Discover your neighbourhood — find tips, hotspots, and hidden gems from neighbours who know best
When Neighbourly launched in Mumbai, hundreds of thousands of neighbours across India joined the waitlist to request Neighbourly in their city. With over 1.5 million downloads and half a million people on the waitlist, we’re excited to begin rolling out Neighbourly across all of India, bringing more people a human, helpful and local way to learn more about your neighbourhood.
Today, we’re inviting neighbours in Bangalore and Delhi, which topped the waitlist, to join Neighbourly. Over the next few weeks, we will invite new cities to join every day, including Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, Kolkata, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Indore and more. If you want to see Neighbourly come to your city soon, show your interest by joining the waitlist!
Since June, seven cities have gotten early access to Neighbourly. We’ve seen people integrate Neighbourly into their daily routines asking just about anything, from the source of a strong LPG smell to why there are elephants on the street outside! Our favorite finding is that each city’s distinct personality comes out in the types of questions people are asking and answering:
- Mumbai questions have been about flooded areas during the heavy rains and the nearest Dahi Handi celebration. Food is always a popular topic, with questions about the best late night restaurants or the best street food:आमच्या परिसरात वडा पाव वाला किती वाजता येतो (What time does the vada pav seller come to our locality?)
- Jaipur’s student community is active on the app, asking all kinds of questions relevant to their studies: Accounts ki class kaha milegi jaha par achi study hoti ho? (Where can I find a good accounting coaching, where quality of coaching is good?)
- Recent shifters in Mysore use Neighbourly to help them find information about their new routines: Where can I get a water purifier service?
- Families and housewives in Coimbatore seek advice on shopping for festivals: Please help me with shopping for diwali. What are the fashion trends for girls at affordable price range?
While we’re happy to see great usage of Neighbourly, we’ve also been listening carefully to helpful feedback from our first neighbours. Many people, for example, asked to be able to join different neighbourhoods -- one where they live and one where they work. Over the last few months, our team has incorporated this feedback and more:
- Join your neighbourhood with a tap. You’ll get automatic suggestions on the nearest neighbourhood so you can jump right in.
- Switch between multiple neighbourhoods. If you live in one neighbourhood but work in another, you can add both and switch between them one at a time -- hearing from neighbours in each.
- See better questions just for you. Every time you open Neighbourly, you’ll see the best questions from your neighbourhood. The more you use Neighbourly, the more personalized it becomes.
- Learn how to get more responses. If you ask a question that is unlikely to get an answer from your neighbours, you’ll receive a notification with some advice on how to best ask them again.
- Keep Neighbourly “neighbourly”. If you’re among the most helpful in your neighbourhood, you can earn Top Neighbour status. Top Neighbours help pick the best questions in your neighbourhood and also identify the ones that don’t meet the “Neighbourly Promise”.
We know that most of life happens within 1km from home or work and that many information needs are local. We’ve also found that when finding local information, people prefer to ask or discuss with another person -- whether that’s a friend, family member, or neighbour.
A few weeks ago we met Aslam, who runs a graphics store and has lived on Mira Road all his life. At 58 years old, he has a lot of experience and is eager to share it with others. Since he first downloaded Neighbourly, Aslam has answered hundreds of questions from his neighbours -- using the built-in voice functionality to easily speak and transcribe his answers.
And there are many more people like Aslam, coming from different neighbourhoods and representing different age-groups, who are helping their neighbours find relevant answers and local information. That’s why we built Neighbourly, that’s why people use it, and that’s why we’re so excited to make it available to everybody across India.
The latest Neighbourly app is available on the Google Play Store for all smartphones running Android 4.3 (Jelly Bean) and higher. If you live in India, Neighbourly will be available in your city shortly. In the meantime, join our waitlist and invite your neighbours. You’ll be notified as soon as your neighbourhood is open!
By Arnold Binas, Engineering Manager, Neighbourly
