Honkish⁠↗

Presence also extended beyond simple typing into features like reactions. Double-tapping a friend’s chat bubble placed a heart exactly where you tapped, along with a faint animated circle and a simultaneous haptic felt by both users. This visually (and physically) pinpointed precisely what you were reacting to and when, creating the sense of a truly shared space.

Honk was designed as much for play as it was for conversation. Every interaction was an experiment in creating something engaging — both for users and our team.

This approach to reactions led users to discover ‘emoji battles’, a spontaneous game hidden as a fun easter egg. If both people sent emojis at the same time, the emojis collided on-screen, driven by a tiny physics engine we built. Friends intentionally caused these collisions, transforming reactions into something totally different.

Magic Words let users further personalise their chats by configuring words or phrases to trigger mini emoji bursts that animated in place when (and also where) typed. “Thankssss” might trigger smiley heart faces, like in the example below. In practice, friends customised these for personal inside jokes, creating their own individual experience for each chat.

g into play made Honk unpredictable in the best way. It encouraged discovery, surprise, and plenty of chaotic-good moments. Not everything needed a purpose. Sometimes, the fun was in just seeing what would happen.

I’m a believer that great software is defined by the sum of all its thoughtful small details, and Honk had quite a few that deserve an honourable mention here.

Before chatting with strangers, we had users sign their names directly onscreen. It wasn’t legally binding, but this gesture noticeably reduced bad behaviour in random chats by making users pause and adding a sense of personal accountability.

After conversations with strangers, users rated their experience using a slider shaped like the Honk logo, whose facial expression animated based on your feedback, making ratings tactile and expressive.

In the end, Honk felt as much like a toy as it did a utility. Every action was tactically satisfying, visually rewarding, and encouraged experimentation.