{"id":161361,"date":"2025-11-04T00:08:12","date_gmt":"2025-11-04T00:08:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/161361\/"},"modified":"2025-11-04T00:08:12","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T00:08:12","slug":"lockets-social-app-is-picking-up-steam-with-gen-alpha","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/161361\/","title":{"rendered":"Locket’s social app is picking up steam with Gen Alpha"},"content":{"rendered":"

Locket<\/a>, a private social networking app for friends, has scored a win with Gen Alpha users following the launch of its latest feature, Rollcall. <\/p>\n

The app, which lets friends share photos that then appear in home screen widgets, first hit the top of the App Store\u2019s charts in early 2022<\/a> by taking advantage of Apple\u2019s widget system to form the basis of its social network. Instead of updates sent via push notifications, the app\u2019s widget would update to show your friends\u2019 newly posted photos. This, in turn, would drive engagement back in the app, prompting users to share their own photos in return.<\/p>\n

Locket\u2019s Rollcall feature takes a similar approach by turning Apple platform features into social networking tools, CEO Matt Moss explains. A former Apple Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) student scholarship winner, Moss understands that new formats can help attract users and draw people in.<\/p>\n

Rollcall prompts users to share their favorite photos from the past week, and it leverages an iOS feature called Live Activities. This allows the app to utilize the iPhone Lock Screen to capture users\u2019 attention. Introduced in iOS 18, Live Activities<\/a> allow iOS apps to offer frequent information updates in glanceable locations like the Lock Screen and Dynamic Island (the black bar at the top of the screen).<\/p>\n

Apple originally envisioned Live Activities as a way for apps with real-time information to update their users \u2014 for instance, with information about their Uber arriving or pizza delivery. However, some apps have used the technology in unique ways, like adding a virtual pet that frolics in the Dynamic Island,<\/a> or displaying the real-time lyrics<\/a> for the song you\u2019re listening to right on your Lock Screen. <\/p>\n

For Locket, however, Live Activities becomes the modern-day version of the push notification.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery Sunday, we\u2019ll take over your Lock Screen and you\u2019ll get this nice Live Activity that pops up right on the homepage of the iPhone,\u201d said Moss. \u201cIt\u2019s similar to the widget [as it\u2019s] using Apple technology to get in front of people and then let you share those moments that you wouldn\u2019t have shared,\u201d he told TechCrunch in an interview in the halls of the TechCrunch Disrupt conference last week. <\/p>\n

Techcrunch event<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSan Francisco
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t|
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOctober 13-15, 2026\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

The use of the technology in this way has already proved successful for Locket, which has north of 91 million lifetime installs across iOS and Android, per Appfigures<\/a> estimates. In Rollcall\u2019s first week, Locket saw over a million shares driven by the feature, the company said.<\/p>\n

In addition, Moss said that well over 25% of the app\u2019s active users are now posting a Rollcall every week. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe Live Activity pulls people in a lot more,\u201d Moss said. \u201cAnd it\u2019s fun, because as your friends are sharing, they\u2019ll feel like we\u2019re all doing this together.\u201d <\/p>\n

Roughly 80% of Rollcall\u2019s initial active users were classified as Gen Alpha.<\/p>\n

The founder noted there are some differences between how Gen Alpha and Gen Z use Locket. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think the big difference is\u2026[being] the companion piece versus the primary. We have so many more users now [for whom] Locket is like their main way of connecting with their friends. Moss explained. \u201cSending photos directly. Sharing photos with 10 or 20 of their best friends. I think that\u2019s been a big difference for us,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n

\"\"Image Credits:<\/strong>Locket<\/p>\n

With Rollcall gaining traction out of the gate, the company is now exploring how to use the feature as a launching pad for other experiences beyond photos. For instance, Moss says adding video support is an obvious next step, but he\u2019s also thinking about how to incorporate things like music, favorite places you visited, or prompts designed to help you remember things that happened during the week.<\/p>\n

While Locket doesn\u2019t have plans to support AI-generated photos or videos, like Sora or Meta AI, the company is considering how AI could be used in other ways \u2014 like making collages or pulling together photo memories.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven though those things may use up a lot of attention,\u201d Moss said, referring to AI apps, \u201cthere\u2019s something so fundamental and basic about communicating and connecting with real people in the world. There will always be a role for that, and there will always be a demand that people have.\u201d <\/p>\n

The company is also thinking about how Locket can transform users\u2019 virtual connections with friends into more real-world touchpoints \u2014 even if it\u2019s something as simple as reminding users to call or text a friend. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think for us, it\u2019s always much more like: how can we use those things to actually, genuinely help people connect, versus it just being a kind of short-term fun experience, and you know, [that] might actually be a huge strength in the long run \u2014 being that place where it is just the people you actually know,\u201d Moss said. <\/p>\n

Locket today monetizes via a subscription. As a result, the 15-person company has been profitable since last year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Locket, a private social networking app for friends, has scored a win with Gen Alpha users following the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":161362,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[74],"tags":[1307,18,60067,19,57423,17,93543,30461,238,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-161361","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-technology","8":"tag-apps","9":"tag-eire","10":"tag-gen-alpha","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ios-apps","13":"tag-ireland","14":"tag-locket","15":"tag-social-networking","16":"tag-startups","17":"tag-technology"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115488522510616778","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161361","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=161361"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161361\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/161362"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=161361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=161361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=161361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}