Nick Herbert, from London, developed ReplyASAP, an app which triggers an alarm on your phone that will sound indefinitely until the message is read. And, just when you thought it couldn't get more irritating, it also performs a screen takeover, interrupting whatever you're doing on your phone.
Herbert says he found it nigh-on impossible to get hold of his son when he was out with his friends, largely because Ben's phone was always on silent. "Whenever I was trying to get hold of him, he would invariably not respond. It frustrated me," says Herbert.
"I thought, there must be a way of getting hold of him. Something that allows you to make your presence felt more strongly," Herbert continues. And, boy did he make his presence felt.
After looking into existing options — like WhatsApp's read receipts — Herbert knew he wanted to be able to sound an alarm on his son's phone to let him know when his dad had messaged him. As there wasn't an existing means of doing that, he looked into building one. Herbert doesn't have a background in tech, so he hired developers to build his app, aptly named ReplyASAP, which is available on Android and will launch soon on iOS.