Tech

Avoid whoever you want with this Harry Potter-like invisibility app

Katie Callahan Contributor
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The new app Cloak bills itself as an “antisocial network,” allowing users to avoid other users they don’t like, The Washington Post reports.

“Personally, I think we’ve seen the crest of the big social network,” Baker wrote in an e-mail to the Post. “Things like Twitter and Facebook are packed elevators where we’re all crammed in together. … I think anti-social stuff is on the rise. You’ll be seeing more and more of these types of projects.”

Programmer Brian Moore and former BuzzFeed creative director Chris Baker created Cloak, and cleverly refer to the app as the “incognito mode for real life.”

Baker has created his fair share of antisocial apps, like unbaby.me and Rather, which intend to remove annoying Facebook and Twitter content. Another one of his inventions, “Hate with Friends,” allows users to “find out if you and a Facebook friend mutually hate each other” the site states.

Cloak allows users to connect through Instagram and Foursquare after downloading the app. Then, through check-ins and geo-location information on those networks, users can “avoid exes, co-workers, that guy who likes to stop and chat — anyone you’d rather not run into,” the app’s site states.

Users can “flag” people on Cloak’s map that they don’t want to see, so that they receive alerts when they come within a certain range, the Washington Post reports. The friends are tracked with circle photos indicating their locations.

Currently, the app is only available in the App Store, but Time reports that the app’s creators will “expand the idea” and bring out new features beyond the launch if it develops a wide audience.

Katie Callahan