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locketA personal social networking app for friends has scored a win with Gen Alpha users after launching its latest feature, Rollcall
The app, which allows friends to share photos that first appear on the home screen widget It topped the App Store charts in early 2022 Taking advantage of Apple’s widget system forms the basis of its social network. Instead of updates sent via push notifications, the app’s widget will update to show your friends’ newly posted photos. This, in turn, will drive engagement back into the app, prompting users to share their own photos in return.
Locket’s RollCall feature takes a similar approach by turning Apple platform features into social networking tools, explained CEO Matt Moss. A former Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) student scholarship winner, Moss understands that new formats can help attract users and attract people.
Rollcall prompts users to share their favorite photos from the past week and leverages an iOS feature called Live Activities. This allows the app to use the iPhone lock screen to grab users’ attention. Introduced in iOS 18, Live activities Allows iOS apps to frequently update information in visual locations such as the lock screen and dynamic islands (the black bar at the top of the screen).
Apple originally envisioned Live Activities as a way for apps to update their users with real-time information — for example, with information about their Uber arrival or pizza delivery. However, some apps have used the technology in unique ways, such as adding a virtual pet Joke on Dynamic Island, or Displaying real-time lyrics For the song you’re listening to on your lock screen.
For Locket, however, Live Activities has become the modern version of push notifications.
“Every Sunday, we’ll take your lock screen and you’ll get this wonderful live activity that pops up on the iPhone homepage,” Moss said. “It’s like a widget [as it’s] Reach people using Apple technology and then let them share the moments you couldn’t share,” he told TechCrunch in an interview in the halls of the TechCrunch Disrupt conference last week.
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Using the technology in this way has already proven successful for Locket, which has over 91 million lifetime installs across iOS and Android. Appfigures Estimates In the first week of Rollcall, the locket saw more than one million shares driven by the feature, the company said.
In addition, Moss said that more than 25% of the app’s active users are now posting a rollcall per week.
“Live activity draws people in a lot,” Moss said. “And it’s fun, because when your friends are sharing, they’ll think we’re all doing it together.”
About 80% of Rollcall’s initial active users were classified as Gen Alpha.
Founder noted that there are some differences between how Gen Alpha and Gen Z use lockets.
“I think the big difference is… [being] companion piece vs primary. We now have many users [for whom] Lockets are like their main way of connecting with friends, Moss explained. “Sending photos directly. Sharing photos with 10 or 20 of their best friends. I think that’s been a big difference for us,” he added.
With Rollcall gaining traction out of the gate, the company is now exploring how to use the feature as a launching pad for other experiences beyond photos. For example, Moss says adding video support is an obvious next step, but he’s also thinking about how to incorporate things like music, favorite places you’ve visited, or prompts designed to help you remember things that happened during the week.
While Locket doesn’t have plans to support AI-generated photos or videos like Sora or Meta AI, the company is considering how AI can be used in other ways — such as creating collages or assembling photo memories.
“While these things could use a lot of attention,” Moss said, referring to AI apps, “there’s something so basic and fundamental about interacting and connecting with real people in the world. There will always be a role for it, and there will always be a need for people.”
The company is also thinking about how Locket can transform users’ virtual connections with friends into more real-world touchpoints — even if it’s something as simple as reminding users to call or text a friend.
“I think for us, it’s always been a lot more like: How can we make those things really, truly help people connect, versus it’s just kind of a short-term fun experience, and you know, [that] That can actually be a huge strength in the long run — being a place where you actually know people,” Moss said.
Locket today monetizes through a subscription. As a result, the company of 15 people has been profitable since last year.
