Waffle is a product of Samsung’s C-Lab, a division that lets employees build unique apps that don’t need to be connected with their regular work. The app isn’t publicly available yet but may come to Android and iOS later in the year, if the concept is approved.
Samsung has identified a limitation in conventional social networking that it hopes to solve with Waffle. Sites like Facebook and Twitter “only allow users to individually publish content,” the company explained in a blog post. Waffle changes this, placing collaboration at the core of the service.
The app’s grid-based layout “resembles the grids on a waffle,” according to Samsung. Users build a wall of content that friends can add to, filling new squares in the grid with their own photos. The grid can expand infinitely, creating a “communal graffiti wall” of content created by friends and family.
Photos, messages and drawings can be uploaded to Waffle. The latter form is particularly applicable to owners of Samsung’s Galaxy Note series of smartphones. The company emphasises the role of its S-Pen stylus in doodle creation, letting users create intricate illustrations. On other devices, a finger can be used to draw on the display instead.
“Waffle enables users to add their own perspective to someone else’s content, and vice versa,” said Joseph Kim, Waffle’s Creative Leader. “These doodles, images and messages converge into entirely new content.”
Samsung uses the example of a travel enthusiast who begins her time with the app by uploading a photo of herself on a trip to Tokyo. The people around her can then add their own insights on the experience, uploading a doodle of a sumo wrestler or a quote about travelling. “In this way, Waffle orders a new differentiated service that illustrates multiple points of view to generate a collaborative story,” said Samsung.
Details are still scant on how Waffle users will build their profile, meet friends and connect with followers. Privacy restrictions around posting on another user’s grid also remain vague, an issue Samsung will need to clarify before any launch.
The company told The Verge that it may never get out the door at all if it fails to show any promise. Launching a new social network is never an easy task but it could be even more difficult for Waffle. It relies on whole groups of friends picking it up together to avoid users seeing a barren grid of empty content.
If it takes off then you’ll be able to waffle on Waffle from later this year, assuming you own an iPhone or Android device. It’s possible the app won’t see the light of day though, leaving you with just the existing social networks and their individual nature.
