I Built An App That Creates Addictive 5-Minute Stories Made Up of Text Messages

August 2018 will make it eight years since I launched The Naked Convos — the open publishing platform. It has been an exciting journey full of trials, lessons, successes and more. Last year, we decided to take a step back to do a significant analysis of our audience. In a world where publishers are struggling but platforms with messaging apps are consistently recording growth, this was necessary. We knew who our readers were but we wanted to find out what they really enjoy, why, and most importantly, how.

One of the things that quickly became clear to us is that conversations are the most convenient and natural way for people to consume content. This led to a series of experiments with content formats and after several iterations, we ended up developing an app.

Today, I’m extremely proud to announce the official launch of the TNC Stories mobile app. With Stories, we have joined the small group of publishers globally looking to drive innovation within the publishing industry with the new storytelling format that presents content like short text message in chat bubbles. This sometimes gives the impression that you are snooping into another person’s conversation but it also presents content in a way you are used to. Perhaps this is why the app is extremely addictive and engaging.

The Stories app is lightweight and easy to use — all you have to do is tap on the screen of your phone to reveal one message after the other. The fun doesn’t stop there, you can react to each message with an emoji and if you enjoy a story so much, you can let the writer know by liking it or dropping a comment where you will find other users like yourself.

Beyond fun and engagement, you can also create your own stories and earn money when others read it. In the user section of the app, you can see how many stories you have published, how much you have earned from others reading them, and you can request a payout once you hit the minimum payout amount. The TNC Stories app has a unique, easy to navigate layout that promises to keep you engaged. The app is free and available for IOS and Android devices.