#TechTalksWithMelwyn – Welcome To My ‘Houseparty’ – Bring A + 1
This week on #TechTalksWithMelwyn, I will tell you all about the Houseparty app – the easiest way to get your virtual party hat on!
Working from home, having virtual happy hours, virtual yoga sessions, what more could you ask for in these times? Well someone has already answered that question for you – you need to host a house party (pun intended). Did I tell you that it’s on your mobile phone so there is no after-party cleanup for anyone’s mess other than your own? Enter the Houseparty app!
The first issue that popped into my head was I’m not free when my friends are, and they aren’t when I’m in the mood to have a party. Houseparty, the app the cool kids are on, solves that very problem by emulating a real-life house party. You walk into the house and hang with whoever is in the house, or your friends find out you’re at a cool party and quickly follow you into the house.
Going viral by a peer to peer recommendation, this app allows you to videoconference with a group of friends and play board games. When you enter the app, everyone gets a notification that you are on – and they can join if they are free. The free edition also includes some cool board games like trivia, chips, and guac, heads-up and a quick draw game that lets you draw things and keeps your friends guessing. The trivia version comes with a bunch of options like general knowledge, stuff to know etc. The charades game, heads-up comes with up to 3 default decks and an opportunity to pay for more decks.
The party isn’t just limited to your smartphone, according to the website, you can use the app on your macOS device or Chrome browser. While their website doesn’t mention anything on the maximum number of users they do have images of 8 users online at once – double than that of Whatsapp’s video conferencing capabilities.
What’s refreshing for any app that is freemium today, the founders mention that they are not looking to make money by advertising according to their press release on mashable.com. That according to us is really bold when it comes to expectations of in-app purchases – then again everyone is cooped up indoors with no avenues for some retail therapy. So go ahead and host your first virtual Houseparty where you don’t share your queso or pick up red solo cups from the deep corners of your couch.
