Yo Is Trying To Get Parody App YOLO and Others Pulled From The App Store

http://techcrunch.com/2014/07/31/yo-is-trying-to-get-parody-app-yolo-pulled-from-the-app-store/

by outrightfree • 12 years ago

73 73 12 years ago

That may be true, but the YOLO app is also a bit of a joke. Explains Betty Xi, one of the team members who helped create YOLO, their app was built to “poke fun at Yo.”

Should have called it "Dumb Yo." http://www.scpr.org/news/2014/02/09/42085/dumb-starbucks-cof...

BettyXi2• 12 years ago

Good idea.

opendais2• 12 years ago

Does anyone else find this so stupid its hilarious?

You can't claim an app to message people is your IP.

matthewcford• 12 years ago

trademark infringement, that is if they have one for "Yo"

opendais2• 12 years ago

Which is fixed with a name change.

SurfScore2• 12 years ago

As long as my "Hodor" app can stay around, I don't care.

Hodor

FlailFast2• 12 years ago

Quick someone code Groot!

sp332• 12 years ago

(Edited) Android users can Hodor from any app: This replaces your Android keyboard with one that only types "Hodor". https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.richapps.h... It costs $0.99 and has over 1,000 installs.

SurfScore2• 12 years ago

I was talking about the Hodor "Yo" clone. Instead of saying Yo, it says Hodor. I've got it on my iPhone

tragic• 12 years ago

Alas!

Worst of all, the hilarious Yo, Hodor!, clearly a parody of Yo, has also received the notice.

If I were you, I'd get Hodoring like it's the last night on earth.

tomasien4• 12 years ago

When we launched coffitivity.com (a silly but surprisingly popular website) we had about 100 clones come out, a few in the app store actually using our name. We had a little more pride than to try to get them taken down.

pavel_lishin• 12 years ago

Coffitivity is actually a pretty neat idea. If I had decent audio-recording gear, I'd probably ride the New York subway for a bit and record some night-time and day-time audio for y'all.

tomasien4• 12 years ago

Cool! Email justin@coffitivity.com

acallwood2• 12 years ago

That'd be pretty wicked actually! We'd love some underground sounds if you ever happen across some quality gear.

Deinos2• 12 years ago

Don't sell your idea short by calling it "silly." I have actually used it quite often when I just want a little ambient noise quickly to get some work done. Nice work and much appreciated!

tomasien4• 12 years ago

And I find "Yo" useful! I love Coffitivity, it is a little silly though. It's also really important and powerful in millions of peoples lives - Yo isn't quite at that point yet but it totally could be.

But they're both a little silly and it's not right (in my definition of right) for either to be trying to get clones taken down IMO.

acallwood2• 12 years ago

Thanks @Deinos! Although, I'd agree with Tommy that the site itself IS silly - it's like dead stupid simple if we're being honest. Hell, as the co-founder I called Coffitivity ridiculous before we ever started building. That said, the utility becomes apparent pretty quickly and outweighs how trivial it seemed at first. We're really stoked you're enjoying it.

wastedhours• 12 years ago

Patent 53165464: Mechanism to send the word "Yo" to other users. On a computer.

SuperKlaus• 12 years ago

You forgot to include "an apparatus".

drivingmenuts• 12 years ago

Please tell me you made that up.

Honestly, it's hard to tell.

middleclick• 12 years ago

I honestly looked that up. Sigh, Poe's law.

teachingaway• 12 years ago

looks like a solid patent:

1. A method of monosyllabic communication over a communications network, comprising:

- a bespoke user interface selected from a colorway including purple, violet, orchid and lavender,

- sending at least one monosyllabic communication,

- wherein, in response to receiving a first message from at least one messaging subsystem, producing an audible vocalization of consisting of at least a "Yo",

- receiving agile tweetstorm heuristics, including but not limited to fullstack machine learning for map reduce.

return0• 12 years ago

Yo is just trying again to remain in the headlines. Spending their million wisely.

kybernetyk• 12 years ago

Of course! Because the market for yo-styled communication software and devices is worth around 7 trillions USD.

If twitter is valued around 50 billions USD with 140 char messages then it is only fair and sensible to value Yo at ((140 - strlen("yo")) * twitter_valuation) USD.

_pmf_• 12 years ago

The math checks out.

BettyXi2• 12 years ago

Yo.lo.

