How to make a native chat app in Swift?

Do you think this app could be used for a more positive relationship building exercise?

• University of Missouri professor on team that helped create anti-violence app By http://www.columbiatribune.com/users/profile/ajost http://www.columbiatribune.com/search?q=&m=archive&l=1000&t=article+OR+pdf&d=02%2F17%2F2014&nc=wire* To help combat relationship violence involving college-age women, a group of researchers created a smartphone app to help victims and their friends create a safety plan. One of those researchers works at the University of Missouri. Tina Bloom, MU nursing professor and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Nurse Faculty Scholar, is MU's representation in a group of researchers from across the country who teamed up to investigate computer-based ways of addressing domestic sexual violence.   Tina Bloom http://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/columbiatribune.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/2/06/2060eb64-97fd-11e3-9f3e-0017a43b2370/53024dcdabe3b.image.jpg HOW IT WORKS Download the app by searching “One Love My Plan” for      Android or Apple products. Create a four-digit PIN code for the app to prevent      anyone else from accessing personal information. The “My Relationship” section walks the user through      steps that debunk myths about relationship violence, provides information      about healthy relationships, asks a series of questions about whether the      user’s relationship is healthy and then helps define the relationship as      healthy or unhealthy. The final step is the creation of a safety plan, which      breaks down multiple options for the user if she chooses to stay in the      relationship or wishes to end it. It also offers a list of resources to      contact and the possible implications of doing so. The app provides an opportunity to chat with a peer      advocate at http://www.loveisrespect.org. Source: One Love My Plan app According to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, 24 percent of women ages 18 and older have been victims of "severe physical violence by an intimate partner in their lifetime." Statistics like that are what Bloom and the team of researchers aimed to address. The project started almost 10 years ago and became an interdisciplinary effort to create an Internet-based program for victims. That effort went through trial phases before the team received a $25,000 grant from the One Love Foundation to create an app. The foundation works to end relationship violence through education and technology, according to its website, and was created by the parents of a college senior who was killed by her former significant other. "We know that the vast majority of women who find themselves in an abusive relationship will never call a hotline or a shelter," Bloom said. Bloom said college-age women, 18 to 24, are the target audience. She said younger women are even less likely to call a hotline or shelter but more likely to talk to a friend — a dynamic app creators hope to use to benefit victims. The app is broken down into two pathways, one for "the victim," or the person who is analyzing their own relationship, and the second for a friend who might be concerned about what they're seeing or hearing about a friend's relationship. Both sections take the app user through a list of questions that help them better understand the relationship. At the end, the app provides a personalized safety plan. A user can email herself the plan. "This has been so well received by abused women because of the privacy and the chance to learn and weigh information," Bloom said. "As survivors tell us, the computer doesn't judge." Nancy Glass, nursing professor at Johns Hopkins University and principal researcher on the project, said the app is a tool for women who aren't quite sure about where to start to get help. "This app is not to replace the amazing work that domestic violence advocates do, or health providers and other people working with victims, but rather it's another option — a first-step option," Glass said. The app is live and available to anyone. Bloom said data are collected for statistics and for future version development. Currently, the group is waiting to hear if it will receive a grant for further research from the National Institutes of Health. This article was published in the Monday, February 17, 2014 edition of the Columbia Daily Tribune with the headline "Professor helps make anti-violence app."

• Answer:

  I'm not sure if a single phone app could really do anything. Nowadays, people are so reliant on technology, they forget how to interact in the real world. And actually communicate outside the internet. I think it might be useful for helping women to avoid violent or abusive relationships, but I'm not sure how much something like this could be in being solely positive. As in, a way to help healthy relationships that already aren't in trouble or have cracks in them. It could help in that regard, however. I don't know. This seems more like preventative help than basic relationship-building help. I know I wouldn't like it if a girl I was dating accused or thought one day I might be violent to her. Or even potentially rape her. This reminds me of the "consent" app idea to prevent rape and false rape accusations. Both people would verbally consent into the app before sex. Sounds good on paper, but definitely seems like a massive breach of trust. If a woman suspects a guy might be abusive to her, she should get out before anything happens. Sharing information to prevent domestic violence seems fine though, and you don't need an app for that.