Re:Ask HN: What are you building that you're excited by
by cjflog on Sunday November 08, 2026 @02:41AM
(#50411195)
I’ve been working on Beacon, which just got approved on the App Store! It’s a mobile app to instantly answer “which friend is free to talk right now?” and summon them in a single tap.
Send your beacon to a group, and everyone gets a gentle ping. The first person who answers gets connected for a 1-1 call, and for everyone else the signal drops silently. It does not log any missed calls so there’s neither pressure to answer nor pressure to return calls.
Overall it works really well! It’s best if you're able to join with 4+ friends/family you’d like to chat with more. I have dozens of connections in the app now and it feels like absolute magic to me. I tap the button to send my beacon to everyone and get a random friend on the line.
Send your beacon to a group, and everyone gets a gentle ping. The first person who answers gets connected for a 1-1 call, and for everyone else the signal drops silently. It does not log any missed calls so there’s neither pressure to answer nor pressure to return calls.
Overall it works really well! It’s best if you're able to join with 4+ friends/family you’d like to chat with more. I have dozens of connections in the app now and it feels like absolute magic to me. I tap the button to send my beacon to everyone and get a random friend on the line.
https://trybeacon.chat/