heyemmateach: I started using Slowly after @historyandlanguages posted about it. Here is my opinion

heyemmateach:

I started using Slowly after @historyandlanguages posted about it. Here is my opinions and assessment after having used the app for 7 days

• there are surprisingly a LOT of people on the app
  
• I receive about a message/two messages a day which means that, even though the mail is ‘slow’, people maintain the conversation
  
• I compare this to Tandem where I only have about two to three solid conversations after like months of using the app
• people usually message based on shared topics or shared languages, so we aren’t having super awkward and stunted letters
  
• you can adjust the age range/filter by language, so I only get messages from people my age
• I could set it to get only messages from my target language, but I chose to leave it open. This way I can help others practice English
• profile is not invasive (you can have a username and you don’t have to post your photo or phone number like in Tandem)
  
• I have not received anything inappropriate like I would in HelloTalk (e.g. spam links, fake job offers, anything sexual)
• you get to see where your letters come from on a map, which makes it exciting
• you get “stamps” based on where your letters are coming from/going
• what I don’t like is the home page (not pictured). It feels a bit cluttered since it contains all letters in one row. Because of this, a person who has maintained a conversation with me’s letter got buried under new first-time letters. I wish it had folders or could be filtered
• I also wish the pen pal page could be filtered or if I could mark people as priority
• you can’t delete letters (at least, I haven’t figured out how), so I worry that everything will get very crowded
• my last negative is that I have not found a way to adjust the font or sizing. I have received very very lengthy letters that are hard to scroll through

Overall, I actually like this more than Tandem! The pressure to reply is not there. The people are more appropriate and committed. The design is easy to use and follow. Despite the possibility of cluttering, it is still worthwhile! 

Just wanted to share :) and to say “thank you” to @historyandlanguages for sharing the app!