BENGALURU: Google is set to launch the ‘Neighbourly’ app which will help users get information about their neighbourhood from other users in the same neighbourhood.Google’s latest app will be rolled out in Bengaluru and Delhi on Wednesday, and then in over 600 districts within the next two weeks.
Through the app, users can discover information on services and utilities in their neighbourhoods, or get any specific information, by asking questions, which would be answered by other users of the app in the area. Conversely, users can also answer questions posted by other users. They can ask questions on the best late night restaurants, the location of a mechanic or opinions on existing outlets.
Each neighbourhood typically has a geographic radius of 1 km to 5 km. Answering questions earns a user points and badges, and eventually earn the ‘top neighbour’ badge and joins an exclusive community.
The beta version of the app has half a million people waitlisted. The app will first be rolled out at Bengaluru and Delhi as they topped the wait list. Users can switch between multiple neighbourhoods, for instance between their home or their office.
Apart from English, users can also key in questions in eight other languages — Kannada, Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Telugu, Malayalam, Tamil and Bengali. Instead of typing the questions, users can speak them in any of the nine languages, which will then be posted by Google’s speech recognition software.
Speaking of what drove the idea for the app, Ben Fohner, Senior Product Manager for Google Australia, said, “We found that people did not feel as connected as they used to in their neighbourhoods. We tested the app with over 10,000 users across the country and found that some of the best conversations started with questions.”
Last names and contact information of the users are not shared on the app, and a user won’t be allowed to share contact information of any other person. Users have the option of reporting any question as spam or abuse or report a legal issue with it. Ashish Sharda, Community Manager, Google India gave examples of questions that users posted during testing of the app.
