A newly released app for the G1 is trying to prevent users from texting while driving, simply put Textecution “completely disables texting while the car is in motion.” The app uses the built-in GPS and deactivates the SMS
capability when the phone is moving faster than 10MPH, and then once the speed goes back under 10MPH the SMS will be unlocked and available within a few seconds. It was also noted that the parent (or administrator) can grant exceptions if needed. Such an example would be if the user happened to be on another moving vehicle such as a bus or train. Of course, this would also limit their use even when they are not driving, even a passenger in a car would be traveling faster than 10MPH.
It is hard to deny that texting while driving is dangerous, I would even say it could be worse on a touchscreen device where you cannot feel your way around the keys. I also applaud eLYK Innovation for coming up with such a unique app, however there seems to be a pretty simple flaw — there is nothing stopping a crafty teen, or employee from simply deleting the app from their handset.
The developers have acknowledged the ease of which the user could simply delete the app, and are considering making that harder to do in future versions. Bottom line, these seems like a nice idea, and many help some people, but overall there seems to be plenty of times where someone could be moving faster than 10MPH and not need their texting ability disabled.
Textecution is available for download from www.textecution.com and retails for $9.95.
(I think it should be free)
Posted on December 23rd, 2008 by Ronald
Filed under: Old
really bad for a light rail, or subway, or even possibly a boat, maybe a plane… primarily other transportation other than a car, but still great idea!
Ron, thanks for the post and good feedback.
When developing this app we figured that there would be some parenting involved. We still intend on pursuing the “cant” remove feature, however we are still learning the nuances of the Andriod operating system.
We will take feedback from users and roll them into a 2.0 version.
We considered offering it for free but felt this was important enough that parents would be willing to spend the $9.95. ( many games cost that much. )
Time will tell.
Happy New Year.
Thanks for commenting, I truly am supportive of the app. So I want to provide you with plenty of feedback, and suggestions.
*A really good marketing plan will be needed. I just turned 18, and I’m a high school student. I can say that my parents know nothing about the iPhone, they barely know anything about the computer itself. As a teen myself, If I didn’t care so much about being killed in a wreck (I saw a horrible wreck just today), careless, like most teens, I would definitely not want to buy this app.
*I do think your idea is revolutionary, I think this is something that should come built into the mechanism of all phones, not just for teens, but for all people. This should be an app recognized by all the major phone companies (Motorola, Nokia)…
*I think that it would be awesome if the phone could recognize somehow, what the passenger was riding in, ways I think could be through initial velocity, and differences in acceleration, or even perhaps the number of stops the vehicle takes. (Ex. a public transportation bus would make more stops than a car) – If what I’m saying is stupid or not, it’s just my ideas.
I hope you were able to check out one of my post from the past:
http://ronaldarichardson.com/2008/02/04/an-email-i-recieved-no-more-texting-while-driving/
-Your the genius behind this I take it, I can’t wait to see what you do in the future with this.