The inevitable happens. You’re planning out your romantic date or outing with friends and have absolutely no idea what to do. Or, you are the social butterfly of your circle, but run out of ideas or fall into the cycle of going to the same places repeatedly. You can run to review sites like Yelp or Google an activity and hope that search results bring up things to do in your area. You can even phone or meet up with a few friends and put your heads together to come up with the perfect outing. But why do that when there is a social network that not only gives you information on some of the most fun activities, events and most delicious restaurants locally, but learns what you like and displays info based on your tastes? What if you could share your experiences with people who like what you like or the world? Meet HeyLets, a discovery platform and social network that lets you discover new experiences, share those experiences and recommends to you things to do that are right up your alley!
The Experience
Getting started with HeyLets is as easy as creating a new account. The app lets you use your Facebook login or set up a separate new account which we always like. Once that is taken care of, you can log in and set up your profile. This was seamless. You enter in expected information like your birthdate, gender, a profile pic, etc. From there, you can select from scores of categories that best describes your interest. When we say that HeyLets gets very specific, we mean it. You have parent categories such as Edgy, Classic, Hip, Elegant and Stylish which are selectable from a scroll wheel. Selecting of these then reveals child categories. For example, within Hip, you’ll find “Surf, Skate & Snowboarding”, “Organic & Health Foods”, and “Live Shows & Comedy”, where as in Edgy, you’ll find “Clubbing After Hours”, “Extreme Sports”, Tattoos & Piercings” and “Adult”. The number of categories is astonishing. Thing of these as tags so when recommendations are made, results are tailored just for you.
After your interests are set, you can then the fun begins. The Home Page gives you the most used functions central to the app. This includes “Post an Experience”, “Exploring Experiences”, “Finding Friends and Influencers”. “Post An Experience” lets you document your experience with a venue. You will be asked to take a picture with the camera on your device, select the exact location (or name a new one), write a few lines about your experience and then select or add a new category. To test this out, we selected a restaurant in the area and snapped a photo. Once we finished, this was added to our profile as one of our experiences. People can then comment on your experience, add it to their wish list and even follow you as your experience will show up in the main newsfeed and will be viewable on your profile should people choose to follow you.
Trends, Trends, Trends
When exploring experiences, you have options. The main screen will display all of the latest experiences on the network along with places nearby. You will view what we mentioned above, that is the place, the category it belongs to, a short description and a picture of whatever it is. The time it was posted is displayed along with a pic link to the profile of the person who posted it. You can also see what interests you have in common with the poster. This is crucial to what the app advertises as the point is to discover new experiences and connect with people who have similar interests in those kinds of activity. While it is possible to make friends off of this network, the main driver is shared interests. That is what differentiates HeyLets from any other existing community. Selecting “Trending” from the bottom menu shows trending items, where “Nearby” displays nearby venues and “Following” shows you items only from those you are following.
Verdict
There is a lot to like about HeyLets. Near the top of our list was the interface. The easy to read dark text on light background with scroll wheels , the choice and design of the icons and navigation method made the experience of using the app far more enjoyable than we would have imagined. There are a ton of review sites and check in social networking sites that allow users to discover new places, but the difference is you have to look for things to do. HeyLets brings all of the great stuff to you! The app actually learns what you like and gives you exactly what you love. You can also discover things on your own and connect with people who like what you like. This app can be the ultimate date planner and way to fill up down time on your off days. If you’re looking for a way to impress your date, your friends or yourself, HeyLets should be on your short list.
