Prologue
Imagine you’re walking through a library, but not just any library. It’s filled with the newest and the most meaningful books, be it novels or philosophy or even…jokes. The books glow as you walk by, tempting you to pick one up and read. Each book has a title that defines its purpose.
You start reading a book, and suddenly the world pauses, you can feel each breath as the pages turn. In that moment, action and intention meet without much effort. Reading is your action, the knowledge is your intention, and the book? An Essential App.
And in that moment, the idea was clearer than ever:
Essential Apps bridge intention and action, creating and sometimes becoming a moment to pause and feel.
Chapter 1: Inaction is Action
An important person in my life had once told me how failing to make a choice is a choice in itself too. So I took a play on that.
My book makes sense as a desk prop, kept at bay as is with a clock and calendar in sight. Once you open it, you uncover a miniature world. A novel of sorts, on your homescreen.
From the beginning of it being a mere clock and calendar, there is a simple ‘Tap to Begin’ that sparks curiosity in your eyes. I made a thorough attempt at using device haptics to make sure that this book feels responsive.
This page introduces the first step towards newer intentions, an exciting journey lies ahead for those curious enough.
Turned it past ‘Tap to Begin’ yet?
You’re reading what is clearly reverse psychology. Imagine it said ‘Tap 3 on the calendar’ - pfft, boring. Tapping the ‘3’ takes you to the world of niche Nothing references and even more curiosity. Like a slow-burn story but for curiosity.
- There’s another easter egg in the first page itself, though it’s got no reward - try and find it, let me know in the comments below if you do 🙂 -
P.S. If you’re ever stuck on any page, wait for a few seconds and a hint will pop up - don’t fret, it’s quite simple!
Chapter 2: What some Readers Notice
Think of the last time you shared an inside joke, a quiet reference that only a few would understand. Some books are written that way too, revealing more to the readers who stay a little longer.
If you linger long enough in Just An Essential App, you begin to notice the patterns between the pages. Five taps later, the story opens into a code of its own.
To long-time readers, this is as obvious as it gets - “Phone 1 Phone 2…”, for those who are new to Nothing, the green bar above that fills up…
…aims to not only make it easy to crack the code but to also signify the lineup of phones in Nothing’s ecosystem. Hmm…maybe I’ll add 4a to the page soon.
This book has more references waiting, for those keen to observe.
Chapter 3: The book, a Stress Buster
Then the realisation hit me, this entire book is a game on your homescreen, and by that means its able to serve as a stress buster! Now what?
Full commitment. If I’m making something reference based and has interaction, might as well sprinkle some humour and lean into it being a stress buster.
The following pages have Nothing puns, more curiosity inducement, followed by different types of reactions for the same ‘Tap’ interaction:
No, that text is not peeking at you, it’s falling off, and you need to tap to break it. ‘Stop it’ in the next page is emphasised and this only ensures that the user dives deeper into it 🙂
And finally, there’s actually nothing there.
Sorry I just had too much fun leading it up to a blank slate.
Chapter 4: Pages that Respond
Following the Nothing puns - my app explores more ways to interact and satisfy curiosity. Here’s a few pages to run through:
1. Slider
2. Hammer to break stuff
These interactions allow newer intentions to be formed in your mind. You now realise there’s more than just tapping available to you.
And a fun little Begin button that jukes you. Hah.
Tap on the Nothing Playground text to be shown a baby demonstration about Playground itself featuring what I call Essential Apps Builder (बेटा). Hi to my fellow Indian community members 👋
Chapter 5: Secrets in the Margins
You’re now presented with a red ball.
What would you do? Press it. 10 points to Gryffindor.
Behold, the 3 main devices from Nothing:
Abra; Phone(1)
Alakazam; Phone(2)
Arbok; Phone(3)
Since Essential Apps are coming to Phone(3) first, I placed a mini app gallery inside the Arbok segment.
Chapter 6: A Moment to Pause
And lastly, the app returns to the front page. After having gone through the entire process of building it above, here’s a video demonstrating how it looks in one go if you would like to watch instead of trying it.
And all along, with such interactive game-ified behaviours, I realised that the same apps that bridge Intention and Action, can create a loop of intention and action which gives a brief break from life.
Often when we’re so busy and streamlined in life, we forget to pause for a moment, and enjoy life for what it is.
Thank you all for reading, I hope you enjoy the app.
A huge thanks to @Rohit, @Selin for this opportunity with Essential Apps Builder, as well as the rest of the community team.
Thanks to @dkparinitha for proof-reading my writing.
Until next time,
Rushi