Khaine• 12 years ago

I thought Yo was a parody app!

thoth• 12 years ago

Improving on our concept is welcome

Well shoot I better start on my "Dude" app that lets whoever you messaged respond with "Sweet".

taternuts• 12 years ago

That would actually be pretty funny

dugmartin• 12 years ago

Next month on TechCrunch - "New app called Tr3s raises $20MM"

warcode• 12 years ago

Can I have an optional "Nice" response as an IAP instead of ads?

Deinos2• 12 years ago

If the message fails to send, you should get a "No and then!!!" pop up.

DanBC• 12 years ago

Do it - could be passive income for a month or so.

pessimizer2• 12 years ago

I hate that I like that movie. Make sure that repeated 'dude's and 'sweet's sound angrier and angrier within a refractory period:)

amirmc2• 12 years ago

1. Build toy app in a weekend.

2. See it go viral.

3. Somehow raise money -- because crazy user 'growth' is the new 'eyeballs'.

4. Pay lawyers to take down similar apps -- also created in a weekend.

5. Users get bored and move on to the next thing.

Apps like this are no different to a short-lived meme. This is not value creation.

FlailFast2• 12 years ago

Well, there is some value. For example, the value from having some popcorn and watching these things implode.

cenhyperion• 12 years ago

6. Eat popcorn as the VC bubble implodes on itself.

rrss1122• 12 years ago

Joke's over.

Thel_is• 12 years ago

This reminds me of the Flappy Bird says!

acconrad• 12 years ago

The sobriety of Or's emails to his "competition" makes him seem completely delusional to the absurdity of his application's popularity and existence.

__m• 12 years ago

he has a point though, even facebook copied him with the poke feature

ianstallings• 12 years ago

Ah don't get too mad at them. They have a responsibility to do these things so their shareholders don't pull them aside and give them an earful about "not doing enough". At least now they can say they tried. Even though it most likely will not change anything.

It's also another way to keep their name in the press.

amolgupta• 12 years ago

Everyone agrees that YO was an easy to make and good for nothing application.Generating a huge amount of funding was a marketing gimmic and ofcource it attracts compitition give that its so "easy to develop".

robert_tweed2• 12 years ago

I hope Apple's response to this wasting of their time is to decide that none of these apps meet the basic requirements of usefulness and pull all of them, including Yo, from the App Store.

It was funny for a while but let's not start a trend of worthless trademark trolling becoming the new software patents.

amirmc2• 12 years ago

I actually don't like that Apple acts as arbiter of what's considered 'useful'. Especially since I don't have a choice of App store. I'd rather they just check for malicious code or use of private APIs and let the rest through. Alas, that's not the choice they made.

robert_tweed2• 12 years ago

It's a double-edged sword, but Apple does provide certain end-user guarantees about the quality of software on the App Store and overall, it's a net win compared to the vast amounts of garbage that can be found in say, the Windows or Android ecosystems.

It's a win for both developers and consumers, because less competition at a higher standard means more market share goes to developers that genuinely innovate and deliver value and less goes to those that just game the rankings system by spamming with cloned crapware and fake reviews.

The fact that the platform is a complete walled garden is the real problem, not whatever Apple chooses for their quality/decency standards. I am very happy that Apple chooses to enforce those standards within their own ecosystem. I'd just prefer if they allowed access to alternatives as well, which hopefully will happen in the future as they become a larger monopoly and pressure on them to open up becomes more of a mainstream concern.

rayiner• 12 years ago

I love Apple's curation. I'm always bitterly disappointed whenever I use Android's app store (which is all the time because my only phone at the moment is a Nexus 5). The signal to noise ratio is just so bad, and the overall quality level is just so low.

fookyong2• 12 years ago

Couldn't agree more. It's not necessarily apps like Yo that are at fault, but the ensuing media circus around these apps (OP case in point) that contribute to people thinking this is a viable "startup idea" or startup strategy.

lauradhamilton• 12 years ago

If people like the app then it is useful. I don't think Apple should be trying to censor apps that people like.

scott_s3• 12 years ago

All kidding aside, Yo's use case is real. We just typically call it a ping. But implicit in a ping is a response. I assume that typical use of Yo also involves a response. So, someone please do the right thing and implement a "Ping" app which, upon receiving a ping, gives the user an explicit option to respond with "ACK".

fookyong2• 12 years ago

use case is real but there's no business model behind it.

krapp• 12 years ago

That doesn't make it a million dollar idea, though.

