Earn iPhone fame for acting foolish

A Seton Hall alumnus co-founded the iPhone app (iACTa­FOOL) that launched on Dec. 16.

Ibrahim Khaddash said the idea for the app came from the Draw Something app. He was sending pictures back and forth with a friend when he noticed some of the features were lim­iting. Khaddash mentioned to co-founder and long-time friend Hani Shabsigh that it would be awesome if there was a way to create video-charades.

Originally this was just a thought and Khaddash said he did not think much would come of it.

The app is a modern version of charades, which allows play­ers to record themselves acting out one of three given topics. The players send their videos to friends who are prompted to guess the topic.

Shabsigh liked the idea and wanted to see it prosper into something usable. Nine months later, after extensive work on Xcode, Shabsigh created the app.

The two entrepreneurs started the approval process through Google Inc. and since then, launched their first app.

Shabsigh said it is different from any other apps.

"iACTaFOOL uses a unique system that ranks the most popu­lar videos posted," he said.

Since its launch, the app has been frequently updated.

In future versions, Khaddash and Shabsigh said they hope to enable filtering on social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter. They also aim to add a commenting section allowing viewers to post and see other com­ments after watching the video.

Khaddash and Shabsigh have relied heavily on social network­ing sites a way of promoting their app.

They also said they hope to have their first commercial pro­moting the app by the end of the month.

Although iACTaFOOL has been downloadable for roughly 45 days, the company is still under­going some changes.

"I came up with the app name because I wanted people to be able to relax and have fun with their friends," Khaddash said. "But be­cause the name is longer, we are thinking about cutting it down to iAct."

Since the creation of iACTa­FOOL, the two have run their company themselves.

They are looking to expand by adding a few new members to their duo.

Visit their site and download their new app for free at www.iac­tapp.com.

Rachel Hassett can be reached at rachel.hassett.student.shu.edu.