Skip to main content

If you want to be followed around all day in secret, download Follower

If the notion of Big Brother makes you feel safe rather than suspicious, this new social network is perfect for you. But if you’re like the majority of the NSA-hating, surveillance-fearing population of the United States, prepare to feel your skin crawl.

Follower brands itself as “a service that grants you a real-life Follower for a day,” ensuring that you don’t go unnoticed. So if you ever feel like a wallflower, here’s your solution — have “someone that watches, someone that sees you, someone who cares.”

Recommended Videos

The network’s website, a stark black background with bold white text, is truly indicative of the rather alarming nature of the site (and companion app). As you scroll down, you’re confronted by what looks like footage that belongs in the opening sequence of a horror film, as a woman is shown through her window keeping a journal, washing dishes, and otherwise going about her day. Venture even further, and you’ll get to Follower’s “How Does It Work” page, the real coup d’etat in creepiness. The rather selective social network isn’t for just anyone — in fact, you have to apply to be followed, and only if you’re selected will you receive a link to download a related iPhone app.

Then, Follower instructs, “Install it and await your following.” On the morning of your following (yes, that’s really what it’s called), you’ll receive a notification, and then, the site says, “Your Follower will be with you all day—within your consciousness but just beyond your sight—following, observing, appreciating each moment, without interfering.”

At day’s end, the terror really reaches its zenith — “Your Follower will leave you with one photo to remember.”

Throughout your following, you’ll be notified through a series of updates by way of the iOS app, which depending on your mindset, could either be comforting or seriously alarming.

The project is the product of artist and NYU faculty member Lauren McCarthy, who currently serves as the app’s only Follower. “There’s something both exciting and intense I feel each morning not knowing where they may take me. I follow them all day watching, starting to imagine what they are like, what they are thinking and saying, trying to guess where they might go next,” she said in an interview with Creative Applications. “There is something strangely intimate about the whole thing for me. By the end of the day, I feel as though I know them, and we have had a prolonged experience together.

Lulu Chang
Fascinated by the effects of technology on human interaction, Lulu believes that if her parents can use your new app…
You can officially download the TikTok app again on Android phones
Download page for TikTok app on Android in the US.

The TikTok app has not returned to the Google Play Store or Apple’s App Store, ever since it went dark in the US with a ban looming over its head. That means fresh downloads are not possible on Android and Apple smartphones. Things have finally eased, at least for Android fans.

The official TikTok website now lists the software package that lets users download the app directly, instead of an app repository such as the Google Play Store. Third-party websites have hosted the app's software bundle for a while, but that route usually comes with the risk of malware.

Read more
The U.K. wants unchecked access to all iPhones worldwide
A person holding an iPhone in their hand.

In 2016, the FBI requested Apple to grant it an iOS backdoor access, but the company rejected it, with the “No” coming straight from CEO Tim Cook. In 2021, Apple even sued an Australian company that unlocked an iPhone for the same federal law enforcement agency.

Apple is once again at a security crossroads that could pose an existential threat to its iPhone business, and the privacy of users across the globe. According to The Washington Post, the British government has ordered Apple to give them “blanket” access to the encrypted materials saved by iPhone users on the iCloud online storage drive.

Read more
Is your Fitbit getting too hot? Google wants to give you $50
Wearing a Fitbit Sense 2 while working at a desk.

Google has issued a warning for the Fitbit Sense and Fitbit Versa 3. A "limited number" of the smart wearables are at risk of overheating with the potential to cause burns, so it isn't every single Sense or Versa 3 model. A firmware update began rolling out yesterday and will continue to do so over the next month, and Google says that affected customers — those with devices at risk of overheating — could be eligible to receive $50 in compensation.

The firmware update will reduce the chance the battery will overheat, but it comes at the expense of capacity. The wearables won't have the same battery length as they once did, according to TechRadar. This isn't the first time Fitbit has run into problems like this; in 2022, the Fitbit Ionic caused several burns and resulted in refunds. There was also a report of an exploding Fitbit in 2017, too, though the company claims it isn't responsible for that incident.

Read more