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Seen-zoned dad locks son’s smartphone until he messages him back.

By on October 31, 2019

The whole point of parents buying their child a phone is to know that he is safe wherever he goes and that he is reachable anytime. However, it defeats the purpose when your messages get unanswered.

British dad Nick Herbert, 47, fed up with getting his messages seen zoned by son Ben, 15, invented RespondASAP®. RespondASAP® is an app that disables a phone by locking the screen to get the recipient’s attention. The app also alerts the recipient to a new message even if their phone is on silent mode.

” There are times that I need to get a message to him and he has no way of knowing that the call or text he ignores / doesn’t see is important or not, and I have no way of knowing if he has seen it (and I mean really seen it and not just moved it so he can get on with his game). There are messaging apps that tell you when a message is delivered and seen, but the point is the message can be ignored or not seen because he didn’t hear it,” writes Nick on the messaging app website.

The app allows a parent to send an ASAP or schedule delivery of a message like when your child has to stop a game when it’s time for homework. The message is made audible even if the  phone is on silent mode. The noise will continue until the recipient  taps ‘Cancel’. Tapping it turns the message on the parent’s phone green and time stamps it. The app will display on their phone and disrupt whatever your child is doing, blocking the phone until he replies. It even lets sender know the recipient’s location.

By tapping the middle button at the bottom, the app will display your message history with your child. Unseen messages are displayed in purple. Once seen, it switches to green. Parents also get a notification once your child deletes the app. If the recipient’s phone is turned off, or the battery is dead, the ASAP won’t go through. The ASAP will only send when the phone is powered back on.

The app is currently on Android phones only but iOS version is coming soon, according to RespondASAP website.  Android users can download app here

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