The year 2015 has been a very busy one for Google. There’s been Google’s Alphabet. There’s been new Google CEO Sundar Pichai. Now there’s the Who’s Down app.
The Who’s Down app is exclusively on Android products. It’s an invite app to show who’s down for whatever. For example, you can use this app to ask your invite only circle: “Who’s down for lunch?”, “Who’s down to work out at the gym?”, “Who’s down for this concert?”, etc. Obviously, your friends can ask you are you down. If you are, confirm it. Once they know you’re ‘down’, they’ll see your confirmation and include you in whatever the activity is. You can also reply with a status message to say what you’re down for, whether it be partying on Saturday night or church on Sunday morning. Who’s Down is praised for the group chatting features it provides. But there are complaints. First of all, it’s invite-only. Plus, there’s not a?lot of instruction on how this works other than the handful of screenshots. Experts aren’t even sure how it matches your friends. Maybe it’s through Google chats and contacts. Maybe it’s through Hangouts. I’m still a little confused on how you make this invite only circle.
Keep in mind Google Who’s Down competes with Apple’s Find My Friend and Foresquare’s Swarm. But the Who’s Down App is offering nothing new under the sun. I can text my friend and ask him or her are they down for certain daily activities. I can call around and ask who’s down. I can go on Facebook and other avenues of social media and see who has invited me somewhere or who has messaged me to go somewhere. At best, this new app is just a new way to plan activities with family and friends. But can’t you do that anywhere? Are you down with Who’s Down?