A man has create a new social media app for people who want to escape their phones and get out from behind their screens.

Ben Nightingale said he designed the app, called Flypp, as a way for people to discover things happening on their doorstep while also fighting the “doom-scrolling” created by other social media apps.

The Hove resident said he wanted it to be “troll-free” and he slammed other “caustic” platforms for their effect on human interaction.

Ben, 50, said: “I think some social media platforms, and I won’t name names, have become a bit caustic and aren’t positive for people.

A rendering of Flypp on a phoneA rendering of Flypp on a phone (Image: Flypp) “This app is for conscious self-improvement.

“The idea was formed in lockdown but it has been trickling along in the evenings.”

Ben, who works in technology and moved to Old Shoreham Road in Hove at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, said Flypp works by users suggesting things for other users to do which could help them improve their wellbeing – like going for a walk or reading a book.

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He said he was inspired to create it by the number of different things people were doing when he once walked past Hove Lawns.

These ideas are then shared to other users through an algorithm in the form of tiles which can be flipped through on a phone.

Users will be limited in the number of tiles they can view in a certain time period in a bid to get people off their phones and out doing some of the ideas suggested on the app.

The app currently does not include a commenting feature but Ben said he wanted to add this in a way which would help to dispel the “trolling” and disinformation that can be found on other platforms.

He said the app is currently looking for its first 100 users in Brighton and Sussex to test it before a potential national rollout later this year.