
Show HN: Cardbox – The address book reimagined as a social network - dexwell
https://cardbox.app
======
zhte415
A simple idea that makes sense. Good luck! I see a use case and would install
if there was an android version. How does adding others work? Scan QR code?
Search their pre-added contact info?

For pricing, and I understand you may be bootstrapped and seeking to be cash-
positive, 100 contacts limit seems really low, especially given a selling
point on your website that this can be for quickly adding new
contacts/business cards/high number of low familiarity/frequency contacts.
Perhaps make fees for power user features, like groups, or very high contact
lists, or corporate use cases?

For vanity url usernames, I'm not sure if this works or just fragments
namespaces more. I have my own firstlast name .com, Twitter and handful of
other social media vanity url accounts. But names are not unique being first
mover is. My vote on the jury for this feature is out.

~~~
dexwell
_> A simple idea that makes sense. Good luck! I see a use case and would
install if there was an android version. How does adding others work? Scan QR
code? Search their pre-added contact info?_

Thanks! Android is planned. You add someone by searching their name, clicking
their link, or using Nearby which shows people who have the app open near you
using Bluetooth.

 _> 100 contacts limit seems really low_

I think after connecting to people 100 times you'll feel like paying one cup
of coffee a month is worth the value you get out of the app.

 _> For vanity url usernames, I'm not sure if this works or just fragments
namespaces more._

Not quite sure what you mean, but usernames are primarily intended so you can
put a pretty, memorable link in the bio of your social accounts or on your
business card.

If Cardbox becomes the initial point of digital connection, then here's where
a good username will matter most; your other accounts are easily found anyway
as they're linked on your card.

Making usernames work like domain registrations also solves the problem of
usernames being squatted, or taken and abandoned. It's also an incentive to
keep paying. I believe it's a good solution :)

------
dexwell
Hey HN,

I'm the (solo) founder at Cardbox. Happy to answer any questions and respond
to feedback!

After growing frustrated from outdated, incomplete, and duplicate contact
information that had accumulated over the years, I realized that the concept
of contact management has become really dated.

While we've seen a lot of innovation in email and calendar apps, the same
can't be said about contacts apps—even though we all use contacts, and the
process of contact management hasn't changed since the first smartphones.

At the same time, the detrimental effects of social media on mental health,
relationships, privacy, and politics have become quite clear, and many people
want to cut down on their social media usage. The problem is that when you
leave social media platforms, you also lose your social networks (note the
distinction).

Then it hit me. By combining contacts and social networking, I realized most
issues with both could be fixed, and in hindsight combining them just makes so
much sense. Why should you manage someone else’s contact information in this
age of connectivity?

In short, Cardbox is a next-generation contacts app where everyone controls
their own card at all times. When you make changes to your info, those changes
get instantly pushed to the device address books of your connections.

It's the one central place to stay connected to the people in your life.
Whether it's family or friends, classmates or colleagues, teammates or
clients; you can simply connect on Cardbox and exchange the contact
information necessary to stay in touch both online and offline (this includes
the messaging apps and social media you use).

My goal with Cardbox is to create a paradigm shift in the way we connect
digitally, to become the first place to connect when you meet someone. Instead
of creating a contact on the spot, or spelling out your usernames on services
X and Y, you easily connect on Cardbox and instantly see where else you can
find and contact each other—now and in the future.

Let me know what you think!

~~~
TeddyBones
I think it looks great. Hope it catches on! How long until the android version
is ready?

~~~
dexwell
Thank you very much!

It's hard for me to say as I have no experience with Android development so
far. The app is built using React Native, so most of the code will work on
Android.

It's just a matter of getting it to work, then making it feel at home and
handling the unique challenges on Android. This is why I say this summer; this
gives me a couple of months to figure it out.

------
WilliamMayor
I've had this exact idea floating around in my head for a while now. Really
excited that you've gone and built it :)

As with any social network, the hard part is getting lots of people to use it.
There's no benefit to me if I have a card but none of my friends do. How are
you going to tackle this problem?

I'd really like to use this kind of product at the company I work for. We have
a fair amount of people churn, with contractors coming and going. It would be
great if my address book could auto-update with their details. Do you have any
plans for some kind of company tier, where you could add/connect cards to a
company on behalf of the user?

~~~
dexwell
Thank you! I truly believe in the idea: I've had it since 2014, and after a
few stranded attempts with various co-founders (as a side project, no funding
nor enough time) I decided to roll up my sleeves and learn to build everything
myself.

 _> As with any social network, the hard part is getting lots of people to use
it. There's no benefit to me if I have a card but none of my friends do. How
are you going to tackle this problem?_

The way I see it, a social media platform only offers value if you have people
actively posting content. Cardbox is different in that it already offers
benefit if you have just one connection; that's one contact you never have to
manage again. And this is true for every connection you make.

Right now, it's not yet a full replacement of your old address book, but
rather a utility to modernize it, bit by bit. As the user base grows and the
app becomes available on all platforms, it can become that replacement.

If everyone manages to just convince their closest circles (and/or people that
change phone numbers or addresses a lot e.g. due to travel) to use the app, at
some point enough people will have it so that it can unlock its full potential
in situations of meeting new people.

To promote this, there's the referral program that rewards free Pro. Hoping
early adopters want to set up the app for family members etc.

 _> Do you have any plans for some kind of company tier, where you could
add/connect cards to a company on behalf of the user?_

Absolutely, lots of potential there; company cards and business cards are on
the roadmap: [https://cardbox.app/roadmap](https://cardbox.app/roadmap)

 _> Also, where is the data kept? Is this GDPR safe? I'm in the UK and I'd
like to keep this company/user data somewhere safe :)_

It's stored on AWS in the Ireland region. Of course, Cardbox is GDPR
compliant; privacy is a core focus :) See
[https://cardbox.app/privacy](https://cardbox.app/privacy)

------
_august
I don't really get it. I use contacts on my phone + iMessage, this seems to be
just a slightly more featured contacts manager? But, comes with a huge
drawback that everyone else needs to be using it as well?

I would like an app where I can manage my friends / family lists, and then be
able to text multiple people at once, invite them to events, etc. Those are
the useful features I see from social networks, but are not well replicated
right now outside of Facebook.

I typically manage all my contacts thru Google, and that has some features for
merging duplicates, portability across devices/gmail, and also some list
features.

~~~
dexwell
The core idea is that we move to self-managed, modern, always up-to-date,
dynamic contacts which are also way faster and easier to exchange.

I imagine it's also the first alternative to Facebook for people who simply
want to stay in touch digitally, despite changing online and offline
environments.

If Cardbox becomes ubiquitous, manual contact management for everyone you know
will be a thing of the past. You will always have access to the latest contact
info of your connections, always a recent photo, always access to their
preferred messaging and social apps.

Anyway, this is early days and those group features are always possible in the
future. :)

