At 13 years of age, Mercer Henderson had already created apps and was exploring ways to connect her work with nonprofit causes.
In October 2016, Forbes profiled Henderson as the founder of 4GirlsTech and the creator of Audiots, an app that added sounds to emojis. The profile also covered FriendIts, her second app, which allowed users to create private communities to share and swap clothes, accessories and other items.
How Mercer Henderson Created Audiots
Forbes reported that the idea for Audiots came from the way Henderson and her friends communicated using technology.
According to the profile, Henderson and her friends used texting and audio files to communicate. She then worked with a UX designer, sound engineer and app developer to develop Audiots. Forbes reported that Henderson selected the audio and user experience for each emoji and that the development process took about five months.
The San Francisco SPCA described Audiots as a sound-based emoji keyboard. Users could select emojis with professionally recorded sound bites, while the recipient did not need to have the Audiots keyboard to receive them.
