Why No Bump?

ByMike Moffit

When I got my iPhone, one of the first apps that I found was Bump. For those of you not aware of what Bump is, allow me to explain. Bump is an app that allows you to share information with other people by literally bumping your phones together. In the beginning Bump simply sent contact information to the other phone; now it has grown to have several sections including photos, apps, music, calendar and social networks.

Bump seems almost magical at first. You and your friend decide what to share and simply bump phones. Boom, you have their contact information; or you can bump and send friend request through social networks like Facebook and Twitter. You can also send photos of yourself to their phones or send app or music recommendations. Bump is even sophisticated enough to be able to find common free times within your schedules to set up a meeting or date.

Needless to say I was ecstatic over the possibilities this app offered. However I am deeply disappointed with the lack of bump requests I have gotten. Perhaps there are reasons for this. Maybe people don’t know how it works, maybe people don’t think it’s secure, maybe people don’t think that their friends devices will work with Bump. Well, I’m going to put your fears to rest by answering these questions.

“But how does it work?” Well Bump has a two-part system: the app on the device and an algorithm that matches phones on Bump’s servers. The app uses the sensor in the device to sense the physical bump and then transmits the time and location to Bump servers. The algorithm then matches that device with another device within the same proximity that felt the bump at the same time. The information is then exchanged.

“But won’t people bump my phone to get my information and steal it?” Bump is set up with security in mind. For any information to be shared the users have to go through a couple of different steps in order to send and receive information, making it impossible to transmit your information without your knowledge. The act of bumping followed by having to accept bump requests means that you don’t have to worry about some random person coming and bumping your phone and running off with all your contact information.

“But what if my friends don’t have iPhones?” Let’s face it, the days of having to ask this question are slowly coming to an end. The iPhone is dominating the cell phone world, and if you don’t have an iPhone, then, well, you don’t have an iPhone. But on a more serious note, Bump currently supports iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad and Android—all of which can communicate with each other. This means that even if you meet someone with an Android phone you can still bump with them. Bump is also looking to expand to other platforms.

So there you have it: an amazing app that can do a lot for you. It is safe and secure and works on multiple platforms. So let’s get those bump numbers up! Start asking friends if they want to bump to set up a meeting or share photos with you. Hopefully I can use this poor neglected app on my phone just a little bit more.

Similar Posts

  • Super Bowl XLVII Highlight Roundup

    The Super Bowl kicks off this Sunday, and we’re all placing our (friendly) bets. With a couple of native Marylanders (guilty) and a…

  • WOOF

    WOOF

  • Apple Excitement and Steam for Mac

    As an Apple fan, I don’t think I’ve ever been as excited as I am now. If I could roll the clock ahead to April right now then I would, and woe be it to anyone who tried to stop me. Why am I so excited? Well, two things really.

    First, obviously, is the iPad. Somehow in the last week I have gone from staunch iPad skeptic to literally “in a froth” to get my hands on one (thanks Penny Arcade for the excellent descriptor of my frenzied state). I’ll be the first to admit that as it was presented it is a fairly unassuming device. It doesn’t really do anything that you can’t do with an iPhone and a MacBook, and falls awkwardly somewhere between. But oh, the promise! The sheer potential of such a device is astounding. My intent is to purchase one as a statement, if nothing else. A statement to developers that I need them to develop great apps for it. But enough about the iPad.

    What really has me excited for April is the announcement that Valve, creators of Half Life, Portal, and Left for Dead, will be bringing its steam delivery service to the Mac platform, and its Source engine along with it. If you’re a Mac gamer, or wish you were, then this is amazing news. It’s no secret that our platform of choice is routinely ignored by game developers.

    Apple themselves have also ignored us by refusing to offer us more powerful graphics options (yes, I really do need 1GB of VRAM). Blizzard has really been the sole supporter of Macs in the game realm, steadily releasing their Mac versions simultaneously with their Windows counterparts… on the same discs even. For a company the size of Valve to start building Mac-native versions of their games and really support the platform should encourage other companies to follow suit.

    It’s already panning out like I expected. Razer has already announced they will fully support Mac OS X with their line of gamer centric peripherals (I’m a huge fan of their mice). My guess is that next we’ll see some of the larger publishers such as EA and Ubisoft (though please leave your draconian DRM behind) start to pick up Mac knowledgeable programmers and start to build native versions of their games rather than the bogged down ports we receive now.

    Even if other developers don’t jump on board immediately, I can’t express in words how excited I am to be able to download my already large library of Source games without launching bootcamp first. And when Portal 2 releases around the holidays, I’ll finally be able to consider myself a Mac gamer instead of a gamer who likes Macs.