Getty Images

Dad's New App Freezes Kids' Phones Until They Call Their Parents Back 😮


As Nick Herbert's son got older, it became apparent that Nick needed to equip his son with a cell phone. However, between his adolescent attention span and desire to remain cool in front of friends (by not talking to his dad on the phone), Nick quickly realized that he needed a way to convey important messages to his son. And so, ReplyASAP was born.

ReplyASAP requires kids to reply (ASAP) to their parents before resuming their normal phone activities.

Until they contact their parents, their phone will be locked.

If the phone is on silent, an alarm will sound. So, no more putting the phone on silent and ignoring the numerous calls and texts from worried parents.

The creator, Nick Herbert, shared why he created the app.

"This app was born out of personal frustrations with current messaging apps.

I have a son, Ben, who is at secondary school. When he started secondary school I bought him a smart phone so that I could contact him and he could contact me (obviously not while at school).


Herbert went on to explain the background behind his app idea.


So, ReplyASAP, is my solution to this problem."

Nick also included his son in the app's design process.

"During the development process I spoke to Ben and showed him the designs and thinking behind the app and he likes the idea because he will know that if he gets one of these messages then he will always hear it and will know its important. He will also have the ability to send me these messages - so there is a mutual understanding that using ReplyASAP is only for important things and not because he needs new batteries for his xbox controller."

Finally, Nick explained that the app could also be applied to other situations past that of parent-child.


Okay, Nick Herbert is brilliant.


The internet is thrilled about this new solution to the (technology) age-old problem.

As of now, ReplyASAP is only available for Android, but an iOS version is allegedly coming soon.