The purpose of a wingman is to be a lifeline for a friend who is either trying to talk to the opposite sex or is too intoxicated to handle his or herself. It is their job to make sure that a) their friend doesn’t make a fool out of themselves and b) they accomplish their goal of meeting someone new or having an outrageous night on the town.

The service is mainly intended for singles, but those of us in a steady relationship still have a use for a partner in crime. You will be hard-pressed, however, to find someone who is willing to be your babysitter if there is no end goal for the night. Enter the Bro Wingman app.

The new application for iOS gives men the ability to go out with their friends without having to remember to update their better half on how the night is going. By programming what day, time and message you want to send to your girlfriend, it gives her the impression that her boyfriend is genuinely concerned with how her day went, when really his cyber wingman is doing all the work.

For example, say you and your friends have planned for a crazy weekend that you know that your significant other will not be in attendance for and therefore worrying the entire night. Before the chaos begins, use your Bro Wingman app to schedule a text to send to her at a time when you know that trying to use your phone is out of the question. When that time arrives, the app will send you a push notification to confirm that you want to send the previously arranged text. From there, all you do is press send. Just like that, her mind is at ease, and you can continue to participate in the shenanigans that you and your friends have gotten into.

It’s a novel idea, but the app can only do so much. If you are only sending one text throughout the night, then the Bro Wingman app has you covered. But if you are trying to have a conversation, things may appear to be off to your girlfriend when the first text is completed with perfect grammar and punctuation while the rest look like a toddler wrote them. Also, the app still has plenty of bug fixes to improve upon before it is ready to reach its full potential.

For those of you who have already been using this app, I’m sorry for spoiling the secret. I hope it doesn’t land you in the doghouse.

★★☆☆☆

mfreter@mavs.coloradomesa.edu