BowBox – Spread the Love

In the ‘80s and ‘90s, teenage relationships were defined by many things: marathon telephone calls, date nights at the local multiplex, and the ever-present mix tape. Teenagers today might not make mix tapes anymore — many probably don’t even know what a tape player is — but they can put together a more modern version of the mix tape with the help of BowBox.

BowBox is essentially a mix tape brought into the 21st century. Sign in with Facebook or Twitter, or by entering your email address, and get to work creating your first “box.” Add text, photos, videos, and audio files to your box, and select a theme like Christmas, Celebrity, Classic, or Original. When you’re done adding content, you can preview your box and decide whether to make it public or private. Enter the email address of your box’s intended recipient, and BowBox will send your box right away. BowBox presents your box in a way that ensures its recipient views each item in order, without scrolling to the bottom and accidentally missing key components along the way.

BowBox is a social application, which means it integrates with social networking sites. Tell the app what you’d like to see, and BowBox will find other users who are willing to create a custom box just for you. Or, you can surprise a stranger by making a box full of kittens, candy, and anything else that person likes. Most users are limited to adding no more than 10 items to a box, however you can add additional items and get more space when you invite friends to join the platform through email, Facebook, or Twitter.

Practical Uses:

• Confess your love to your crush
• Boost the spirits of a friend by sending photos of kittens and butterflies
• Cheer up a loved one who’s sick with upbeat songs and inspirational quotes
• Create a box full of mementos of the time you shared with a long-lost friend

Insider Tips:

• Users can add up to 10 items to a box
• Boxes can be marked as public or private
• Earn badges for referring your friends to the app
• Recipients can comment on their boxes
• Once they’re created, boxes last forever

What we liked:

• Boxes are a thoughtful, and free, way to spread cheer, joy, or love
• Boxes that include audio tracks along with photos and quotes are more memorable than traditional mixtapes
• People can create boxes as a way to boost the spirits of total strangers
• Recipients don’t need BowBox accounts to view their boxes

What we didn’t like:

• People can only create a limited number of boxes per month

Alternatives:

• tape.ly – http://tape.ly

Company Info:

• Launched: 2012
• Privately Held
• Headquarters: Toronto, Canada
• Founded by: Behrad Ghadiri
• Web site: http://www.bowbox.me

Costs:

• Free

Rating:

• 5 out of 5 (wow)