I mean... ok, yes literally it does in Yo's case but... never mind.

jarman2• 12 years ago

Novelty + positive feedback loop + marketing. Yo is not million dollar idea, it's combination of luck and successful marketing that brought money

scott_s3• 12 years ago

I agree; I never said it did.

jarman2• 12 years ago

This use case is covered by any instant messaging application.

scott_s3• 12 years ago

It is, but it's slower. You typically have to say something, and even typing "yo" takes more effort than using an app specialized for it - and when all of human language is available, people often aren't comfortable just saying "yo". Instead they may feel compelled to type out "Are you available now?"

Using an app makes it okay to just send one bit of information. It can be done in two presses: one to open the app, one to ping the person.

Please note I am not arguing that Yo is worth the money invested in them. I do, however, think that many of the comments went too far in the other direction to say the idea has no utility.

cliveowen• 12 years ago

Frankly I don't get all the hate. I remember being in middle school and ringing my friends just once and wait for them to ring back, it was a common thing to do. This is the modern version, nothing more.

pessimizer2• 12 years ago

ping -> pong

REQ -> ACK

coldtea• 12 years ago

All kidding aside, Yo's use case is real. We just typically call it a ping.

And we can do it with any IM app, or even better with SMS or Messages without necessitating the other user download any BS app for that.

mananvaghasiya• 12 years ago

WTF YO

wambotron• 12 years ago

I have no idea what Yo is. Can someone explain it to me? (I'm a windows phone user, there is no Yo app)

minimaxir2• 12 years ago

You send "Yo" to your friends.

That is the app.

wehadfun• 12 years ago

I don't know why someone downvoted you. I had not heard of it either and the descriptions are vague

minimaxir2• 12 years ago

It should be noted that Yo has been consistently falling down the app charts since it hit the peak during its 15 minutes of fame. It's currently #65 in category on the App Store when it used to be #5 overall (and received the funding).

alexnimh• 12 years ago

Someone should open source code and people should submit similar apps. Copyright infingement is a little far fetched when other apps are specifically parody/satire apps.

My app would be called something like fuckyo!

poopsintub• 12 years ago

Copying the GUI to a "t" is still infringing on their rights though.

WWKong• 12 years ago

Maybe they should try and get iMesssages pulled. Because I stopped using Yo app after first 3 mins but now between friends we sometimes text "yo" to start/end the conversation. But that is getting old too.

bluecalm2• 12 years ago

10 million valuation and 1.5M in funding.

Is it possible that funding this kind of project is form of fraud/giving money to friends/family ? I mean if you are in position to fund such project using company money and your friends work for that project then 10M valuation checks out. Maybe you could use your money as well for tax purposes (no idea how that works in US). People aren't usually too happy to give money away and it's hard to believe anybody takes 10M valuation seriously so fraud is one natural hypothesis to consider.

kordless• 12 years ago

so fraud is one natural hypothesis to consider

Why exactly is it 'natural' to speculate negatively using poorly formed logical conclusions? Those VCs that gave them money agreed to the valuation. Just because you disagree agree with it does not imply that there is fraud going on inside the company.

bluecalm2• 12 years ago

It's not "just because I disagree". It's overwhelming reaction to those valuations among tech community. For example here on HN you see a lot of people joking about those valuations and many (most?) consider them completely unreasonable. Either they are wrong (quite possible) or there are naive investors in every case (quite possible as well) or there is some other explanation (out of which fraud is natural one to consider as it would make investment based on ridiculous valuation rational).

You may be on opinion that the valuations are clearly not ridiculous and that's fine but imo you can't rationally claim that valuation is ridiculous and fraud is not serious possibility.

rcavezza• 12 years ago

I'm surprised Apple took Yo's complaint seriously. This is the verbatim text of their complaint: "The app is a complete fake copy of our Yo app".

jack-r-abbit• 12 years ago

Yo is the "Hot Dog Toaster"[1] of the app world. It does one thing and does it great. But there are other things that have the same functionality AND will also do more. It is a single use app(liance) that will just clutter your place up eventually.

[1] http://www.amazon.com/s/?field-keywords=hot%20dog%20toaster

Yo Is Trying To Get Parody App YOLO and Others Pulled From The App Store

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