HoboHunt: Android App as Dumb as It Sounds

by Jordan Yerman | February 23, 2012 at 11:49 am

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HoboHunt, for Some Reason, Actually Exists; Also Sucks

HoboHunt is an Android photo-sharing app that encourages users to take pics of homeless people and overlay half-assed image elements like targets and weapons. The app has been rejected multiple times from the Apple App Store.

Yes, HoboHunt is "controversial", but something can become controversial for different reasons. In the case of HoboHunt, it's controversial because it's both mean-spirited and badly-implemented, yet some people actually download it (It boasts a whole "50+" downloads!).

This is Synventus' first foray into the smartphone-app ecosystem, and it's not an auspicious beginning. It's hard to tell if the App Store rejections were due to content, or general suckiness.

The sample HoboHunt images do the app no favors: these are easily the most boring example photos I've ever seen.

Part of Synventus' HoboHunt press release reads:

"Be warned this game is not for the delicate or faint-hearted! Users must steel their nerves to hunt real hobos, strangers in the mall, or friends, teachers, and parents, as sweet crosshairs and an arsenal of weapons, sound effects, and images bring the hunt to life."

You can build out a profile to share with the HoboHunt community, but be advised that the community will surely consist of the sort of tool who would download and use HoboHunt.

But the thing is, I downloaded the app and played around with it for a minute, and it's fucking TERRIBLE. Not just because of the obvious reasons (that it's evil, and that the concept doesn't actually make any sense), but because it's just really really really crap. It looks like shit, it's confusing to use, and you have to pay money to unlock any stuff to overlay onto the pictures.

I agree. HoboHunt performs as a junior-varsity photo-booth app divorced from any concept of usability. It's also huge for an Android app (6.73MB), and has the registration process we've ever seen (thanks, mailinator), and that's really saying something.

Really, the most offensive element of HoboHunt is not its roots in classism, but the cruddy design and lazy execution.