When people ask how we met, the follow-up question is almost always, “So… when did you finally meet?” Our answer usually catches them off guard: we’ve never met.
We’re Malvika and Khushboo, the co-founders of Lyrical Muse, an independent music, arts and culture publication. We’ve interviewed artists, planned editorial calendars, organised workshops, launched zines, coordinated events, and built an entire publication and brand through screens. No shared office, no coffee dates, not even an awkward first hug at an airport.
Many friendships are built over shared spaces, proximity and convenience. Ours was built over LinkedIn, Google Docs, endless voice notes, brainstorming sessions and wonderfully unserious WhatsApp messages.
We started as friends, then became business partners and running Lyrical Muse together has meant most of our conversations quietly slipped into being about work. But, our friendship has always been the pillar of our work. Without Malvika and Khushboo, there is no Lyrical Muse. Thus, came the shared realisation that we needed more time to connect outside the rut of deadlines, emails or editorial calendars.
And an experiment was born as we began treating the internet like our shared living room.
Over a few weeks, we tested apps, websites and digital experiences designed for long-distance couples, friends or simply anyone looking to feel a little closer from afar.
These are seven apps we tried and how it went.
Kulfi
If there’s one thing we learnt early on, it’s that the internet thinks only couples want to spend quality time together. Kulfi is essentially a virtual date-night app packed with conversation prompts, games, word quizzes, personality-style questions and mini challenges. Although it’s marketed toward couples, most of it works just as well for friends.
We didn’t really go in with expectations, mostly because we thought it’d be funny to see how long it’d take before the app realised we weren’t dating. We don’t think the app ever figured that out… our 8th anniversary is apparently in 263 days.
The conversation cards were easily our favourite. They sparked chats we’d never have had during our usual “How’s work?” calls. Some questions were ridiculous, some surprisingly thoughtful, and a few somehow spiralled into hour-long discussions about life and everything in between.
Khushboo: “I genuinely don’t know whether it was our phones, the app, our Wi-Fi, Mercury retrograde or all of the above, but I tried getting the co-op games to work on what felt like a million different devices. We spent more time trying to make them connect than actually playing. When they worked, they were fun. The problem was getting to that point.“I’d absolutely use it again, mostly for the conversation decks and the word games.“
Malvika: “Kulfi is a great starting point for long distance friends to start virtual hangouts that aren’t just a video call. A lot of the games as Khushboo mentioned are quite fun. However, one thing that stuck out is the co-op games not allowing us to actually co-operate – instead glitching or timing out on us for some reason. I don’t know if that’s a tech issue or simply the app hinting at our abysmal cooperation skills, but I wish Kulfi had given us the chance to exercise our awesome teamwork! There’s also a lot more to the app than games, but most of the other bonding exercises such as the ‘Questions’ section seems geared towards couples than friends, which is something we noticed about many of the long distance apps we tried.“
If all games had been more reliable, it’d probably become one of our favourite recommendations for long-distance friends too.
Get Angie
This one was actually Malvika’s find and it quickly became one of our favourites. Get Angie has a bunch of interactive games and activities you can play together. There’s personality quizzes, “Who Knows Me Better?” and “Matching your Personality Types”, Fermi estimation rounds, trivia, brain teasers, and “The Lab”, which somehow had us solving maths, science and logic questions just for fun. Yes, we are the kind of friends who voluntarily solve math, science and IQ questions together…
Malvika: Get Angie was interactive in a way I hadn’t expected it to be. The website is promoted all over social media as being an online photo booth – which is funnily the only aspect of the site we didn’t end up trying – but there’s a huge variety of activities to pick from spanning games, conversation prompts, and more. What I enjoy about Get Angie is that it’s the perfect mix of light-hearted conversations and sincere moments of reflection on our bond that we never really talk about otherwise. Plus, the quizzes were not only fun but I’ve realised my best friend is a genius and I will now be taking advantage of that for the rest of our lives.
Khushboo: “I didn’t think I’d enjoy the logic and estimation rounds as much as I did, but they were weirdly addictive. We kept saying “okay, one last game” and somehow ended up trying almost everything the free version would let us. The fact that you only get a limited number of games each day almost made it more fun because we’d save it for another evening.”
We still go back to this one every now and then, and honestly, it’s one of the easiest recommendations on this list.
My HeartCraft
My HeartCraft is exactly what it sounds like. You sit down, write someone a heartfelt letter, and they receive it as a beautiful little digital keepsake. This wasn’t really an “activity” in the same way as the others. We both wrote letters to each other, and it felt nice taking the time to put into words things we’d otherwise leave unsaid in everyday conversations.
