Yo!
There's a new messaging app taking the Internet by storm, and the premise behind it is so simple it's actually comical. Dubbed Yo, the app lets you say "Yo" to your contacts. And that's it.
No long-winded text messages, no scribbled-on photos or short video clips, no emojis. Just yo.
Here's the even crazier thing. Investors have already ponied up a cool $1 million to back the app, according to the Financial Times.
So what, exactly, is the point of an app that only lets you say yo? Well, for one, it might just be perfect for those times when you want to let someone know you're thinking about them, but don't actually want to talk.
"Wanna say 'good morning'? just Yo," the app's description reads. "Wanna say 'Baby I'm thinking about you'? - Yo. 'I've finished my meeting, come by my office' - Yo. 'Are you up?' - Yo. The possibilities are endless."
The app is the brainchild of Moshe Hogeg, CEO of the photo- and video-sharing service Mobli, who got sick of constantly calling and texting his assistant when he wanted her to come in the room. He asked a former iOS engineer at the company, Or Arbel, to come up with a solution. After just eight hours of coding, Yo was born.
It quietly launched in Apple's App Store this April, and just started gaining widespread attention thanks to the Financial Times writeup. At this point, Arbel estimates that nearly 4 million Yos have been sent to date, according to The New York Times.
Moreover, Arbel is so enthusiastic about the app that just last week he quit his job as CTO of the stealth financial startup Stox and moved from Tel Aviv to San Francisco to focus on Yo full-time. And he has a vision for the app – beyond just saying yo.
You can now, for instance, send a Yo to "WorldCup" to get a Yo notification every time a goal is scored in a match. And that's just the beginning. Arbel also hopes newspapers and bloggers will embrace it to send a Yo to subscribers when they publish a new article.
"It's not just an app that says Yo," Arbel told the Financial Times. "It's a whole new means of communication."
Yo is available for free in the App Store and Google Play. Go download it now, yo.
While you're at it, check out our slideshow above of The 10 Most Useless iPhone Apps.