Thanks to Apple’s wildly successful marketing over the last decade, there’s a running joke that no matter what you encounter or need in life: There’s an app for that. But what if you want a boyfriend or girlfriend? True to form, there really is an app for that.
It’s called Invisible Boyfriend, and its significant other-creating services — including texts, calls, and handwritten notes — is available for $24.99. That’s right, a significant other can be yours for about the price of a tank of gas. Both Invisible Boyfriend and Invisible Girlfriend subscription services officially launched January 20th.
According to the company, it’s not just for people who want to create the illusion of having a significant other, but it also “creates a safe space for you to practice texting with a real human if you’re out of practice.”
If the movies Weird Science and Her had a baby, this might be it.
You begin by choosing a name, age, photo, and personality trait for your invisible partner. The site even lets you create a backstory for how you met, though you can select an automatically generated one, and includes photos for those nosy friends.
The full version of the service costs $24.99, which includes 100 texts, 10 voicemails and 1 handwritten postcard. It’s in beta right now so you can exchange the first 10 texts for free. He or she will send real-time messages checking in on you, meaning your coworkers can watch a message exchange happen.
Users can even submit selfies, which will make you into a fake significant other for someone else. The app will ask you to submit a zip code, so they can make sure your face doesn’t become the boyfriend or girlfriend of a person near you.
In the future, the app’s developers plan to expand their real life offerings: mailed flowers and small gifts, among other ideas.
With in-person communication decreasing because of automation and other digital options, is it any surprise that a service is trying to fill that void with technology — a major reason for the decline?
A writer for Mashable tested the app out and had some interesting results. Read more about her experience here, and view her text conversation below.
