Show HN: Whenish – Plan Group Events in iMessages
29 devgoth 40 5/22/2025, 3:15:27 PM apps.apple.com ↗
hey everyone! i built Whenish because it was always so difficult to figure out what date worked best with a bunch of friends in a group chat.
Whenish is an iMessage app that allows individuals to select multiple dates that work for them for an event attempting to be planned for.
i have more ideas for new features but wanted to get something out there that was usable. so far ive had good reception in my friend group chats of Whenish.
download it, give it a go, let me know what you think! this is my first app i felt ~good~ about releasing.
On the app itself, I don’t understand why it allows selecting past dates in the current month (e.g., Why al I allowed to select May 1st?) I can understand allowing a day or so to account for time zone differences, but usually people across large time zones differences wouldn’t be the audience for this app since it doesn’t allow for availability by time of the day.
i release ios apps under an LLC in hopes that one day an app will make money and i would rather that be associated with an LLC.
good question on past dates! i will fix that :)
* Install App
* App cannot passively READ messages
* When I need to use the app, like in a group chat where we are spontaneously planning an event, I can invite it into the chat so that the group can input their preferences
* Other group members (who may also need to install the app) can interact with the widget to submit their planning prefferences
* Widget then WRITES results back to the chat
Does it ever read my messages? Does it ever write messages to the chat? Does my entire group chat need to install it?
Great work. Seems well targeted and that it could help a lot of folks.
The only message that is written to the chat is when you hit submit. There is no external service as all information is stored as metadata on the message itself. I did not want to have an external server (which has its own challenges, see in another message around collisions).
Your entire group can see the message but in order to interact with the poll they will need to download the app. They will be redirected to the app store if they do not have the app after clicking.
Where can I read more about using iMessage as a medium for generic multi-player collaboration? Or if you can just share the right keywords, I will appreciate that!
It seems like a very polished and better integrated version of https://www.when2meet.com/.
You say you do not collect info. Are you saving the meeting details and availability in a database?
this leads to some issues with potential collisions like if two people click the Whenish message at the same time and submit their message, there is no way to merge both that data. while this is an issue, i wanted to err on the side of privacy as much as possible and not rely on a server at all.
And no, of course this iOS/iMessage app doesn't work on Android.
These related documents you speak really makes me not want to app. I'm glad there are braver people than me. The only thing I can offer is "fly low and avoid the radar"
Again, the main point is that I don't do shady shit that needs regulating. I don't use 3rd party libraries that hoover up data to be resold to anyone offering to buy. I roll my own JS to make something function. I write my own CSS to make it look "pretty". I know that nothing nefarious is happening because I didn't code anything nefarious to happen. My sites are about as lame as the people that think that regulations are going to solve anything
if anyone knows about this (i remember i saw a warning by Apple) please let me know!