Khushboo: “I loved how simple it was. No games, no distractions and no pressure to make it perfect. Just writing a letter to someone who matters to you. It felt really good.”
Malvika: “The ease of use and the fact that there’s a preview to show you how the other person will receive/see what you’ve made is really useful. However, I wish there was more customising options to create something that’s more unique to each bond. While it’s great to have a set template, more creativity would have made this app even more special.“
It’s probably not something we’d do every week, but it’s definitely something we’d revisit for birthdays, milestones or simply one of those days when you want your friend to know you appreciate them.
Mixtape for you
We work in music and spend a ridiculous amount of time talking about music outside of it. So making a mixtape for each other seemed quite inevitable.
The idea of Mixtape For You is simple: build someone a playlist, personalise it a little, send it over and let the songs do the talking.
Khushboo: “I made one for Malvika, and I spent far longer choosing songs than I’d like to admit. It reminded me why playlists still feel so personal, even in the age of streaming. Every song ends up saying something you didn’t quite know how to.”
Malvika: “The app is quite easy to use and has a pleasing aesthetic that plays into the vintage mood of mixtape. There’s something nostalgic and charming about picking out songs that remind you of someone. I definitely picked out songs that made me think of Khushboo. The option to add a note to it is cute addition as well.”
If you grew up making CDs or mixtapes for people, this feels wonderfully nostalgic. The website just makes that classic gesture easy to recreate digitally, without losing any of its charm.
Lens Booth
One thing that’s difficult in a long-distance friendship is getting a photo together. Lens Booth solves that by letting you invite a friend into a shared photo booth, so you can snap pictures together from wherever you are. It’s simple, fun and comes with a handful of filters to play around with. We probably spent more time deciding which filter to use (and cracking up at each other’s faces) than actually taking the photos.
Malvika: “Getting a photo with Khushboo has been a dream of mine, especially since she’s notoriously camera-shy. The accessibility and user-friendly interface of Lens Booth meant that convincing her to join the online booth was the only hard part of using this app. I do wish there were more filter options but overall, we now have actual pictures together despite having never met in person (but those pictures are for us to save and for others to never see!)”
Khushboo: “I loved the idea behind this one. There’s something really nice about ending up with actual photos together when you’re miles apart. The only downside was that it lagged quite a bit while saving, and we lost a couple of photos because they just wouldn’t process. I’d also love to see more Instagram- or Snapchat-style filters because I think it’d make the whole experience even more fun. But I’d definitely use it again.”
Gifft.me
You don’t always need a real, tangible present. Sometimes a tiny digital surprise does the job. Gifft.me lets you create little virtual gifts with personalised messages, making it feel like someone’s left a small surprise waiting for you.
Khushboo: “This was entirely Malvika’s doing. I had no idea it was coming, which made it all the more special. It’s such a small gesture, but it completely made my day. Naturally, it was followed by me spamming her with thank-you GIFs.”
Malvika: “I love how simple, quick and genuinely heartwarming this website made gift-giving. Gifts don’t have to be elaborate or expensive, sometimes it can just be a virtual envelope reminding you that you’re loved!”
Open When
You know those letters that say, “Open when you’re having a bad day” or “Open when you need a reminder that you’re loved”? This is exactly that, but in a digital format. You write letters for different moments in the future, and the other person opens them whenever that moment arrives.
It’s cute, simple and doesn’t try too hard.
Khushboo: “I love the idea behind this one more than anything else. You’re basically leaving little versions of yourself behind for your friend to discover later. It doesn’t have to be dramatic either. Even a letter for a bad day can mean just as much as one saved for life’s biggest moments.”
Malvika: “I really enjoyed making a collection of letters for Khushboo to open. The letters can be long or short but the end goal is letting someone know that someone is thinking of them even if they aren’t physically with them. I do wish the app was accessible on the phone as that would make it much easier to use.”
It’s not a website we’d constantly use, but it’s probably the one we’d tell every long-distance friendship to try at least once.
We’ve always been friends. It’s the only way we’ve ever seen and known each other since the first time we connected seven years ago. We never really considered the need to strengthen our bonds, but this little experiment proved that doing something that isn’t routine – in our case work – is all we needed to become closer than we thought possible.
Some of these websites have now become regulars in the time we spend together, some we’ll probably never open again. But every single one gave us a reason to spend an evening laughing, talking or sending each other unnecessarily dramatic messages.
If you’ve got a long-distance friend, consider this article your sign to try one of these apps this Friendship Day!
Written by Malvika Padin & Khushboo Malhotra
Do you have a long-distance friend and would you try one of these apps? Share your thoughts with us on Instagram, and visit Lyrical Muse for more!
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