Georgia High School Students Launch Vivaly, an App That Gets Teens Off Their Phones
ATLANTA, July 16 (Hypepotamus) - Rising 10th grader Ruth Geller ran into a problem this summer.
She loved spending time with her friends IRL (in real life). But all the places they wanted to go were expensive…or did not want teenagers.
So Geller and her friends teamed up and in just one month launched an idea into a full app, Vivaly, now available in the Apple App Store. The goal? Get teenagers together to enjoy new activities that take them away from their phones.
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The App That Gets You Off Your Phone
Vivaly works as an “experience-tracking app” that rewards users for living in the real world. Users collect real-world challenges with their friends — be it taking in a sunrise, trying a new recipe, or learning a new skill. The list of challenges is constantly growing as users (and partner brands) can also submit ideas. Then users take a picture as they complete a challenge, and that photo is added to an in-app reel. Instead of posting to the “highlight reel” of social media, Vivaly shows users real-life activities that better represent who people are.
Users collect “aura points” that get tabulated on a leaderboard on the app. The board, Geller told Hypepotamus, acts as an incentive to get out in the world and doing activities.
The app is designed for those 13 years and up.
High School Entrepreneurs
Geller, who attends Oconee County High School near Athens, Georgia, built Vivaly with fellow 14 and 15 year olds Hannah Hellems, Ellie Bartlett, and Evelynn Shea. After building the app over the course of a month, the team is now looking to add more users and get more feedback on the experience.
Geller and team are one of several local high school students who aren’t waiting to get their startup ideas off the ground. Georgia teens Pranshu Raithatha and Harsh Mehta are also tackling GenZ phone habits with the launch of their app, Mivo.
Geller’s advice to other budding high school entrepreneurs? Get started now.
“I feel like it's easier now than ever before to make your ideas come true,” she told Hypepotamus. “And I feel like I honestly feel like I waited too long because I would have loved to start this even earlier. And I feel like people should really look into trying to make their ideas come true because it's really easy now.”