Alex Ruber, co-founder of the relationship-building application Candle, announced a significant surge in engagement for the app's marketing content, with a recent long-form video accumulating an additional 100,000 views overnight. This boost has propelled the video to the top 50 trending content in the United States, highlighting the app's growing visibility. Ruber, currently 146 days into the app's development, shared this milestone on social media, emphasizing the importance of direct user interaction.
Candle is positioned as "the Duolingo for relationships," designed to help couples and friends foster deeper connections through daily, brief interactions. The app offers a private space for users, featuring daily prompts, games, and challenges that aim to create emotional momentum and prevent relationships from drifting apart. Its core functionality evolved from a simple swipeable questions game into a comprehensive platform.
The development team behind Candle consists of Alex Ruber and Parth Chopra. Ruber brings a strong technical background, having previously worked as an architecture software engineer at Apple and a flight software engineer at NASA JPL. The app is built on principles of relationship science and expert insights, ensuring a thoughtful approach to connection.
Ruber also shared a key user engagement strategy, advising, "like and reply to every single comment. even the small ones. gets people to come back and re engage." This direct engagement with the audience appears to be a crucial component of their growth strategy, complementing the viral success of their video content. The app is currently in beta, with a premium version available to support ongoing development and server costs, as the two-person team works full-time on the project.
Candle's focus on privacy and encrypted communication ensures that user memories and interactions remain confidential between partners. The app's success in generating significant video views and trending status underscores a strong market interest in tools that facilitate meaningful relationship maintenance in an accessible, daily format. The team continues to iterate, promising further innovations to enhance the user experience.