A few years ago, Randonatica gained notoriety for its unique concept and a mix of a series of viral videos that put it at the center of another mystery. Today, The name Randonautica is hardly heard.what happened to the app?

If you haven’t heard of Randonautica for two years, you’re not alone. The app peaked in 2020, and since 2021 interest has not stopped falling to this day. Again, Randonautica still standing. We tell you how it went.

From Telegram bot to app

For the uninitiated, Randonautica is basically an app where you get random coordinates within the radius of your location with the idea of ​​discovering them. In simple words, something like this a Pokémon Go, but without Pokémon. And not knowing what to find on the other side.

This second point is the most important because you are the one who has to do it. determine the purpose of what you want to find, while generating random coordinates. The arguable “scientific” basis of the issue is that user intent can cause minor changes in random number generation. These “anomalies” are what the app uses to tell you where to go.

The tricky part of randomautics is this quantum random number generation, but other than that the concept is pretty simple. So much so that at the beginning Randonautica it was a telegram bot. You send a location, usually yours, and it will return a location to explore based on these “anomalies” in random number generation. The bot is no longer active, but its code is on GitHub.

Originally Randonautica was simpler: a Telegram bot

The Bottan Randonauts subreddit has arrived and by February 2020 the application is already ready. dir-dir ugly and cumbersome first app It makes it easy to create these worth-exploring locations and gives us some additional options, such as the maximum distance radius of your location, the type of anomaly, or what type of random number generation you should make.

application a owl icon It could well have been designed in WordArt, which, although stylized in later recent versions, will remain during its peak popularity.

The epidemic and controversies, the foundations of its success

Randonautica had a loyal following long before it became Randonautica, but it wasn’t particularly popular even among similar geocaching apps. His most popular moment would coincide with a tragedy.: A young tiktoker went to the suggested place after setting his intentions on “something bad,” and finally found something really bad: a suitcase with human remains in it.

Randonautica rose to fame after several viral videos featuring some of the finds, such as corpses in a suitcase.

As expected, in the weeks that followed, Randonautica became the center of attention not only on TikTok (the original video has since been removed) but also in news outlets around the world. The app has gone from having 1 to 5 million downloads in three weeks and has gone beyond the suitcase and/or whether we believe the mind can influence the generation of random numbers, We are talking about the first year of the pandemic. and there weren’t many entertainment opportunities back then.

After all, the app gave you an excuse to go somewhere you wouldn’t normally go often looking for adventure in an activity that complies with the social distancing rules of the time. Going out to hunt Pokémon means everyone goes to the same Poképarada or hunts the same Bulbasur, but every anomalous place to go here is theoretically unique and personal.

Randonautica in 2020: rough, yet simple

For many, the Randonautica of that time is the Randonautica they knew even if they had founded it then, and the truth is, we haven’t heard much about the app since It can make us understand that the application has stopped its activity or disappeared.

This is not so. Randonautica continues but undeniably the app has lost traction since that crazy July 2020not too many audiences, returning to a very dedicated fanbase. This is evident when looking at the top of Google searches for Randonautica from its inception to the present.

Interest in Randonautica over time on Google Trends

Although it took Randonautica three weeks to go from 1 million to 5 million downloads, it would not reach the next Google Play download tranche (10 million) seven months later, in February 2021. It remained there for more than a year, still not reaching 50 million.

Then came micropayments

Randonautica has been updated religiously practically every month since then, and the truth is The app has changed a lot. If we compare this to what it was at the beginning. To begin with, the icon’s owl is still there, although slightly less. creepy.

The app looks a little flashier and less mysterious overall, but probably the most radical change was this: the arrival of money. You can now choose between the standard or Pro experience. Some features are limited if you don’t pay.

Randonautica Pro costs 3.99 euros per month or 39.99 euros per year and while not all limitations are gone, it guarantees you unlimited travel and personalized locations. In its store, you can pay 1.99 euros to extend the maximum radius of a point up to 29 kilometers, or 0.69 euros to avoid the application that advises you to visit a lake or in the middle of the sea. The app even has some paid themes for 0.69 euros each.

Without a subscription, you can still use Randonautica for free. virtual currency is used every time you create a point “owl coins”. Every day you get 150 owl coins, which is enough for a maximum of 10 generations of places. If you need more, you can buy 600 for € 1.99 or 6,000 for € 12.99.

Randonautica is still alive despite being more niche

Like this, What happened to Randonautica? Basically nothing. The app is still around and still has loyal users, but this fan base that jumped on the bandwagon after creating more dubious viral videos in 2020 a few years ago is now dedicated to other things.

Most stable randonauts on Randonauticacontinues to post information about his trips, both on the app and on Reddit. There is not much movement, everything is said, but there is, there is.

Randonauts continue to post their finds, both in the app and on Reddit

Beyond esotericism, spooky pasta and chaos theory, Randonautica presents by giving you an excuse to escape your routine by going somewhere you’ve never been before, paying close attention to what you’ll find there. in a way never been an app for the massesso it’s normal for it to go back to its niche a bit.

At least for now. You never know when a randonaut will come across something awesome that will make headlines again and bring fresh blood to the app. By the way, Randonautica is still there, just like it was two years agobut with a few micropayments and a new token.