App developer learns a few things from his seven-year-old daughter
Software that tracks how much quality time you spend with your children was itself time well spent, writes Clara Chow
Last year, Mace and his seven-year-old, Lia, started working together on an app to help parents keep track of how much time they had spent with their children.
"One day, I was putting her to bed and, out of the blue, she said: 'I have an app you can make'," says French-born, Singapore-based Mace, 41, on how their project began. "I was quite shocked."
Lia's initial idea had been an app that would allow parents and children to give each other virtual hugs, like the real-life hugs that she and her father share (they hold each other for the count of whatever day it happens to be - one count if it's July 1, and thirty-one if it's July 31). That idea, however, evolved to the present incarnation, where parents are given points depending on what activities they've done together and for how long. More points are awarded for outdoor and cultural activities, which presumably lead to greater bonding or are more educational.
The app, named Mini Hug, was launched last month in the Apple App Store. Since then, says Mace, it has been downloaded more than 1,000 times. It has attracted only one review so far, but feedback has been good, he says.
And while some parents have expressed concern about tracking information about their kids, even though Mace says the data is private, they are few in number.