Idle is an opinion.

A few years ago, when AI was at the edge of ubiquity, I started building a “modern” messaging app for work. Turns out… adding agents everywhere didn’t make work chat better. People entertained me out of kindness, but nobody actually cared to improve their workplace communication platform. Yes, we all complain about Slack. There’s too much noise and important messages are drowned out. But really… We are all just hate-bragging about how busy we are at work. I was solving an impossible problem, no app or AI can make you want to talk to your coworkers more.

I do, however, want to talk more with my friends, my teammates, people I share interests with. I want to express myself, relate to others, hear and be heard. I think one of the most important ways we bond is by doing things together. Unfortunately there’s not much you can actually do in today’s chat apps which are pretty limited to just…chatting. Anything useful in my chats lives outside of it, buried in a link lost in the banter: a Venmo request, an apartment address, a Partiful invite. The conversation might be in one place, but everything the conversation is about lives somewhere else.

And of course, there’s AI everywhere. Everyone wants to put it in your chat (been there), but if you saw the way I yell at my Claude (typos, run-ons, ELI5) you’d realize no one wants AI in their chat app with other people. AI is best when it’s private and when it’s making something for you.

All I actually want is something as easy as iMessage and as versatile as Discord. I want a chat that helps us do things, is trustworthy, and fun to use. I want AI, but not as an agent participating in our conversations. I want to make things for my group, add things to our canvas, and imbue the space with our own personality.

That’s what Idle is. All my opinions of the world in the shape of a product you can use. In Idle you can add things called “Widgets.” They live alongside your chat and can do things! You can create them to collect money, RSVP to events, pull news, or connect to Strava. Want a swear jar in your chat? Vibecode it. These Widgets are easy to make but most importantly, they’re useful and fun. It’s the human way to apply AI: not as an agent mainlined into your conversation, but as a maker of simple, special tools for your group. And because of that, I’ve found Idle as good for our work as it is for my shit-talking Knicks chat. In Idle, everyone’s identity is verified but not exposed. You can DM anyone who’s on it and create spaces instantly.

We’re rolling this out slowly so we can give every group real attention. If you already have a million ideas for how you’d use this, shoot me a messageallan@idle.space.