
Launch HN: Tappity (YC S20) – Keeping kids entertained with science - tappityapp
Hey HN --<p>I’m Chad, and I co-founded Tappity (<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.tappityapp.com" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.tappityapp.com</a>) with my friend, Lawrence. We’re building a healthy alternative to Youtube that entertains and educates kids (4-10) with interactive lessons—starting with science!<p>Tappity’s story began ten years ago when I developed an app for my Biology professor to teach kids about evolution. It was my first time building a product for kids, so I learned a ton about designing for an audience who couldn’t read or sit still for very long. Also, their brutally honest feedback was refreshing! We ended up getting 20,000 downloads, and I learned kids <i>love</i> interactions. After that great experience, I continued to create apps for kids on the side for fun.<p>About two years ago, parents started paying for one of these apps. Kids loved a segment we had shot on a whim at our friend’s house, in which they could interact with a real live science teacher. Parents were excited, too. We gave them something engaging, fun, and educational for their kids, which is shockingly rare. The sad reality is that 99% of kids apps fall into three buckets: ad-riddled games, cheap &amp; buggy ABC&#x2F;123 apps, or YouTube. We wanted to do better. Shortly thereafter, Lawrence and I quit our jobs (where we had met) to start Tappity!<p>We leaned into this idea of live-like experiences. We felt it’d enrich screen time without sacrificing the fun. So, with Tappity, kids don’t just passively watch, they play along and direct our live-action characters on screen. For example, you could tell Haley—our version of Bill Nye—what she should do next in her science experiment, and she would actually do what you say. Unlike traditional TV programs or videos, where you know the person on screen is talking to a million other people, Tappity makes it feel like characters are interacting with <i>just</i> you in real time. Turns out, this format is super engaging. Best of all, kids don’t feel like they’re learning—they tell their parents they&#x27;re hanging out with Haley!<p>So far, we’ve produced ~40 hours of original content, and we’re rapidly building out our library. While we shot much of our content initially with an iPhone in my garage, we’ve now graduated to filming with an actual crew at a studio in Los Angeles!<p>We&#x27;re excited to share Tappity with the wider HN community, especially those of you with younger kids. With many families still spending a lot of time at home, we&#x27;re hoping to make at-home learning a bit more fun and bearable. You can download it for free on the App Store [1]. Would love to hear what you think!<p>Chad, Lawrence, &amp; Tanner<p>P.S. We also just launched the first online science fair for kids [2] hosted by Kari Byron from Mythbusters to encourage families to do more science experiments at home (and win prizes)! Check it out!<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;itunes.apple.com&#x2F;us&#x2F;app&#x2F;tappity-interactive-stories&#x2F;id1265019371?ls=1&amp;mt=8" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;itunes.apple.com&#x2F;us&#x2F;app&#x2F;tappity-interactive-stories&#x2F;...</a><p>[2] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.juniorsciencefair.com" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.juniorsciencefair.com</a>
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CobrastanJorji
Hey, we tried Tappity on my 7 year old and it became his preferred app for a
while. He burned through all of the content in a matter of weeks.

The little achievements and interactive bits were very effective at keeping
him engaged. I'm not sure how much he's retaining, and for the multiple choice
questions he seemed to just choose things randomly until he could proceed
forward, but he definitely picked up at least a handful of random factoids
that he'd tell us about later.

I couldn't have been happier about his interest in that instead of Youtube
Kids videos. So much content for kids is just dumb stuff that is focused on
keeping kids' eyeballs but not on anything else. The educational apps seem to
be mostly focused on random simple math problems or spelling. Science-focused
content for young kids has been practically non-existent, so we tried Tappity
because it was pretty much the only option. We were very pleasantly surprised.

