People are going crazy for a new app that only lets you send messages saying 'Yo'

People are going crazy for a new app that only lets you send messages saying 'Yo'
(Image credit: iStock)

You know that one friend who always texts you a cryptic "hey" or "yo" and nothing more?

Well, investors in deep-pocketed Silicon Valley have given $1 million to Yo, an app whose only function is basically that. Yo allows users to send push notifications saying "Yo" to any of their friends within the app. That's it. It looks like this:

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Thrilling, right?

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While this app might seem like a joke — it launched in the App Store on April Fools' Day, after all — its creator, Israeli-born Or Arbel, says Yo is completely serious.

"You usually understand what the Yo means based on who you get it from and when you get it," Arbel told ThinkProgress. Once you start using the app, he says, "the way it affects your life is profound."

So is Yo a radically simple new way of communicating, or simply an app that exemplifies just how huge the tech bubble is becoming? We'll have to wait and see. For now, read the full profile of Arbel and Yo at ThinkProgress.

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Samantha Rollins

Samantha Rollins is TheWeek.com's news editor. She has previously worked for The New York Times and TIME and is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.