Why Crash? The story behind the idea.
I'd like to share a story with you. It all began with a dream I had after a completely awful day. In 2015, I was working as a Property Manager for a mid-sized apartment development. I won't go into details, but those in Property Management can only image the shi....I mean shenanigans I dealt with on a daily basis. It didn't help that I was also pregnant and extremely irritable. Nevertheless, at 4:30 my day was over and I was finally able to head home and relax.
I arrived home, said my hello's to my kids and started running me a bath. I couldn't wait to just sit and soak in my tub while listening to my favorite mood music. But about 15 minutes into my bath, the doorbell rang. I didn't think much about it, my husband wasn't home but both of my teenagers were; so I just knew one of them would answer. But then it rang again. "Get the door!" I screamed. A few seconds went by and it rang again. So now I'm pissed. I get out of the bathtub (which was hard as hell being almost 7 months pregnant), dry off, put on my pajamas and head out of the bathroom. I peak in my daughter's room first and lo and behold she's just sitting there with her headphones in, oblivious to the doorbell ringing. Then I look in my son's room, he also has on headphones. Now I'm livid. Nobody heard the doorbell ringing and both are just sitting in their rooms. I was even more upset to find that it was one of my son's friends ringing the doorbell so vigorously.
Afterward, I lay in my bed thinking, "headphones are the devil!" This wasn't the first time my kids had been completely oblivious to their surroundings due to their preoccupation with their cellphones. Their cellphones were their life. They frequently used them to watch movies, videos or even listen to music. And they also usually had their volumes on the highest setting allowed (Spare me with the "headphones can damage your kids' hearing" spill, I KNOW!). I'd oftentimes have to scream their names to come down for dinner, check the mail, let the dog in or whatever. This isn't an exaggeration, my kids truly never heard me. The constant obsession with their phones, coupled with headphones and a loud volume equaled extremely disconnected kids that didn't hear anything.
So that evening I began thinking about it. How could I get my kids attention when needed? I had to figure out a way to get into their devices and shut off their music; but how? My first thought was to make these special headphones with a volume remote control that I could use to turn their volume down as needed. Great idea right? I thought so. But then I thought, "that's too technical and it would be expensive to develop". I'd love to have been featured on Shark Tank, but I just didn't have that type of money, or energy. So I went to bed literally dreaming about ways to get my kids attention when they're on their phones.
The idea suddenly just popped into my head. "What about making it an app?" Now that would be amazing. The app would literally just stop what they were doing. I loved the idea and so did my husband and family members. So I started working on a blueprint for the app immediately. I was excited. Then a few weeks went by and I had to have an emergency delivery of my baby boy a whole 7 weeks early. So needless to say, I forgot all about the app.
Fast-forward a year and I came across the blueprints that I had drawn for the app. I was still having the same issues with my kids not hearing me, so I thought, "Maybe it's time to look into this". And so I did. In short, I found a developer, told him what I wanted, he quoted me a price, I agreed, he began working on it, and three months later my app was ready to test. Yay!
Enter Crash, my new mobile messaging device that allows users to interrupt what others are doing on their devices. It's ingenious! Like crashing a party, the app allows you to virtually "crash" a cellphone. So if your family and friends are preoccupied with their phones; listening to music, watching videos, movies or simply ignoring you, you can crash their phones and pop up...whenever! What's unique about the app is that the user being crashed is notified by a loud crash sound (to ensure that you've gotten their attention) and your message appears at the center of their device (to ensure that they've seen your message) instead of the normal message notification at the top of the screen. No more, "I didn't see your text!" Crash makes SURE that your message is seen.
In my opinion, Crash solves 3 of the most common cellphone behavioral issues that not only parents, but everyone face.
1. When others can't hear you while they're using their phones- Crash them!
2. When others claim they didn't "see" your text message- Crash them!
3. When others are simply just ignoring you and you want their attention- Crash them!
So if you're an Android user, go ahead and check out the app. The basic version is FREE, so what do you have to lose? But if you want to try more crash features, there's a premium version of the app Crash Pro for $.99 cents. That's less than a cup of coffee. And you can get the app on up to "6" android devices for one price. Download it and tell me what you think.
