Accompany app review: Become a people person

Introduction

By definition, charming people are more well-liked. Likability, while somewhat inherent, can also be developed in a number of ways. One of the easiest ways to improve one’s likability is to show an interest in other people. Learn about their lives, talk about their accomplishments, and never, ever forget their name!

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Accompany is an app that claims it can present hand-crafted and relevant information about companies as well as people when you need it most. I was sceptical at first, but the logo depicts a dog wagging its tail, ready for orders, and perhaps something in my subconscious was already picturing a cute virtual dog as my personal assistant. Did I mention it’s a free app with zero ads? So I decided to give it a go.

And, I’m so glad I did.

Simple Setup

The set up is a piece of cake. I entered my email address and was provided with a variety of options. With just a few taps, I gave the necessary permissions for the app to access my Contacts and Calendar, and I was good to go. As it synced all the data from my iPhone into the app, it showed various tasks on the loading screen including “Determining close relationships” and “Preparing company bios”

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Once ready, a bunch of balloons float up the screen as though you are having a little party in your phone. Now I’m all set up and begin to familiarize myself with the app interface. It has four tabs at the bottom including News, Calendar, Search, and Me. I will give it full points for ease of use.

Leverage Your Contacts

I found myself marvelling at the ability it gave me to visualize my contacts in a completely different light. All my contacts who were doing something significant were in my news feed, and not only could I see some of their latest Tweets, but i could also view their appearance on news websites such as The New Yorker or The Argus. One of the action buttons here allows you to share the article *with your contact*. At first I wondered why I would want to do that, but then I realized what an amazing conversation starter it could be if I wanted to get in touch with any of them.

Simple and Elegant

Though the app looks simple and clean, there is a lot going on under the surface. It only used my Contacts and Calendar information, but it created something elegant that prompted me to go out there and mingle with people. This feat was clearly a result of various searches performed by the complex algorithms underpinning the app. I cannot claim to understand how it all works, but it certainly seemed like magic when it dropped me off in my highly personal curated News feed. This News Feed is, hands down, the highlight of this app. Or so I thought. I was already excited to write about it so I could encourage everyone to download Accompany just to experience this sorcery. But there was more to come...

Custom Calendar with Contact info

The calendar is another amazing feature. If you're the type of person who often forgets names, or you simply like to know about companies and people before you meet with them, this was made for you. It syncs with your Calendar and Contacts to bring you the profiles and photos of the people you will be meeting with so you can put the name to a face immediately. You will also know some of their background information.

So, when you're meeting with representatives of a company, the app will do a quick background check and bring to you any information you need in order to be prepared ahead of the meeting. I may or may not have inadvertently found some very interesting information about a particularly attractive match from Tinder with whom I had been talking for a few days. This is the perfect way to get intel on people and companies

Make it Your Own

Of course, like all good apps, this one also allows users to fine tune your news feed and see people and company news optimized for you. There is a slider which lets you determine how much of any given profile you want to look at. It ranges from “Mute” to “Watchlist”.

The Search window further allows us to look up more profiles of hundreds of millions of people.

Ask For More

I was surprised to learn that the app is still in beta. It is clear the developers of the app are working hard to improve it, and the best way to improve is to ask for feedback. Users can shake their phone at any time to send a quick note to the developers.

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Helps visualize your current contacts in a useful way
• Pulls up relevant information on all Calendar events
• Lets users search over hundreds of millions of profiles
• Highly customizable news feed
• Free, ad-free, and lightweight

Cons

• None

Become A People Person

An invaluable networking tool, Accompany can help you become a better people person by giving you the right information when you need it. You will be able to remember people’s names before heading into a meeting, learn about company profiles before each job interview, see what your current contacts are up to, and begin networking with a new perspective. This is one of the rare apps that can truly change the way you interact with people, and make you more likeable in the process. I can see it becoming one of my most important and cherished apps.