26 August 2026

Present 29

Where the name comes from.

For my 29th year I set myself one goal, and I called it Present 29. I wanted to get off my phone, spend more time living in the moment, and actually be where I was.

It didn't take long to work out what was getting in the way: my phone, and mostly the social apps on it. I'd open one to see what my mates were up to and get sucked in.

On my 30th birthday, 24 August, I sat down with everything I'd learned that year and made the first draft of the mockups for an app that works the other way.

I named it after the goal. Present, as in here and now, and as in actually being there with the people you're with.

It's grown a lot since those first mockups, but the idea hasn't changed. An app for keeping up with your mates, that then encourages you to put the phone down.

BrianFounder, Present