Hello heello’ers, we are drawing very near to the launch of the new Heello. We want to update you on what’s going to happen to the current Heello.com so that you can plan accordingly.

Here’s what will be happening:

• The current heello.com will be shutdown on November 16th
• All current usernames and listeners / listening to will be retained and ported to the new Heello
• Pings (including photos and videos) will NOT be retained. We will provide an export feature so that you can download your ping data. We will update when that is available.

We’ve simplified the dashboard on Heello with two tabs. Timeline is just that, a timeline of the people you listen to on Heello, but the new Me tab is the biggest change.

The ‘Me’ tab is basically a notification center. It shows mentions, new listeners and private messages in a unified timeline. You’ll be able to filter out certain notification types as well. The mobile apps will also reflect the same setup.

Dashboard screenshot

One of the features of the new Heello is a native check-in functionality. Our location db is backed by a global database with 58 million places.

Here’s what a check-in will look like in your timeline

Hello check-in

Eventually our goal is to give you the option to notify your friends when you’re nearby and to see what’s happening around you. There are a lot of cool possibilities with this.

Developers will also be able to hook into our check-in / place API to build innovative things around. We’re really looking forward to this.

Screen shot of a user’s timeline on the new Heello.

A few of the new things:

• Profile cover photo (optional)
• Simplified timeline view
• Large image and video previews shown inline

Heello user timeline

We’ve been working hard for the past 6 months on the new Heello and we want to share our vision with you. Check out http://new.heello.com to get a quick overview.

Some back story

We launched the initial version of Heello almost a year ago and we were blown away by having 1 million people sign up in just 2 weeks. We rushed that version of Heello out the door as quickly as possible due to a potential contractual issue (which is a non-issue now) and because of that, it lacked some of the big features we wanted to add. (As they say: if you’re not embarrassed by your first version then you launched too late)

Where we are now

The new version of Heello will be launching in the next few months. A completely brand new UI and native iOS / Android apps will be in that launch.

Developers will be a major part of what we’re trying to accomplish, so we’re putting a huge focus on our developer ecosystem. We want to provide open communication with our developers and a solid platform for them to build on with confidence.

Main features of the new Heello

• Simple UI that focuses on your timeline
• Inline photos and videos in timelines
• Native check-in functionality backed by a global database of over 58 million places
• A big focus on our developer ecosystem
• Users will own their data

If you have any questions or feedback please feel free to email me at noah@heelloinc.com