Thanks for making engaging content that I don't feel bad about exposing my
kids to. Please make more content.

~~~
ltran
Thank you for your kind words! We're working super hard right now on getting
our newest form of content live soon, and we're excited to share it. It's a
lot closer to the live-like experience we envisioned originally, plus we're
introducing new characters!

Also, a great point about kids swiping randomly in order to proceed forward.
One thing we're getting better at is explaining why an answer may not be
right, so even if a kid chooses an answer randomly, they'll learn why that's
not the correct answer.

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Zippogriff
We just found this the other day! It seems great and my kid's really into it!

But I tried to give you money to access more than the demo lessons and
couldn't. Hit the 3-month sub on my kid's ipad, sent request to parent ipad
(mine) to authorize, authorized it, and... nothing. No payment occurred, no
access granted, and now even after a re-install that middle option and
"restore" both seem to be non-functional. Can still select the other two, but
I don't want those and anyway I'm not sure they'll do anything.

[EDIT] I just went to try it again but I created an account a couple days ago
in the process of trying to fix it (though it already had one, I think, but I
have no idea how it got set up; I guess my kid must have just clicked through
some things, so I replaced that nonsense with a real account) and it seems to
have reset progress, so, to be allowed to try to pay, now I have to go through
some lessons first, unless there's some secret way to get to the payment
screen.

Minor issue report uncovered in the process of the attempt: the app uses both
portrait and landscape orientations depending on the view, but seems to
hardcode which direction is "up" for both rather than letting them flip with
the physical device orientation, which is annoying if, say, your device is
connected to a charger and needs to sit a certain way. It doesn't even seem to
use the current up/down orientation on initial render and then stick to that,
which would at least be better than just having up and down hardcoded to
specific sides of the screen.

[EDIT 2] Made it through the free part of Human Body, confirmed, 3-month
option is still not responding to touches at all.

~~~
ltran
Lawrence from Tappity here.

Excited to hear that your kid is enjoying Tappity so far! Also, thanks for the
feedback about the payment page. We'll be adding an access point from the
Parents Menu soon.

So sorry to hear about the bug, though. Would you mind emailing us at
hey@tappityapp.com? Wanted to ask you a few questions to help us figure out
what's going on.

~~~
Zippogriff
Sure, will do.

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mgraczyk
Great content, glad to see something for kids that is more useful than YouTube
Poop Nursery Rhymes.

I wonder if someday you could use automate some of the video using something
like this Tennis video generator that was shared here yesterday:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24398474](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24398474)

~~~
ltran
Yes! It's astonishing how many views those types of videos get and how many
downloads app developers would also get for producing apps with a similar
vibe.

Our advisor, Björn Jeffery, does a fantastic job breaking down the kids app
market, and in this section, summarizes how developers must do better in his
blog. [1] The entire four-parter is a great read. [2]

As a team, we've actually talked about how technology can maybe one day
_create_ content but we feel there's still something very powerful about a
real person talking that can't be replicated with technology yet. That being
said, we are building technology that enables us to automate a lot of the
interactive video production, which has been fun learning experience so far!

[1] [https://www.bjornjeffery.com/2019/06/20/the-kids-app-
market-...](https://www.bjornjeffery.com/2019/06/20/the-kids-app-market-
part-3-a-wish-list/) [2] [https://www.bjornjeffery.com/2019/05/31/the-kids-
app-market-...](https://www.bjornjeffery.com/2019/05/31/the-kids-app-market-a-
strategic-overview/)

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artur_makly
Our FAV app for my 7yr old. Make more content.. he's consumed all of it and
hungry for more ;-)

~~~
ltran
Whoa, that's amazing to hear! We're on it :)

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vtuulos
I just installed it for my daughter. Most educational apps are quite boring
but Tappity was immediately engaging, thanks to genuinely funny videos and
well designed content. Great job!

Quick user feedback: My daughter tried a course about building an animal. She
made choices that produced surprising results ("the eyes are too ugly!") and
wanted to go back but she couldn't figure out how - there's no clear back /
restart button.

~~~
ltran
Well, you can't restart evolution! ;)

Joking aside, thanks for the feedback and excited to hear your daughter's
enjoying Tappity. We're working on improving navigation in our next iteration,
taking into consideration usage behavior like kids who may want to pause or
restart!

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shireboy
Looks great, but why iOS only? Certainly this could be hosted online for kids
on Chromebooks, laptops, etc.

~~~
ltran
Right on :) We're expanding to desktop in the coming months!

~~~
dmarinoc
Don’t forget the AppleTV :)

~~~
ltran
Oh, definitely! We're learning that siblings love playing Tappity together.
Well, at least one plays while the others watch :) So, having it on the big
screen will really help, plus it'll be easier for parents who like to keep an
eye on things as well!

~~~
dmarinoc
Yup. In our case, tablets are forbidden on weekdays, but we allow them to use
the appletv because we can control what they are doing/watching. I’ll be happy
to pay a lifetime membership once it’s released there.

