Apps offer several useful functions on a daily basis and record millions of downloads at the official Google Play and App Store stores for Android and iPhone (iOS) respectively. However, some of them caused controversies on the Internet because they never existed, as announced. This is the case with Rumblr, the "Tinder-style" platform to challenge one to a fight, or Tubby, which would supposedly allow the man to rate women's sexual performance. Still had the Pooper, ideal for owners who were unwilling to collect the dirt of their dogs.
Confusion in users was also caused by LIVR, which was responsible for encouraging people to get drunk, and Peeple Yelp for Humans, which promised a platform on which users could rate friends, colleagues and family. These fake services were driven by various websites and some of these applications actually had a protest, reflection or irony content to the virtual world. Unusual or antithetical proposals have leveraged the reach of these applications that were never developed.
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Fake apps cause Internet controversy with their functions Photo: Luciana Maline / dnetc
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The politician Rumblr was an ad that gained notoriety for encouraging violence. Supposedly, the interested parties should register and select other people registered in the platform to duel in a fight. The interface with the options of "Fight" and "Pass" ("Skip") and the chance to match when they both wanted the match resembles Tinder, the online flirt service. The scam would be available on Google and Apple operating systems.
"If you call me to the fight, you can call me", that would be Rumblr's proposal Photo: Reproduction / Rumblr
To facilitate the violent encounter, the "Rumblr Explore" function would increase the chances by displaying more people near the user region. The catch echoed on well-known sites like New York Daily News, Metro, The Daily Mirror, Vice and The Independent, which piqued the public's attention even more. After the alleged release, the company responsible for the joke confirmed that it was just a marketing strategy.
The purpose of Tubby was to criticize the objectification of people and this was explicit on the day scheduled to launch the platform. The initiative was intended to protest against the Lulu app, in which there was a function responsible for recording the note of women over men. At the time, the criteria were humor, appearance and first kiss, plus hashtags to describe other aspects.
Assessment of a woman's sexual performance level would have a Tubby grade Photo: Reproduction / Luciana Maline
The supposed Tubby would be useful for sexually assessing female performance anonymously. On the date of arrival of the service on Google Play, a statement in Korean was displayed. In the subtitles came the message: "People are not objects, and the intimacy of a relationship, no matter how bad, cannot be exposed that way." Today, Lulu no longer offers the men's rating system.
The Pooper system would be a kind of "dog poop cleaning" that's because the platform guaranteed a system in which it would be possible to hire or be hired to collect canine needs. The art project was a joke to denounce people's obsession with service apps. The proposal has reached even business investors who, like many people, are interested in the fictional initiative.
Pooper's design and visual graphics caught the public's attention Photo: Divulgao / Pooper
The so-called app has received hundreds of entries from both people interested in hiring and from collectors. The creators of Ben Becker and Elliot Glass argued for days about the project of parodying technological innovations and playing with problem solutions that don't exist at first. One of the catchphrases used in the Pooper campaign was: "Tired of getting your dog's coc? Now there's an app for that." Questioning the credibility of the Internet was also one of the reasons for the twofold responsibility for the sniper.
The marketing campaign was able to convince the public about the usefulness of LIVR. The main function promised to analyze the alcohol content of a drunk person and then, only after confirming the drunkenness, allow the use of social networking. To detect the user's alcohol level, a supposed device would need to be connected to the cell phone. Among the advantages for those interested was the possibility of playing "Truth or Dare", a game known for exploring intimate questions of the participants' lives.
FREE app would allow social network access if the breathalyzer test were positive Photo: Divulgao / FREE
The truth came out when support for connecting to a mobile phone would not be as cheap as the reported price of $ 5 (about $ 19.31 in direct conversion). This is because the object would be difficult to produce. In addition, the main programmer of the Avery Platz system was actually a fictional name of Matt Mayer, a comedian.
The list of hype also includes the Peeple Yelp for Humans app. The scam was discovered by web users and the reason for the hype was the possibility of the app's users giving it a rating, with comments and ratings from the people they lived with. Some clues like the rapid development of the service in 90 days and no quotes from the app in an interview with alleged creator Julia Codray have bolstered rumors of being a trick question.
App for comments and ratings of people with grades caused criticism in the US Photo: Divulgao / Yelp for people
To further increase the repercussion of the arrival of the platform, in the supposed application's Twitter account, the profile creation date was April 1st, known as April Fool's Day. After gaining notoriety, especially in the United States, the software was released five months after the agreed date, but well overhauled from the published description.
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