Friday, September 12, 2008

How does Flutter work?

What is Flutter?

Flutter lets you send a picture message to any mobile number stored in your iPhone’s contact book.

You can also (optionally) attach your location to your message so the recipient can see where you are on Google Maps.


How do I get Flutter?

You can find Flutter at the iPhone App Store.


Does Flutter send a text message (SMS) from my phone?

No, Flutter doesn’t send an SMS directly from your phone.

Your message is uploaded to Flutter. We then send (at our cost) the recipient an SMS with a link to view your picture in their mobile browser.


How does Flutter send a message?

Your message is uploaded to Flutter. We then send (at our cost) the recipient an SMS with a link to view your picture in their mobile browser.


Do I need an iPhone 3G to use Flutter?

No, you can use Flutter on an iPhone 3G, iPhone and iPod Touch.

Note: You can only attach your location in the iPhone 3G version of Flutter.


Can I send video?

You cannot officially record videos with the iPhone … yet. So unfortunately, you cannot send videos using Flutter.

Where do I get support for Flutter?
Please send an email to support at juicecaster dot com with your mobile phone number and a description of your problem.


Is it really free to send a message using Flutter?

Yes, it’s free to send messages using Flutter.

Flutter sends messages over an internet connection e.g. WiFi or your existing carrier data plan.


Does the recipient have to pay to view my message?

The recipient pays their standard carrier charges for receiving an SMS.

If the recipient has a free SMS bundled package or their carrier doesn’t charge for receiving SMS, there is no cost to the recipient.

If the recipient also needs an internet connection to view your message:

If the recipient has a data plan, viewing the message in their mobile browser is inclusive of their carrier’s standard data plan cost.

If the recipient views your message using a mobile phone with WiFi (e.g. another iPhone) then there is no extra cost to viewing your message.


Does the recipient have to pay Flutter to view my message?

No, the recipient doesn’t pay Flutter anything.

2 comments:

ROBOCUB said...

Some comments on my first use of Flutter.

- I don't like the way the recipient receives a message and the sender is some odd number instead of my phone number or my name.
- I'm not a fan of having to visit a website to retrieve the picture. Some people don't have web access on their phones and in that case would make the whole process pointless.
- I dont understand how the addressing part works. The list of recipients doesn't seem to be in any particular order. I found it difficult to locate the person I wanted to send to in the list. It would also be great if I could start typing their name and it would appear, just like it does when adducing and SMS.
- I sent a picture and it got rotated sideways and sort of distorted when I went to view it on the website.
- So I can send a picture now, is there anyway to receive MMS too?
- Is there anyway to make this process more like real MMS? meaning no website middleman.

Juice Wireless Inc. said...

Great feedback. Replies:

1. Unfortunatley, in the US, it's against market regulations for us to 'spoof' your number ie. make it appear the message is coming from your phone (because it's technically possible). So we have to use our own short code number.

2. True, we could send it as a real MMS, but we'd have to charge for the service in some way. Sending SMS is peanuts compared to sending a real MMS. We'd have to transfer that cost to the user. Also, we wouldn't be able to do cool location based stuff.

3. Yeah, the addressing is not great at the moment. The way we're going to do it is actually really slick - and more akin to how the iPhone's native messaging apps work. But it was buggy so we took it out. Look for 1.1

4. That, too, we're working on. Only affects some phones. Investigating fix.

5. It is technically possible. May be for a future release.

6. Only Apple and AT&T can decide to do that. Till then, it'll have to be done via middlemen.