locketRollCall, a private social networking app for friends, has won over Gen Alpha users after the launch of its latest feature, RollCall.
The app, which lets friends share photos and then appear in a home screen widget, first rocketed to the top of the App Store charts in early 2022 by taking advantage of Apple’s widget system to form the basis of its social network. Instead of updates sent via push notifications, the app’s widget will update to show your friends’ newly posted photos. This, in turn, will drive engagement back into the app, prompting users to share their photos in return.
CEO Matt Moss explains that Locket’s RollCall feature takes a similar approach by turning Apple platform features into a social networking tool. A former Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) student scholarship winner, Moss understands how new formats can help attract users and engage people.
RollCall prompts users to share their favorite photos from the past week, and it takes advantage of an iOS feature called Live Activities. This allows apps to use the iPhone lock screen to grab users’ attention. Introduced in iOS 18, live activities Allow iOS apps to provide persistent notification updates in visible places, such as the lock screen and dynamic island (the black bar at the top of the screen).
Apple originally envisioned Live Activities for apps to update their users with real-time information—for example, with information about their Uber arrival or pizza delivery. However, some apps have used the technology in unique ways, such as adding a virtual pet Joy in the dynamic island, Or real time song display to the song you are listening to directly on your lock screen.
However, for Locket, Live Activities become the modern version of push notification.
“Every Sunday, we’ll take over your lock screen and you’ll get this cool live activity that pops up right on the iPhone’s homepage,” Moss said. “It’s similar to the widget (as it is) using Apple technology to get in front of people and then let you share moments that you might not have otherwise shared,” he told TechCrunch in an interview in the halls of the TechCrunch Disrupt conference last week.
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Using the technology in this way has already proven successful for Locket, which has over 91 million lifetime installs on iOS and Android. appfigure Estimate. The company said that in the first week of rollcall, Locket saw more than one million shares driven by the feature.
Additionally, Moss said that more than 25% of the app’s active users are now posting a rollcall every week.
“Live activity attracts people a lot,” Moss said. “And it’s fun, because as your friends are sharing, they’ll feel like we’re all doing it together.”
Approximately 80% of Rollcall’s early active users were classified as Gen Alpha.
The founder said there are some differences in the way Gen Alpha and Gen Z use lockets.
“I think the big difference is… (being) the companion piece versus the primary one. We have a lot of users now (for whom) the locket is the main way to connect with their friends,” Moss explained. “Sending photos directly. Sharing photos with your 10 or 20 best friends. I think it’s a big difference for us,” he said.
As RollCall’s popularity grows, the company is now exploring how to use the feature as a launching pad for experiences other than photos. For example, Moss says adding video support is an obvious next step, but he’s also thinking about how to incorporate prompts designed to help you remember music, favorite places you’ve visited, or things that happened during the week.
While Locket doesn’t have plans to support AI-generated photos or videos like Sora or Meta AI, the company is looking at how AI could be used in other ways — like creating collages or pulling together photo memories.
“Even though those things can get a lot of attention, there’s something very fundamental and basic about communicating and connecting with real people in the world. There will always be a role for that, and there will always be a demand from people,” Moss said, referring to AI apps.
The company is also thinking about how Locket could turn users’ virtual connections with friends into a more real-world touchpoint — even if it’s as simple as reminding users to call or text a friend.
“I think for us, it’s always pretty much the same: How can we use those things to really, really help people connect, versus it being just kind of a short-term fun experience, and you know, (that) can actually be a huge strength in the long run — being that place where it’s just people you really know,” Moss said.
Locket today monetizes through subscriptions. As a result, the 15-person company has been profitable since last year.
