Launch Day

Posted on November 13, 2014. Filed under: Uncategorized |

After a year and a half of incredibly hard work, recognizing that we have MANY years of work ahead, today we are releasing the first version of the Wildcard card browser. If you have an iPhone, you can download it here, and if you’re reading this on a desktop you can click this link and scroll down to receive a text with the appstore link.

I believe that one day Wildcard will replace whatever legacy browser you are using on your phone. It’s clear to me that the browser is the worst user experience on every iPhone owner’s homescreen, and the rise of card technology and card design I believe represents an answer to this reality. While 1.5 years of work may seem like a long time, it is still early days for cards and the native internet…every major platform (Twitter Cards, Facebook OpenGraph, Pinterest Rich Pins, Google Cards, Facebook Applinks, etc.) is working on their version of solutions, and every publisher and developer is being asked to rethink their dependance on legacy webviews in a mobile world. For publishers, cards represent a native interaction with a user that hasn’t installed their app yet, deeplinks represent a native interaction with a user that has, and mobile webviews represent the worst first/last impression you will ever make on a new user.

For consumers, native (app technology) has clearly won, but we’ve lost discovery, and browsing, and easy movement between experiences…the most fundamental thing about my desktop web experience was and still is that I can open a browser, type anything into that box, and get back relevant results that are actionable and usable without installing new software…that is a super power…and it’s what Wildcard hopes to return to you in this mobile first life we are all living. Why should you have to wade through a sea of blue links to broken pages and inconsistent experience when every other app on your phone is beautiful, clean, fast and easy to use. Your web experience should be like that too, and Wildcard is a better way to get what you need from the web.

Like any new technology, this is a Version 1. A beginning of a better mobile web experience, but not without plenty of room for improvement. I sent a note to our team earlier this week, after reflecting about what today’s launch represents, and I wrote that this release is about putting out the first chapter of product that we are deeply proud of, standing behind it, and writing the rest of the book in the open, with participation and feedback from users, developers, publishers, and the market as a whole.

I stand by that thought. Most specifically, Wildcard represents direct access to and discovery of a burgeoning native web. The access part—the browser—we’ve got down pretty well. The discovery part—card search—we’ve done a ton of work to bootstrap in the absence of being live, but it needs users and your help to take it to the next level. Card search feels kind of similar to when Apple launched Siri. Awesome new technology, didn’t nail it 100% of the time, but when she did it was great and she improved every day. That’s what Card search is gonna feel like for a while too. You’ll also start to notice that new cards will be popping up in Wildcard…soon you might be able to find a ticket, check a yoga schedule, etc. etc…so keep searching and watch as things unfold.

Last thought, if you are a publisher or developer or anyone with an online presence who wants to create, manage, or control your cards in Wildcard, or in general…we’ve got great tools for you to do that and we hope you’ll take advantage of them. And if you’re an app that is chomping at the bit to display cards instead of mobile webviews inside your experience, hang tight…we’ve got something coming for you…

Thanks so much for giving Wildcard a try. The more you use it, the faster it will become what you want it to be.