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Show HN: Cloak – Incognito mode for real life

19 pointsby cmb320about 11 years ago

13 comments

blueskin_about 11 years ago
I find the page rather content-free, which makes it seem useless.<p>I&#x27;m used to the scrolling pages and general dearth of useful information such as specs&#x2F;FAQs&#x2F;technical details by now (which I still find infuriating, but it seems this is becoming depressingly common thanks to the metro-inspired dogma that giving users choice and information is bad), but this has absolutely nothing at all other than a screencap. Try including some information about how it works for those of us who don&#x27;t use apple products.<p>From the screencap, I can assume it shows other people&#x27;s location in realtime (or close to it), but there is no information about how the app works or where its data comes from (facebook etc checkins? ibeacon? bluetooth&#x2F;802.11x listening? voluntary data submission from other users of the app?), pricing, usage details, or even a basic FAQ.<p>I kept clicking all over the place expecting some hidden link, but even examining the page source has revealed nothing.<p>Ironically, I opened the thread because I was interested from the title, but having people need to install an app to see what is actually does isn&#x27;t a great model even if it does push your market stats up and inflate the &quot;x people installed this app&quot; counter.<p>I realise this probably comes across as mean, and I apologise for that (I&#x27;m sure my tone is influenced by it being monday, and not a great one at that), but it isn&#x27;t really showing people if only a subset of those interested can see how it works. Even a comment with an overview of what it is and how it works would go a long way. I have seen metro-ish product sites done somewhat well (perhaps ironically, one of the best was apple&#x27;s one for the dustbin, although that still suffered from a lack of specs), but people have to feel like they aren&#x27;t looking at what might as well be a placeholder if it wasn&#x27;t for the javascript and store link.
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madaxe_againabout 11 years ago
So this is an app that lets me put my phone on a green table? Site is absolutely useless.<p>Sure the product is great but I have no idea what it does.
larubbioabout 11 years ago
From the name I thought this was Cloak the VPN tool.<p><a href="https://www.getcloak.com/" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.getcloak.com&#x2F;</a><p>I&#x27;m surprise the app store allows two apps to be named so similarly.
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malloreonabout 11 years ago
The submission title immediately reminded me of the gevulot from Hannu Rajaniemi&#x27;s &quot;The Quantum Thief.&quot;
jennoabout 11 years ago
How does it know who you&#x27;d want to avoid? How do you get their info and location?
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cheezabout 11 years ago
While I understand the draw towards this, I can&#x27;t help but think that it is emblematic of our growing inability to deal with interpersonal conflict in a constructive way.<p>Are there <i>that</i> many people in your life that you MUST avoid in order to keep yourself sane? I would wager this says a lot about you.<p>Everyone has that crazy ex that they would stay away from. I do. But it&#x27;s really not that hard to avoid her. See her coming? Turn around and walk away. She calls you over? Say no, straight up.<p>Or maybe the authors posted this as a sort of social commentary.
jpdllaabout 11 years ago
Not to be confused with Cloak VPN <a href="https://www.getcloak.com/" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.getcloak.com&#x2F;</a>
biteabout 11 years ago
Looks cool. I can&#x27;t help but think this will definitely shed some light on the risks of sharing so much personal information online, knowing all this is scraped from social media accounts - a user would surely think twice before tweeting their location in the future.
davepeckabout 11 years ago
It&#x27;s always great to see a new app launch and I always want to be supportive!<p>But: I&#x27;m the founder of GetCloak.com, the company that makes Cloak. We&#x27;ve been around for several years and obviously are going to have to defend our name. No fun.<p>I&#x27;ve sent you an email about this. Thanks.
luxabout 11 years ago
Couldn&#x27;t this help you connect with those people just as easily as hiding from them? Either way, cool idea.<p>Since Foursquare isn&#x27;t so big here, additional networks would be useful to have as well.
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nollidgeabout 11 years ago
1) I doubt most people know what &quot;Incognito Mode&quot; is.<p>2) Why does the background &amp; image move around with the mouse? It doesn&#x27;t have anything to do with the app.
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EC1about 11 years ago
Pointless app unless your circle of friends is absolutely glued to their phones. Only utilizes foursquare and instagram too.<p>Great UI though, I really like it.
rayhanoabout 11 years ago
So cool!<p>What has been the feedback so far? And what have you planned for a next iteration (if any)?
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