This is awesome! Why doesn't this have more upvotes?! Sure, it doesn't solve a problem, but it's really cool as it has the potential of brightening up someone's day.
The design of the app is great, congratulations on that. As for the service itself, I believe you when you say you make the bottle really pretty, but I imagine that when it arrives at the destination, it's gonna be a mess... but I guess that's what would happen in the ocean too :) What I think is missing and would be really cool is to allow people to send bottles to random members of the community and in turn receive them. I think the element of surprise would be really nice.
@baboon thanks horea!! random messages are in the pipeline and will launch with the new website! we use high quality packaging to avoid damage during shipping, but it's hard to avoid those scuffs and scratches on the outside of the box. you should order a bottle and let me know what the box looks like when it arrives 😉
@elfanek hehe, will do! But maybe I'm not the ideal person to ask that, 5,000 miles, I don't expect it to look pretty :) I was talking more about what's inside the bottle rather than the packaging and the bottle itself
@baboon haha the bottles are surprisingly durable! When we were picking a brand we did some testing by tossing them against a brick wall, 4/5 did not break ⚡⚡
@as_austin Haha this gif is perfect. Initially we wanted to put GPS trackers in each bottle and actually throw them in the water, but after a little bit of thought we realized how bad that would be for the environment. Also pretty much all of the bottles would end up in the same place if we didn't send them from different locations.
@elfanek Hahah yes extremely true! Thank you. The gif is long... but worth every second! While delivering by water is awesome, just receiving a message in a bottle is also cool! :) Great job!
This is my favourite hunt of the day! What a fantastic idea, and really well executed too, congrats. I must say, a little disappointed that this launched without a web presence, but the app is finished nicely.
@elfanek we are a chat application called zoro.im. It will be really cool if we can collaborate. So our users can send an IM message or a Message in bottle
Hey PH!!
Tidings is a side project I've been working on after hours and on the weekends for just over a year now, and it's finally finished! You can send a physical message in a bottle to anyone, anywhere in the world. We charge a flat rate $19 for bottles being shipped to the US, and an additional $15 if your shipping internationally.
Other than sending messages, you can also view the high and low tides near you by pulling up on the wave or checking your Apple Watch! If you have any feedback please let me know! I'd love to answer any questions :)
@hameto_ thank you! to be honest I'm still fairly new to programming. I went to the flatiron school to learn iOS last summer with very little coding experience. shortly after getting a job I started working on Tidings, without any intention of releasing haha. a web app is in the works though I promise!!
I used this to send my fiancé a note on her birthday. It was a way better experience than just going to safeway and getting a card
Pros:Was an amazing experience writing a note for my fiancé <3
Cons:nothing