I've been working on AfriTales, a flutter based mobile app that brings African folktales into modern stories narrated episodes wrapped in a children and adult friendly UI player. The stories are created to cover north, south, west and east Africa. I think of it as a digital by-the-fire-side.
Why AfriTales: Cultural relevance: There is a gap in culturally-rich audio-native storytelling apps for Africans, the diaspora and people interested in African stories. Modern Influence: Modern UI makes the the app feel elegant and emotionally resonant. Retention via structure: Episodes are short (2-5 minutes) and there are stories series for premium users.
MVP features include: A launch landing page (https://afritales.org/) for early engagement and waitlist signups. I have currently sourced over 100 stories. Thanks to Google's Gemma 3 270M, users can generate stories with their own twist. Freemium model: 3 free tales per day, plus premium subscription for unlimited access. Robust Flutter structure: Architecture with TTS integration, and images for context.
I am starting in Ghana before expanding, and I'd love feedback from this community: Would you (or your child) use an audio-based storytelling app with a strong regional cultural tie? Suggestions for retention strategies or content formats that engage long-term users?
Thanks
Then it occurred to me:
what if the designer - writer sought to draw my attention by making me hyperfocus on the text?
That is, musicians do it with dynamics, architects do it with compression and expansion, writers do it with words, but do designers do it with the most dynamic, infinitely extensible medium on the planet that combines all of our senses and perceptions at once?
Maybe that was the point here, even if it was unintentional, bordering on magic?