Saving Yourself From A Night Full Of Regretful Drunk Texts? There's An App For That!

By Katie Karpowicz in Arts & Entertainment on May 6, 2015 4:20PM

"One time an ex-boyfriend of mine who's a good friend was calling me and I kept missing his calls. I wanted to text him, 'Hey, for some reason I keep missing your calls,' but as I hit send autocorrect changed it to, 'Hey, for some reason I keep missing your...' a part of the male anatomy. My natural instinct, and I think everyone's natural instinct, is to start slamming their fingers against their phone but of course that doesn't do anything."

It was this painfully relatable instance that led Chicago-born entrepreneur Maci Peterson to her latest venture. Following a frantic app store search for a means of un-sending texts and a series of questions to friends asking if they've ever sent a message they could take back ("The response was overwhelmingly 'yes!'"), Peterson struck upon an idea that's all to obvious in the mobile communication age.

Thanks to On Second Thought whether you have similar struggles with autocorrect, bad judgement after a night at the bar or the simple bad luck of selecting the wrong contact, there's now an app for that.

OST, now available for Android and coming to iPhone in the coming weeks, acts as a multi-faceted filter for your texts. With every tap of the "Send" button, a 60-second hold time gives you the chance to correct any mistakes or pass better judgement before the message is actually delivered.


Additionally, a curfew function (appropriately launched on St. Patrick's Day) houses all messages sent after a time previously set by the user until the next morning. So, if you're able to gauge when you'll be ordering your third or fourth drink on a given evening, you may not be able to eliminate a potential hangover, but you can at least take the regret of texting an ex, boss, crush or all of the above (hey, we don't judge) out of the mix. And, yes, there is a workaround for emergencies should you need it.

Peterson, a 28-year-old graduate of Chapman University, has already seen a huge response to the app.

"We've received a lot of responses saying 'Oh my gosh, finally!'" she told Chicagost. "I think we've all sent those text messages that we've wished we could get back. Really, what it's all about is helping preempt that mistake."

And, let's be honest, with smart phones that are loaded up with messaging apps, the mistakes don't always end with texting. The On Second Thought team is currently working to develop a version of the app that will act as a bouncer for all of your digital messaging—calls, emails, IMs, etc.

Want this magic in your life? OST operates on a subscriber basis. The app is free to download and you'll receive nine free recalls per month. Upgrade to unlimited recalls for $2.19 or pay on a month-to-month basis for $1.99

Android users are able to download On Second Thought now and iPhone users can currently sign up for the beta version and be the first to receive a download when it's available.