In plain terms
An early, working tool. Honest about its edges.
This is a live experiment in making it easy to start an informal conversation without turning it into calendar work. The next step is a five-person trial: learning whether a small real group returns, notices who is free, and starts or continues useful conversations. If something is awkward, please tell us — links are at the bottom.
Working now
What it can do today
- Live availability board. Open a short window in a shared room and everyone with the same room link sees it. No accounts.
- One-click reach. Phone, SMS/iMessage, FaceTime, WhatsApp, email, Zoom, Meet, Teams, Signal, Telegram, Calendly, and safe custom links open the right app from someone's card.
- Picks the right app for your phone. Suggestions are ranked for iPhone, Android, or desktop and for the kind of chat you want.
- Safer taps. Tapping a reach button opens the app but never removes the person. A quick prompt lets you mark them busy, keep them visible, or copy their contact if the app does not open.
- Async voice prompts. Record or upload short clips against a question and play them back in order.
- Install it like an app. Add it to your phone's home screen; live availability still requires a connection.
- Comment on the interface. Hypothes.is is on every page for inline feedback.
Not yet
What's missing or next
- Five-person usage evidence. The immediate priority is observing a small group use the current product together before deciding which feature to add next.
- Alerts when someone is free. Today you have to keep the page open. A notification may help, but the five-person trial should establish when and for whom it is useful.
- Access controls and moderation. Rooms are open to anyone who knows their name. Shared prompts can be changed without sign-in. Do not put confidential material here.
- Channel notifications and calendar sync. Invitations and contact links work today; bots and automatic status sync are not implemented.
- Saved identity and accounts. Right now your name is just stored on your device.
- Availability persistence. The "Free now" list clears if the server restarts. Topics and clips are saved.
- Reach still depends on the other person's apps. FaceTime is Apple-only, WhatsApp needs WhatsApp, and so on.
- Auto-create a meeting link instead of pasting your own Zoom or Meet link.
- Matching by topic or intent, using the conversation notes people already write.
One product, live or later
Async voice is part of the same shared room, not a separate MVP. Use the live board when schedules overlap; use a voice prompt when they do not. Both modes should help the same small group begin and continue conversations.
Have an idea or hit a bug?
Suggestions and problem reports are very welcome. Use GitHub for anything you want tracked, or leave an inline note with Hypothes.is on the app page.