[US] Social Network

The point is to leave the house. [US], from developer VANESSA Wong, is a social network anchored on a live map of the bars, cafés, restaurants, parks and venues around you, showing who is there, which perks each offers and tonight's events. Checking in at a venue unlocks its offers.

The feeds are deliberately finite: a local feed for wherever you are standing, a friends feed that ends when there's nothing new, no infinite scroll and no algorithm. Gifts like a rose or a donut go to friends' profiles, events take RSVPs, a neighbourhood view lists anyone within walking distance, and direct messages carry no ads.

Friday evening you open the map to see which bars have people in them and which are offering something. A two-for-one at a place three blocks away decides it. You check in, the offer appears, and the local feed shows what else is happening around you.

Through the night, friends' check-ins and stories come through, an event page shows who has RSVP'd to the thing later on, and the neighbourhood view tells you who is within walking distance. When you've seen everything, the feed stops. That is intentional, and a change from the apps that never let you finish.

Mostly they don't, yet; the listing has a single rating. The idea attracts people tired of feeds designed to keep them indoors, and local businesses interested in a check-in perk system. In Puerto Rico, where the venue examples are, it could become a going-out tool. Elsewhere it is a concept to watch rather than a network to join.

Five screenshots in a map-led social app will show the venue map with activity markers, a venue page with perks, the finite feed and probably the gifts or events screen. A live map as the home screen gives it a different shape from feed-first social apps, and the no-algorithm stance suggests a plain chronological presentation.

Version 1.31 is early, with a single five-star rating that could easily be the developer's circle. One individual developer, App Store only. Nothing here speaks to longevity, and a location-based network depends entirely on local density, which no version number can show. Treat it as a launch-stage project.

Rated 17+, which fits a bar-centric map. Free; the listing doesn't mention in-app purchases, though the gifts feature might involve them. An account is implied by profiles, friends and check-ins. Location access is fundamental, and a connection is required.

The network is only useful where other people and venues are on it, and the listing points to Puerto Rico. Elsewhere expect an empty map. Ads are excluded from direct messages but not addressed elsewhere.