Whether running late for a meeting or catching up with a friend, everyone has experienced the mad phone fumble to fire off a brief “I’m on my way” message as quickly as possible.
A new iPhone application created by a Computer Science student from the University of Lincoln, UK, offers a simple solution to this common problem, saving users vital time while sending messages.
‘Written’, created by Raviraj Minawala from Lincoln’s School of Computer Science, is a handy widget which enables users to programme their five most frequently-used messages and three favourite contacts into the notification centre on their iPhones.
This means that users can swipe down from the top of their screen at any time, no matter which application they might be using, and send a message via SMS, iMessage of WhatsApp with just a couple of clicks.
Raviraj said: “In today’s busy society speed is of the essence, and as our lives become more intertwined with our smartphones it is increasingly important that they support our hectic schedules. Written allows users to send their own pre-defined messages, such as “where are you?” or “I’ll be there in 5 minutes”, to their favourite contacts within a couple of seconds, and does away with the need to stop what they’re doing, find one of the traditional messaging apps and type out their text.
“With the emergence of features such as iMessage and WhatsApp, it is clear that there is a huge appetite for ever-more efficient messaging systems and Written takes this to the next level. It is very simple but very effective.”
Written is available to buy now and it has already proved highly popular with iPhone users, climbing to fourth in the Utilities category on the UK App Store. It has also received favourable reviews on a number of leading technology sites, including CultOfMac, iPhoneItalia and AVR Magazine.
This newest creation from Raviraj follows the success of his previous app, ‘Addial’, which places a dial-pad in the ‘Today’ view of the notification centre, making it possible to place a call from anywhere on your iPhone. Written does the same for users sending messages.
Raviraj has also developed iOS ‘tweaks’ that includes ‘Pluck’, which allows users to access the music library from the Lock-screen and Control Centre to instantly play or queue music. Another tweak called ‘Define’ allows access to the Dictionary, Wikipedia or Thesaurus from anywhere using the Control Centre – without leaving current content.
To find out more about the app, watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zqc_0jU_hrY , and to see more examples of Raviraj’s projects go to www.ravirajm.com or follow him on Twitter, @rv1raj.