One dad has invented an app that is a real game changer for parents of kids glued to their phones but unwilling to answer the blooming thing.
Nick Herbert, from West Wickham, has created an app that makes youngsters immediately reply to their parents when they call or text.
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The app, ReplyASAP, is actually pretty clever - when a parent messages or calls their kid the app takes over, keeping the message on the screen and making plenty of noise.
The noise doesn't stop until the message recipient replies or reacts to the message - and that even works if the phone is on silent.
ReplyASAP, which launched back in 2017, has been installed more than 75,000 times and has an average rating of 3.1 stars out of five.
Although it's been pretty popular on Android, Nick is still to release ans iOS version.
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On his website, he explained why he decided to make ReplyASAP.
He said: "This app was born out of personal frustrations with current messaging apps.
"I have a son, Ben, who is at secondary school. When he started school I bought him a smart phone so that I could contact him and he could contact me (obviously not while at school)."
But, of course, kids are solely inclined to use their smartphones for contacting mum and dad.
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He continued: "However, what I thought was a solution turned into a different problem. Because the phone was 'smart', he could play games and watch videos on it. So invariably he keeps his phone on silent so I wouldn't know.
"As such when I try and contact him he rarely answers, either because he doesn't hear the phone, or because (and I've finally had to admit this to myself) he may be embarrassed to speak to his dad in front of his friends.
"There are times that I need to get a message to him and he has no way of knowing that the call or text he ignores / doesn't see is important or not, and I have no way of knowing if he has seen it (and I mean really seen it and not just moved it so he can get on with his game). There are messaging apps that tell you when a message is delivered and seen, but the point is the message can be ignored or not seen because he didn't hear it."
So, Nick decided to find a way around all these issues and invented ReplyASAP.
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The only remaining issue is when the phone is switched off, at this point unfortunately the app doesn't work and it's all down to the old fashioned you meet someone when you agreed - gosh, weren't those different days?
Featured Image Credit: ReplyASAP/Google Play StoreTopics: Phones and Gadgets, UK News, Technology