Premature Social Ejection
Tickle is a new app for iOS that uses your phone's accelerometer to detect subtle motions, and subsequently helps you graciously escape awkward moments by calling your phone.
Tickle was born at an awkward dinner -- you know the one, where someone decided to invite 24 people and it came time to pay the bill. Rather than take another trip to the bathroom, we invented an app that lets you realistically escape any and all awkward situations you encounter.
Tickle has no functional UI and is either ON or OFF. Once you download it, the app will always been "listening" for an awkward gesture or motion from you. Once you do this, Tickle will call your phone (using a name of your choosing) which gives you the perfect excuse to repair elsewhere. Faking the conversation is up to you.
Tickle is made in San Francisco and was cofounded by Alex Cornell and Phil Mills.
The Team
Alex Cornell - Cofounder
Alex Cornell is a designer based in San Francisco. Previously cofounder at Firespotter Labs and UberConference, Alex is an experienced UI/UX designer. He doesn't like big dinners, and tries to avoid "catching up" whenever possible. You can follow Alex on Twitter here.
Phil Mills - Cofounder
Phil Mills is an entrepreneur based in NYC. Also an accomplished actor, Mr. Mills has extensive experience working in theater and film. If given the choice, Phil will do what he can to avoid casually running into you on the street. You can follow Phil on Twitter here.
Testimonials
Some kind words from our early beta testers!
“It’s kind of like what people used to do when their roommate would call 30min into a date, in case it was awkward, they’d have an out...except now you don’t need a roommate. App is weird as hell but useful too. ”
“It’s encouraging to see young entrepreneurs experimenting with the technology and coming up with something new and interesting. It may not be solving world hunger, but it got me out of my board meeting, and anything that can do that deserves a medal and some serious capital. ”
“It’s pretty amazing that this actually works. My friends and I have had fun trying out different gestures and ways to get Tickle to activate. So far it’s accurate and generates a phone call when I want it to. Even worked through my blanket! Some misfires of course (rings when my fist bumps my pants) but they’re working out the kinks!”
“The funny thing is, I’ve used phone calls to get out of things for years, it’s just been really hard to time it properly. Tickle makes it easy to get a legitimate excuse to retire elsewhere, without people getting suspicious. It’s of course hella awkward when more than one person at a dinner has the app, and everyone is getting fake phone calls all the time. But that’s the curse of being a beta tester in Silicon Valley right?! It’s a good app though, very smooth and free!!!”
“Think the coolest part of this app is that there is NO UI at all. You literally just install it and go. It’s either on or it’s off. Funny to be a beta tester for an app that has no UI. It’s all just gestures and sensing your phone’s movements. Mine has been pretty accurate so far. I find it’s best to actually bounce your phone back and forth instead of tickling it softly, but they say both are supposed to work. Def one of the weirder apps I have on my phone, but can’t say it’s not useful. ”
“Tickle is perfect for group dinners or run-ins with coworkers. I used to just feign illness or mumble to myself — now I always have a legitimate reason to excuse myself and it’s amazing. ”