Yo is a new app that sends messages to users’ friends that say, “Yo.” As peculiar as it seems, that is the only function of the app. Users download the app, add friends who also have it and then send a Yo message by tapping their friend’s name.
Inventor Or Arbel only took eight hours to build the app. He moved from his native country Israel to San Francisco to work on the app full time. He has already raised $1 million from venture capitalists.
When technology evangelist Robert Scoble said the app was “the stupidest but most addicting app ever,” investors began to take notice.
Yo blew up unexpectedly, as it has over 200,000 users who have sent at least millions of Yos. On Thursday, June 18, 3.7 million Yos were sent in one day.
Arbel believes Yo’s simplicity is its main draw. He does not want to add any other features, but has embedded some secret features already, like double tapping a friend’s name to send them “YoYo.”
He also points out that users do not have to release personal information, like with other messaging platforms.
However, on June 20, hackers broke into Yo, and were able to get users’ personal phone numbers. Hackers have sent unwanted messages to users’ phones.
“We [are] working on the securities issues that came to our attention. We want you to know we take this very seriously,” Arbel Tweeted.
According to a Time article, Yo was a “prime target” for hackers because it became very popular very quickly, so it was unproven. It did not “have anything resembling an effective security team.”
Users who fell victim to Yo’s failure to protect their information have learned a lesson about downloading an app that they do not know much about.
Photos: Twitter Screen shot
