Show HN: Couchmate – Real Time Chat for Live TV

Hey HN, I'm the creator of Couchmate. It's been a labor of love since 2013 and has gone through several iterations over the years which closely mirror my career through software development (from knowing almost nothing to being able to get where I'm at today [1]).

The current iteration of Couchmate is a React-Native/Typescript app on iOS and Android supported by an Akka/Scala backend.

The problem I'm trying to solve is real time communication with quasi-anonymous people about Live TV in the moment. In 2013, I wanted to interact with other people watching NBA games but there was no good medium to do that seamlessly. Thus Couchmate was born.

I just launched v1.3.0 which contains a lot of cool stuff around notifications (you can now follow your favorite sports teams, series and programs) and Hashrooms (which are similar to Slack or Discord channels).

As most of you know or can assume, building a social community is very much a chicken/egg problem and I've made attempts over the past year to do some user acquisition but it's slow going. It's very much a learning experience for me on how to attract people to the platform.

Thanks for checking it out and please feel free to drop me any feedback personally. Email is in my bio.

[1] https://blog.couchmate.com/optimizing-for-one-part-1/

edit: Couchmate is only available in the US and Canada at the moment. I'm hoping to expand into more markets in 2022.

Used Couchmate during the Election debates in the US. Was a great way to sync up with friends and family on the couch.