The CodeCropper

The developer’s mind

As a developer I’m always thinking about ways to use software to solve a problem. So, when something happens in my personal life that prompts me to think “damn, there should be a (better) way to do this”, I immediately start thinking about ways to solve this with software.

And this is exactly how Kush got started.

The problem

One day I went to the gym with my wife. While she was in the weight room I was running in the treadmill. The treadmills are on a balcony overlooking the weight room downstairs so I could see my wife from the treadmill depending on where she was.

We both work out with our iPhones playing music or podcasts and at one point I wanted to send her a message to let her know I could see her and I was thinking about her, just to make her laugh. But have you tried running in a treadmill and texting at the same time? It’s way harder than while driving (just kidding, I don’t text and drive). And so the thought inevitably came to my head: “There should be a better way to do this”. And Kush was born.

I laid out the idea in my head and started thinking about ways to make an iPhone app that was easy to use (required very little touches) but, at the same time, had the power to send meaningful messages to your significant other. And that was very nice to look at!

The solution

A couple of days later I had a rough prototype. I installed it on our iPhones and we started using it in our daily lives. The app had a different sentence maker with fewer sentences but already had most kissing sounds it has now.

As we started using Kush it was evident that this was an app worth making not just for our own use but something others could benefit from. Because of the unique kissing sounds, you immediately know when a message arrives it’s from your partner. Knowing that someone was thinking of you is a great feeling. Even though the messages are all pre-made there’s so many to choose from you can see the person chose that message just for you.

Kush has made this type of short and sweet communication more frequent among us. Before Kush I remember thinking many times a day about sending her a quick “Hello” but wouldn’t, either because I was too busy to type a message or because just a “Hello” would be stupid and I couldn’t come up with something that was much different to an “I love you”.

I contacted a designer who is a friend of mine and we started working on the look of the app. As I was thinking about ways to promote the app I just remembered that Valentine’s day was just a couple of weeks away! The thought was not obvious to me before because in Brazil Valentine’s day is in June, not February (we already have Carnival in February…)

The deadline

We decided to try to release this on Valentine’s day. Working on the code like crazy, my wife was writing romantic phrases for the sentence composer and my designer started to draw and produce all graphical elements. We submitted the app for Apple to approve Thursday morning and asked for an expedited review saying it was an app for couples and that we would love to have it for sale by Valentine’s day. They granted me an exception (thanks Apple) and the app is now available in the App Store! We also managed to make a very nice video explaining Kush. Thanks to my designer for the video and his girlfriend for the voice over.

We’re really anxious to see what’s going to happen now. I hope that the app gets used by many many couples; and that they also benefit from Kush the way my wife and I do. One thing I can vouch for personally is: your wife may leave home angry about something, but after a “Kush” she will come home happy to be your wife ;]