For those of you who were wagering on the results of the Singapore Computer Society’s Splash award, wonder no more: the top prize has gone to Apple Tree, a mobile phone app that… encourages people not to use their phones.
According to Channel News Asia, the app, which will be available for iPhone next year,
encourages them to spend quality time with their family and friends, instead of being glued to their smartphones.
When users activate the app and put their phones together, apples will start growing, which can then be harvested and exchanged for rewards, such as discounts. The productivity of the apples is dependent on the time the phones are placed together. Apples will only be produced when users are not using other apps.
Libern Lin, a member of the winning team from Republic Polytechnic, said the idea was conceived after his friends suggested placing their phones together when they hung out.
This app builds on the practice of people putting their phones in a pile when they sit down to dinner, but the growing apples is a nice touch. So is the fact that it requires two phones, which means users are using it together (and which means more downloads and installations).
The developers, students at Republic Polytechnic (don’t feel bad, I’d never heard of it either), will share a $30,000 prize.