There as soon as was a time when Internet customers occupied what was as soon as “Ask me anything” and “Like for a truth.” These nameless confession traits have mainly turn out to be NGL, which is an app the place customers obtain nameless questions from pals, however a latest lawsuit alleges which may not be the case.

NGL’s gimmick was purported to be easy. Users might join the app and obtain nameless questions by means of the app’s inbox. NGL’s important enchantment was that it provided integration with Instagram, so customers might publish a immediate (within the type of a hyperlink) for nameless questions and reply them by way of their Instagram tales. The app additionally had a function that will enable the consumer to obtain hints on the identities of those that requested them questions for an inexpensive $9.99 each week. It was some good, clear enjoyable that took Millenials and Zoomers again to the times of Formspring and “Like for a truth” posts on Facebook, however a grievance filed earlier this month with the Superior Court of California in Los Angeles County alleges not solely that NGL could possibly be ripped off from one other app, but in addition by accident reveals that each of those apps are tricking its customers into believing that they’re actually connecting with their pals.

Raj Vir is a software program engineer that was employed on a contract in September 2018 by Iconic Hearts to assist develop an app referred to as Sendit, which is an nameless Q&A app with Instagram integration. Sound acquainted? The submitting, which was obtained by TechCrunch, explains that the primary Sendit app known as “sendit — get it now,” launched in November 2018, whereas the second Sendit app known as “sendit — Q&A on Instagram,” which was launched on June 21, 2022. For reference, NGL was launched on November 7, 2021 as seen on the app’s website, which was seven months after Vir was provided a full-time place at Iconic Hearts. The grievance insinuates that Vir didn’t settle for this supply and Vir’s website appears to corroborate this because it makes no point out of a full-time stint at Iconic Hearts. Iconic Hearts claims within the grievance submitting that Vir used his entry to confidential knowledge and data on the Sendit apps to construct his personal, related app, which grew to become NGL.

“Vir used his friendship with Iconic Hearts’ founder, Hunter Rice, and his role as a consultant and developer for Iconic Hearts to deceptively gather information about Iconic Hearts and the sendit Apps,” the submitting reads. “Upon information and belief, Vir did this so that he could jumpstart NGL.”

Alas the story doesn’t finish there. Iconic Hearts alleges that one of many particular items of knowledge that Vir used to construct NGL was “engagement messages,” a proprietary notification system that Iconic Hearts developed to ping customers after durations of lowered exercise. However, language within the submitting signifies that these messages take the type of faux questions, which can lead a consumer to assume they’ve been despatched a query by an precise human. Iconic Hearts says within the grievance:

Iconic Hearts had additionally developed a singular system, “Engagement Messages,” which sends content material to a consumer’s inbox if interactions with the consumer had been idle over a sure time frame. “Engagement Message” re-trigger a consumer to make use of the app. This generates extra “shares” on the app, extra density inside a consumer’s development community (i.e. extra folks sharing extra occasions), which provides to an app’s saturation, essentially the most vital measure of success and development.

This confirms that the Sendit apps are utilizing auto-generated notifications to extend use of the apps, and alleges NGL is doing the identical, however doesn’t specify that these notifications are faux questions. TechCrunch, nevertheless, investigated this claim by posting two hyperlinks from every app to solicit questions from customers on Instagram, earlier than instantly deleting the posts. Despite nobody seeing these hyperlinks, TechCrunch says that they nonetheless acquired a collection of questions from every app.

Iconic Hearts and Raj Vir didn’t instantly return our request for remark.