Imagine there was an app called Yo, which existed for the sole purpose of sending your friends one-word messages, saying ‘Yo’. Now pretend that someone created a parody app, using Game of Thrones’ signature catchphrase (“Hodor”) to allow you to send your friends a greeting of ‘Hodor’. The craziest part of this all? That all really happened.
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Building on the viral success of messaging app Yo, Medium iOS developer Tyler Hedrick used his spare time to build ‘Yo, Hodor’, a nod to the Game of Thrones character who only says his own name.
Like the original app, Yo, Hodor is built in the simplest way possible: it has one stripy screen, where you add users by username and tap to send them a casual ‘Hodor’. The app originally had an image of HBO star Kristian Nairn as the icon, which was later updated to a simple green block, a nod to Yo’s plain purple one. If your phone isn’t on silent, you’ll be notified of a message by Nairn’s simple “Hodor”, which Hedrick took from the show.
As TechCrunch points out, Hedrick could run into some legal issues for lifting the clip from the TV series. But then again, this is the company that said that the fact that Game of Thrones is the most pirated show in the world is “better than an Emmy” and isn’t scared of causing some social media trends.
Like the original, it seems like Yo, Hodor is getting some traction:
The number of Hodors being sent o__O pic.twitter.com/Yc2XBiVjHk
— Tyler Hedrick (@tyler_hedrick) June 30, 2014
According to Hedrick, the app now has 15 000 users and more than 80 000 Hodors have been sent so far. Not bad, considering the app, which he built in four hours, is currently only available on iOS. Sorry, Android fans.
