We all want to die one day along with our loved ones, don’t we? Now there is an app out there which exploits our same wish in a different way. There is a paid app by the name of Die With Me which can only be used for chatting with one another if both the sender and the recipient have batteries less than or equal to 5 percent.
The idea behind the app is the same. One of their phones is surely likely to die while talking to the other with their battery already low. According to the co-director, Dries Depoorter, the application is basically an “art project”. The other major developer involved was David Suprenant, who took to the web side of things.
It is plausible that the two might have been thinking for the cure of a very common phone addiction everyone has these days. Therefore, by limiting the amount of battery available to talk to the other person, it also limits the time spent in talking to the other one. Therefore, it can help those who want to lose phone addiction.
It is questionable though why the developers decided to exploit critical battery timing as a way to control phone usage. To this Depoorter commented that he is basically an artist, who works with tech daily. Surveillance, social media and privacy are his usual work-related tasks. He further said that he is always on the lookout for new ideas which depict a part of these topics.
As for how the idea of such an app came to them, it was when Depoorter couldn’t find his way around the city a couple of times. Therefore, he was unable to get back to his hotel since the battery of its phone needed a recharge so the phone won’t power on. He stated that nearly everyone who owns a phone has found himself in this situation at least once. To others, it is a hassle, but for him, it actually turned out to be an inspiration.
“As a digital artist, I really wanted to do something with this feeling. For a long time, I had the technique in my head of an app that you can only use when you have less than 5% battery.” Depoorted added.
“But I had no idea to make the app interesting. Later I came up the idea to make it a public chat room.”
The reason why this app might be a success is that the idea is all original, and there aren’t any similar apps like this in the stores. As for the app, it is available for a relatively low price tag of $0.99 and can be downloaded on both iOS and Android.
Even for you to input your username to get the app running, you need your smartphone battery to be less than or equal to 5 percent. If you were to use this app, you probably won’t last long. On average the amount of time you can chat is just around four minutes. After that, your phone would probably power off itself.
There is a workaround for this though. You can always keep a power bank with you and can charge your phone battery by microdosing just to keep the phone alive. But it’s just too much hassle, no? See this is the point of the app. It is making you realize how much depended you are on technology.
Let’s just wait and see if the app actually turns out to be a success or no.