eHarmony unleashes The Bad Date Rescue App

11 Jul 2012

'Something bad happened? Thank goodness!'

Remember that scene in Sex and the City where Charlotte asks Carrie to ring her while she’s on a bad date to say, “something bad happened!” to give Charlotte an ‘excuse’ to leg it? Those days of asking your mates to ring you to get you out of a bad date may be over, thanks to The Bad Date Rescue App by dating website eHarmony, which is now available.

The Bad Date Rescue App lets a user arrange for a pre-recorded ‘rescue’ call to appear on his or her mobile, giving him or her a chance to gracefully exit a lousy date.

A user can choose a number from his or her address book to make the rescue call, such as the number belonging to Mum, a best mate or a co-worker, and if the caller’s photo is stored on the app, the photo will appear on the phone’s screen when the call comes through.

The app also provides scripts for various reasons for a call, such as a sister just gave birth, a pipe is leaking, or the boss needs help – now. A pre-recorded voice can even instruct users on what kind of expressions to make while responding to a rescue call.

Users can pre-set the app before a date to ring them at a specific time. There’s also a ‘quick rescue’ that can be activated immediately to ring in a few seconds or a few minutes, while a date has gone to the bar to get drinks, for example.

The Bad Date Rescue App is free and is available on the App Store for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. It requires iOS 4.2 or later.

Bad Date Rescue App

Screenshots of The Bad Date Rescue App

Tina Costanza was a journalist and sub-editor at Silicon Republic

editorial@siliconrepublic.com