Too often, people send text messages they regret and wish the messages could be taken back.
Thanks to a new app developed by finance freshman Jordan Shelby, people are able to do just that.
Shelby said Snatch, a group messaging app that allows text messages to be retrieved, took roughly eight months to develop.
“It was very hard,” Shelby said. “I started last May and I didn’t finish until January 29 of this year.”
Shelby said he got the idea for Snatch while working on another messaging app.
With the help of a $20 online course, he said he was able to develop it.
“One of my friends from high school gave me a different idea for another chatting app,” Shelby said. “I was still learning how to code. I branched off from him and just did this myself.”
Shelby said he had to learn a lot in order to develop the app.
“I was on the computer all day, mornings and nights, just trying to learn how everything works as far as platforms and the code,” Shelby said. “It was very difficult. I knew HTML and I thought it would be similar going into it, but it was completely different.”
When he came to MSU, Shelby said he wanted to give up on developing the app
“There was too much stuff to do,” Shelby said. “I didn’t want to be in my room on the computer all of the time. But then what made me go back to it was just thinking of the outcome that this app could have.”
However, when Shelby wanted to give up on developing the app, he said the push from his parents made him want to continue working on it.
“My parents knew about it the whole time and they thought since I already paid some money for these online courses, they said I might as well keep going,” Shelby said.
Shelby said his sister, Briana Shelby, helped him with the process as well.
“She was a graphic design major so she helped me with like pictures and stuff,” Shelby said. “So, I thought since everybody was helping me, I might as well keep doing it.”
Briana Shelby said she is proud of her brother for sticking to the app and making the app available for people to use.
“I’m glad he was able to take an idea and actually make it real,” Briana Shelby said.
One of Jordan Shelby’s favorite aspects of having his app available to the public is seeing where people are using it.
“It comes from London, Rome, all over the place, America, South America, I like seeing that,” Jordan Shelby said.
Jordan Shelby said as of right now, Snatch is only available to iPhone users.
“Learning coding for Androids is different and that might take some time, but that’s what I’m trying to do next,” Jordan Shelby said.
He said continuously developing the app makes him feel good.
“It makes me feel like I need to keep perfecting it because I’m a perfectionist so I keep on updating and making sure that people are like happy with it,” Jordan Shelby said.
