The next time you're out and want to avoid being seen, forget the trench coat and oversized glasses because wouldn't you know it, there's an app for that.
A sort of anti-social network, Cloak alerts you when people you'd rather not run into are near your position with your Foursquare and Instagram accounts. Its tagline? "Incognito Mode for Real Life."
And even if you're not on either network, Cloak's Apple app store page says: "Use foursquare (which you aren't checking anyway) or make a dummy Instagram account to follow people you don't want in your actual feed. Cloak will still work its magic." (Via iTunes)
Users' geotagged posts will pop up on a real-time map, letting you skirt possible encounters with exes, creepy uncles and mortal enemies. According to CNN, co-creator Brian Moore hatched the idea after running into his ex-girlfriend too many times.
And Morris' business partner, Chris Baker, tells the site that part of Cloak's appeal is the growing prevalence of social media oversharing. He says: "We feel like we've reached the point of social fatigue … It's OK to turn off and pick up a copy of 'Walden' and just be alone."
The Los Angeles Times calls the app "pretty clever" but sees the lack of Twitter and Facebook integration as a potentially fatal flaw.
"The major glitch in all of this, of course, is that Cloak ignores the most important social network of all: Facebook. And it's based on solely locating friends who care to go through the trouble to actively checking in."
And CNET writer Jennifer Van Grove says that even if the app works, "Presumably, the people you really want to avoid – exes and enemies – are the ones you long ago deleted from your digital social circle."
For now, Cloak will remain an iOS exclusive as Morris and Baker say they have no plans to develop an Android version in the near future.
