About Yappio

Who is behind it

Yappio is run by Jovan Johl, who is the owner and operator of this site, the waitlist and the project. It is a small, independent effort, not a company with a sales team, and that shapes how it is built: slowly, in the open, and with room to say what is not decided.

You can reach the operator at [email protected]. The contact page lists what that address is good for, and the legal pages explain how the site handles your data.

What we are building

A chat app where voice is a first-class citizen. Every voice note is transcribed, so you can read it, search it and answer it without playing it out loud. Rooms are open for people to drop into, the way you would walk into a kitchen where friends are already talking. Your inbox shows only what is addressed to you. Servers open on a homepage that explains what the community is for, and screen sharing comes with a small studio that lets you hide what should stay private.

A bot platform for Python and TypeScript is planned for developers, with a local simulator so bots can be tested without a live server.

Why

Chat apps have become tiring to use, and we think that is a design problem rather than a personality flaw. Every channel can badge, every message can mention, and the lists of servers and threads grow until opening the app feels like work. People respond by muting everything, then missing the one message that mattered.

We would like to build one that people can leave without feeling behind. That means a quiet default, a clear place for the things that are for you, and voice that does not trap information inside audio.

How we make decisions

The aim is to write down why a design choice was made, including the ones that turn out wrong. The blog carries those notes. When something cannot be promised, the site says so instead of rounding it up, which is why many pages here use the words planned, preview and not decided.

Comparisons with other products use their public documentation, are dated, and say what they cannot tell you. The Yappio side of any comparison is a plan, not a shipped feature.

Current status

To be direct about where things stand:

• Yappio has not been released and cannot be downloaded.
• There are no users, reviews or ratings to report, and no testimonials appear anywhere on this site.
• The pages on this site describe plans and design previews, not shipped features. The people and messages in the screens are made up.
• Pricing has not been decided, so there are no prices and no paid plans.
• The only thing the site collects is an email address, if you choose to join the waitlist.

Planned platforms

Desktop apps for Windows and Linux, and a web app. They are planned, not available. The download page lists them with their status and will change as that changes.

Following along

The simplest way is to join the waitlist. We will write once when there is something to try, and we will not send anything else. We also publish short posts on the blog about how decisions are being made, and an RSS feed is available for them.

If you spot a mistake on a page, or want to ask about the project, write to [email protected].