Amid various social networking sites and applications, a new mobile app called Shortnotice has been developed by University student Neil Nijhawan and his twin brother, Kush. 

Neil, sophomore in Engineering and co-founder, said Shortnotice is different from other social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter in that its focus is physically bringing people together and fostering face-to-face interactions.

“We’re not just trying to create an app, we’re trying to create a brand,” he said. “We’re trying to create a new type of social media. Right now social media is one-dimensional … it’s just about sharing in the online world and we really want to bring it to the real world.”

Kush, sophomore in Engineering at Stanford University and co-founder, added that he has read numerous articles saying that people’s Facebook profiles will actually make them sad because their online lives seem better than their real lives.

“We thought ‘What makes people happy? What increases someone’s confidence?’” He asked. “And that’s actually hanging out with someone face-to-face.”

Neil explained that the app notifies friends of an event, like playing basketball or going bowling, through “shortnotices.”

In order to create a shortnotice using the app, a person would simply click on the plus sign in the upper right hand corner, specify the activity’s name and location and then enter the amount of friends needed for it to happen. Once a certain number of friends have agreed to do the activity, the activity is on.

“We want to bring people together as fast as possible,” he said.

Currently, they are working on fixing some bugs and are continually testing the app and updating it to ensure it works on both iPhone and Android phones. The current version of the app, 1.3, is available for free on the iTunes App Store and Google Play. Kush said they are hoping to release version 2.0 within five to 10 weeks.

Future goals include developing the app in some capacity for people without smartphones so they can take advantage of its features as well via text message, Kush said. 

“I would highly recommend Shortnotice,” said Asif Bhatti, sophomore in Engineering. “It offers a unique aspect of physically bringing people together unlike many other social media websites.”

Being students, the two brothers have lives outside of developing the app. Neil came up with the initial idea for the app in December 2012, but it wasn’t launched until Nov. 20, 2013, almost two months ago.

“Ultimately, we believe Shortnotice will add value to people’s lives,” Kush said. “We want it to be a convenient tool that you can use to get people together on short notice.”

Edward can be reached at [email protected].