I’m struggling here to figure out if this newish app represents a great use of technology, a grim sign of the state of the world or simply a generational gap. Launched in 2021, the iPhone-only Realworld app claims to “Simplify Adulthood,” which sets me laughing because of course adulthood is anything but simple!

The app’s backstory explains that its founder, despite a law degree, apparently was unable to do simple normal survival activities, like paying bills or dealing with car insurance. Before you snort about privileged people, pause for a second because I don’t think they are alone — and that’s why I can’t figure out how to feel about this app.

Realworld offers more than 100 lessons on topics that we alleged adults take for granted. Car maintenance. Emergency savings. Checking account. Cooking. Mindfulness. Renters insurance. And so on. The app groups each general category into a “playbook” which, when opened, merges an old-style magazine quiz with a to-do list based on your quiz responses. Each playbook offers up a combo of “Do”, “Get,” and “Learn.”

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The “Do”  lists come with specific instructions (“Stock your kitchen list/Step 2 Make a list of cookware you want”), embedded definitions (a chef knife is a “multipurpose knife, usually about 8' long, with a slight sloped blade, great for all types of slicing, chopping etc.”).

Because each of the “to do” items includes, well, actions to do, the “get” module conveniently links you to sources. Need to get recipes? It connects you to four partner sites/apps — which, to be fair, represent pretty good recipe sources for someone just getting started cooking.

The “Learn” modules deliver phone screen size “steps” — little morsels of information, along the lines of “Purchasing groceries is almost always cheaper per mean than dining out … money saved on groceries means more to put towards savings (or candles, ubers, etc – whatever floats your boat)!”

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Which brings me around to my original question: Is this a good use of technology? Well,  the playbooks feel surprisingly organized, well-written (with a light and appropriate tone), and useful. Paper/ink/printed “how to” guides litter the trail of history — but this digital format and its list/learn/resource structure works well … a reminder that editorial + curation + tech can indeed make a recipe for information success.

And, oh yeah, they come at no charge, certainly a plus to those just dipping a toe into the land of adulting. The links/partnerships throughout surely represent the app’s revenue model, but before you scream about that remember this: the targeted market of newly-hatching adults never knew a world without an iPhone and intuitively understand the link/sponsor relationship in the same way their parents/grandparents/great-grandparents understood that advertising underwrote the “How to buy your first car” printed booklet they once received

So, is it a good use of technology? Yes indeed — check!  But what does it tell us that we need an app to learn adulting basics?

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At first, part of me points to missing pieces such as the lack of old-fashioned “home economics” that taught 7seventh-graders how to make cinnamon sugar toast or fry an egg, the lack of old-fashioned “shop” that taught ninth-graders how to hammer a nail or saw a piece of wood … the lack of “personal finance” that taught high school seniors how to pay a bill. And of course, everyone wants to bemoan the lack of actual adult role models that do the same teaching as part of everyday interaction!

And yet … and yet … across time some people had those points of learning, but many others did not. And some blackout such instruction because it came from a parental figure’s mouth. Either way led to a lot of learning by trial and error. Maybe we’ve always needed an app for adult world skills  — but just never realized it!

Seriously, Realworld offers a discrete, customized pathway for getting information. Heck, I’m supposed to know how to adult (ok, stop laughing now — someday I might actually grow up!) but even I found the playbook on “How to understand and pay your medical bills” process quite helpful; it included one of the clearest explanations I’ve seen of how to read and understand the EOB. An EOB is the Explanation of Benefits aka, that document you get from your insurance company that, according to the handy Realworld guide,  “lets you know what was paid for by insurance and what you still might owe.”

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So once again back to my initial question … does the need for this app represent a grim state of affairs? In a fantasy world some perfect adult(s) would have the wherewithal to teach absolutely everything about adulting — but do let me know if you ever find that world because I haven’t!  Rather than flashing a warning, I think this use of tech might represent a rather hopeful sign that we’ve added a resource to the mix.

As for it being a generational gap, that one’s easy. Of course, it is! But that too represents a healthy and normal state. Launching into adulthood always feels like a shock to the system — and every generation finds its own tools for learning on the job.  The art of growing up requires hands-on practice, a bump in the road from time to time, and just going out and doing it. The only surprise about Realworld might be that it took so long to launch it.

Teresa Martin of Eastham lives, breathes and writes about the intersection of technology, business and humanity. 

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Realworld app claims to simplify adulthood not just for the young