It's not uncommon to find yourself exclaiming "Oh, I owe you one for this!" or hearing "Thanks! I'll get your drinks next time around!" But do you ever actually keep track of who bought lunch last time or who should be reaching for the check today?
One app's makers think you should.
The app's called OU¹ — yes, that's a play on "owe you one" — and it can be downloaded for free through the Apple App Store.
Unlike apps which track cold hard cash, OU¹ keeps track of "social currency" — drinks, lunches, and dinners — and provides you with a way to keep things balanced between friends. It does this by connecting to your Facebook account and then tracking the IOUs you send and receive. The app even converts different "social currency" tokens in order to inform you when you're square. (In case you're wondering: One lunch is equal to two drinks and one dinner is equal to a drink and a lunch or three drinks. Actual monetary value is kept out of the equation.)
OU¹ isn't perfect — there appears to be no way to remove "debts" other than by sending an equivalent IOU — but it does what it's designed to do well enough.
Does that mean you should be using it though? Well, that's up to you — just keep in mind that most folks won't really appreciate such clerical bookkeeping in a friendship.
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- App waits on hold so you don't have to
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