With a domain name that just screams “hip,” Peach.cool is a mobile app that does what about a billion others do — let you message your friends with text, photos, and GIFs. But somehow, Hofmann got something right on this particular iteration because people can’t seem to get enough.
It’s a combination of some of our favorite existing platforms, with an interface that looks decidedly Slack-like. But it’s also got definitive elements of Twitter, Tumblr, and of course, Facebook. While you can’t directly (or privately) message anyone, you can do things like set statuses, share pictures, your location, or blow someone a kiss. Self-described as a “fun, simple way to keep up with friends and be yourself,” the app seems to have mastered the combination of overstated simplicity and understated absurdity. I mean, come on — how many more ways could you possibly need to share a status at this point?
Of course, it’s always fun learning your way around a new app that all of your friends seem to be using. And as far as the onboarding process goes, Peach is obviously making that as easy as possible. Thanks to Peach’s “magic words,” you can type things like “GIF” and be allowed to find and share one, or type “Draw” to make a little illustration. If you write “song,” you’ll share whatever you’re playing on your phone, and you can rate anything from a scale of one to five using the word, you guessed it, “rate.”
Already, numerous “celebrity” accounts have popped up on the app, because everyone wants to pretend to be Taylor Swift, even if only online. Everyone from Tim Cook to Tila Tequila now has a facetious account, but who knows, maybe the real deals will soon join themselves.
On Friday, when Peach had hit peak popularity, numerous reports of the app crashing surfaced — a happy problem, given the issue was due to the massive traffic the messaging newcomer experienced. But we’ll have to see if this one sticks or, like so many before it, is just a passing phase.
