhere]
The word 'Kiwi' in a brand name is almost exclusively used by the Asian population here. Eg. Cheesy souvenir shops and Chinese takeaway shops.
http://www.skykiwi.com/ is a good example.
Just a heads up for anyone wants to put 'kiwi' in their brand name and wants to target New Zealand.
PS. We call the fruit Kiwifruit here, not just Kiwi by itself.
Kiwi as a fruit comes from a deliberate re-branding of the somewhat inelegantly named "Chinese gooseberry" to draw an association with New Zealand Where it is a significant export.
I have encountered non New Zealand uses of Kiwi and don't have much of a problem with it. I get a small feeling of disappointment like I recognize a friend at a distance but realise it's not them when I get closer. That's about it.
What if you grouped chat rooms by zip code, and then showed users the 5 nearest rooms, regardless of the distance?
Additionally, what if I want to watch multiple zip codes, like my neighborhood AND campus, even if I'm at home?
http://kiwichat.co/chat/ee3e49a2ea3889d13df02f10050d94
Some more feature requests:
- Sound notifications
- Create link tags for URLs
Bugs:
- If you enter your zip and immediately hit enter, it gives a no-address error.
- The information on the left only refreshes if you reload the page.
It'd be awesome for classified ads, community events, local news, etc.. and if you went on vacation, you could be immediately plugged into what's happening locally. There are fixed groups for various cities on things like Facebook and Craigslist, but it's amazing how hard they can be to find sometimes.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/popcorn-messaging/id71841670...
Great experiences on both, clean design and nice user experience from homepage to chat.
One small bug that I noticed: titlebar notifications in Opera didn't fire on new chats (regardless whether tab was background or not), and in iOS, titlebar notification flashed "New!" even after acknowledging and responding to chat. Persisted until logout.
Aside from that small nit, great effort!