------
GraffitiTim
My 3 year old daughter really enjoyed this! Very nicely done.

~~~
tappityapp
So glad to hear! Thank you. :)

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mncharity
> teach kids about evolution

The possibility of a children's picture book serving as immunization against
misconceptions, BU's "How the Piloses Evolved Skinny Noses", seems intriguing.

[1] reading
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ud1Q_q4f-hQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ud1Q_q4f-hQ)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUyVd1pO3nIh](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUyVd1pO3nIh)
[2] paper
[https://www.bu.edu/cdl/files/2017/10/Emmons_et_al-2017-Journ...](https://www.bu.edu/cdl/files/2017/10/Emmons_et_al-2017-Journal_of_Research_in_Science_Teaching.pdf)
[3] press release [https://www.bu.edu/federal/2017/09/29/new-book-by-bu-
researc...](https://www.bu.edu/federal/2017/09/29/new-book-by-bu-researchers-
teaches-natural-selection-to-children/)

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sharemywin
Any plan for android support?

~~~
kyriakos
I came here to ask the same thing. There's a mailing list for the Web /
Android version at the bottom of the page. I will definitely forget about it
until then.

~~~
ltran
We will! We're starting with web first towards the end of this year, but we're
targeting Android next year.

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ultrasounder
This is so cool!. This could be huge for home-schooled kids like mine. He is
very interested in science and building legos. I am sure he will dig the
Machines. Also thanks for sharing the link to junior science fair. Keep calm
and science on!. Good luck with Your venture and I sure do hope You guys go
onto become an immense platform for STEM education just like KA.

~~~
ltran
Thank you for the kind words! We admire KA a lot. They've helped so many
families pull through during the pandemic.

Also, as a team, we're really invested in sparking scientific curiosity beyond
the screen as well, so it'd be great to have your kids participate in the
Junior Science Fair!

~~~
ultrasounder
Yes!. absolutely. I am planning to work with my son along with my wife to
comeup with an experiment, record it and post it. Also, hes in 7th grade so
its perfect that he makes the age cut.

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jtsiskin
This looks incredible! I hope this succeeded wildly.

The current preview video (“A Closer Look”) has some audio issues - the
narrator and Haley talk at the same time. I also wanted to see an example of
the interactivity, but maybe the time constraints are too short to show there?

~~~
ltran
Thank you, we appreciate your support! Do you mean the preview video in the
App Store or somewhere else? We have a few clips on our website but trying it
out in the app will probably give you a much better idea. (It's free to
download!)

------
robot
This is the ultimate app idea for covid times parents, I will definitely check
it out.

~~~
ltran
Awesome! Feel free to email us with any feedback at hey@tappityapp.com

As awful as the situation is, it has certainly helped us connect with parents
who really need a lot of help right now. But we built and designed Tappity
long before COVID and we think it'll continue to be great for families long
afterwards, too! :)

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guillaumerose
Looks good! Maybe it's time to translate the content? If so, I vote for French
:)

~~~
parasec
Would also be interesting for me in German - and on android. Or you skip
Google's and Apples price fist and also create a web-only version.

~~~
ltran
We are planning to making it available on web as well in the coming months!

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nihilanth
My kid loved it! Great job!

~~~
tappityapp
Yay! Thank you! Any topics that they would especially like added?

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quickthrower2
Wow seeing some serious product market fit in this thread!

~~~
ltran
It's pretty awesome that families are discovering & loving Tappity! It makes
it even more exciting to continue making it even better :)

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erulabs
Congrats on the launch! Don't have kids (yet!) but am super interested in
educational start-ups. Good luck, hope to be a customer in a couple years!

~~~
ltran
Thank you! See you in a few years ;)

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KnownSubset
Is there a way to purchase it outside of iTunes? I would like to give all my
money to the directly to the company for the great content.

~~~
ltran
Hey, thank you! You can purchase a subscription on our website:
app.tappityapp.com

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mrkurt
Oh this is great. My kids _love_ educational videos. I've been looking for a
way to get them more access minus all the garbage on Youtube.

~~~
tappityapp
Awesome! Try out Tappity and let me know how it goes. Email hey@tappityapp.com
with any feedback.

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rapind
Looks great! I’d use it with my kids if it was in arcade (I don’t install
anything with ads or in app purchases, but I’m sure I’m a minority)

~~~
ltran
Totally understandable! We've spent a ton of time talking to parents, and not
including ads was one of the first (and easiest) decisions we've made. The
other was always offering a set of free and re-playable content that we expand
every time we have a release, so families can experience Tappity before they
ever have to commit to purchasing a subscription.

~~~
rapind
I'm not concerned at all about spending money without trying it. I check
reviews for everything I purchase, especially for my kids, before I buy
anyways, at a minimum seeing someone use it on youtube.

The problem I have with in-app purchases with kids, is that it's very vague
and open ended, and it's getting promoted to my kids. There's no guarantee
that pricing will be fair for future content or features. I prefer the initial
expense over the lack of transparency. I also prefer the family sharing
standard with Apple's Arcade... I can't just pay for an in-app purchase for
one of my kids and not the other(s), or there'll be hell to pay.

