I’ve been on Path for quite some time now, and there is one feature I’ve been intrigued by since day one. There’s a “Go to Sleep” button that records how long it takes for you to press the “Awake” button, effectively recording how long you sleep on any given night. While Path is recording this time, it’s not possible to do anything else in the app. Could this concept apply to anything other than sleep? Yes, I think so.
One idea I particularly liked was applying this concept to driving. Here’s how it would work:
- I’m Heading Out. A button stating “I’m Heading Out” or “I’m Driving” is placed so that it’s as easily accessible as the “Go to Sleep” button. Press it.
- The Driving Page. A splash page appears with a graphic depicting a steering wheel and the open road. There will also be a timer on this page.
- Arrived. A button stating simply “Arrived” is located at the bottom of the splash page. Pressing this stops the timer and posts a message on your timeline.
- Rewards. What’s the incentive here? Maybe a reward system should be put in place à la Waze (another app I’m greatly enjoying). If nothing else, you’ll have the comfort of knowing that you’re driving safely, and your family and friends are aware of that fact.
Seeing as how Path is meant for connecting with your closest friends and family, the default sharing options should be that your drive time, route, and destination are posted openly on your Path timeline for them to see and respond to.
If your family is all on google+, this is already integrated into Maps for Android, specifically, the Latitude service. You can define your home and work address within the settings so that when you’re near them using GPS it will automatically check you in to those locations. You can set it up so this information can selectively be shared with your ‘family’ circle on g+. On top of this, if you have Android 4.2 with google Now, it will have a ‘card’ that shows you a mini google map with an estimate of how long it will take you to get to work with current traffic conditions. Crazy, right?
If the dev team at Path can see how powerful this is, they, too, would implement such a system as well. And why can’t they? Google’s maps API is open-source and free. It should only be a matter of time for Path if they’re proactive about features like these.