Wink is an application that was designed to strengthen daily communication and emotional intimacy between couples who are in a long-term and routine-filled relationship. Using the app, couples can spice up their romantic relationship and create their own virtual “couple space” by sending an unconditional gesture, like an “I’m thinking of you” signal to your partner, that will be expressed as a wink during the day. Moreover, users can create graphic and/or textual notes in which they can write and portray what is on your mind. They can also customize the background and add GIFs or emojis according to your feelings and inspiration. When done editing, they can choose from three different sending options; first, they can choose to send it straight away; Second, they can schedule it for later by choosing a specific date and time; Third, they can choose “Pin by location” so the partner only receives the note when they arrive at a specific location. During the whole process, the couple has the option of editing scheduled notes as well as seeing all the gestures sent using the history page.

The application aims to overcome “couple burnout”. The reason for the burnout can be physical, mental and emotional exhaustion due to hectic daily routine. Research indicates that one of the best ways to strengthen communication and emotional intimacy among couples is to show appreciation and acknowledge gratitude to the partner. The appreciation doesn’t need to be as ‘grandiose’ as booking a hot air balloon flight but can be as simple as an everyday message like “I’m thinking of you”. And this is why we are here – to encourage couples to do small digital gestures to each other, which should lead to more physical ones.

How does it work?
After downloading the application and connecting the couple together, the application opens a service on each phone. This service is working in the background of the device when the application is closed. After the user has created and sent a note, the visual content is saved to our cloud database in Firebase. When new information arrives, it is downloaded and saved in the local database on the recipient’s device. At the same time, the service creates a new “listener” for the right time or location to notify the user. With this architecture we are reducing the consumption of battery and making sure that the notification will show the note at the right time even without internet connection.