That's just me though. I'm very happy with Arcade and being able to keep them
away from ads / in-app purchases very easily through it.

------
kabacha
I'm not sure if this too offtopic but does anyone know similar applications
for languages for young kids?

~~~
colordrops
How young? My eight year old enjoys Duolingo though he gets a bit discouraged
by the competitive aspect of it sometimes.

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ckluis
For the love of all that is holy... please release a reading/writing course
that looks this good.

~~~
ltran
Hah! Lots of Tappity families have been feature-requesting that we also teach
math, history, and even art! We'd love to expand into other subjects one day--
we think our format will serve them well :)

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MikeTheGreat
First - this is awesome, and timely. Definitely going to try this with my kids
:)

Second, and completely off topic - The text for the post is grayed out a bit.
It looks similar to downvoted comments. Most of the 'Ask HN' posts look like
this.

I assume this is normal (yes?). Why is this done?

~~~
ltran
Awesome! Kids are the toughest critics, so let us know what they think :)

I'm also not entirely sure why the post itself is grayed out. We didn't do
anything to alter it, so I think it's normal!

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p2hari
I do not see it in the Denmark store. It says KS1 science and not the latest
one.

~~~
ltran
That's the correct app! It's named differently in that region.

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spiderfarmer
Any plan for other languages?

~~~
ltran
We'd love to in the future! We have quite a few kids around the world using
Tappity, and it's still honestly surreal when we get fan mail from kids in
Vietnam or Oman, for example.

But at the moment, we're focused on making the Tappity experience and product
as amazing as possible first before expanding to other languages.

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jain_chirag04
Minimum supported os is ios 13 :( Couldn't install it on my old ipad which is
stuck on ios 12.

~~~
ltran
Ugh, I'm sorry. We are expanding to web fairly soon, though, so hopefully you
can give it a try when it's live there!

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leomayleomay
Unavailable in New Zealand market? :(

~~~
tappityapp
It should be available in New Zealand. Can you try searching "Tappity" on the
app store?

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mncharity
Does anyone know of any efforts or fora encouraging innovation in the
"scienceness" of content? I'm picturing a pipeline from science research, to
exploratory/researchy content creation, to deliverable content creation, where
the middle bit gets little attention. For examples...

Most intro astronomy content, K thru undergrad, gets the color of the Sun
either simply wrong, or handles it misleadingly. Resulting in even first-tier
astronomy graduate students likely knowing it wrong. Clips from Tappity show
false color photos and art of the Sun. Which if not handled carefully, is
setting kids up for this morass of common misconceptions around Sun color.
What might "handled carefully" look like? Good question. Do you know of any
context where that gets discussed?

Similarly, the Tappity "exploded" layers of Earth graphic[3] is variously
misleading and aphysically colored (better than many). Which is pervasive for
such graphics. Do you know of any community which might say "variants of this
common graphic abound, variously wrong - let's put in the collaborative effort
necessary to create one correct, and open license it"?

Education content for kids often says the Sun warms the Earth. But that's only
half the story, and I've never seen content which does the whole. Earth is
doing a bbq roll between too hot Sun and too cold deep space. Even young kids
might grasp the concept that with something uncomfortably hot, and another
uncomfortably cold, you can attain comfort by alternating. But we don't say
that. Does anyone know of a setting for "here is a commonly taught story
that's incomplete - let's create exemplar content that fills it out"? Cold at
night, at altitude, with cloudless skys, especially when dry... it's a story
that's actionable, if not cut short.

Chemistry education content is famously bad. Chem ed research describes it
using adjectives like incoherent, leaving both teachers and students steeped
in misconceptions. But now XR content is coming. And some of it is nifty. But
much of it is the usual wretched, now in 3D.

There seems a body of _badly_ needed effort and work, very poorly
incentivized, that's not getting well addressed. Do these examples bring to
mind any efforts to address this need? Thanks!

[1]
[https://www.facebook.com/480316135473139/videos/821231864714...](https://www.facebook.com/480316135473139/videos/821231864714896/)
[https://www.facebook.com/tappityapp/photos/a.803595309811885...](https://www.facebook.com/tappityapp/photos/a.803595309811885/958179584353456/)
[3]
[https://www.facebook.com/tappityapp/photos/a.803595309811885...](https://www.facebook.com/tappityapp/photos/a.803595309811885/958185751019506/)

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leomayleomay
not available in New Zealand market :(

