Father’s boating app tops App Store after daughter asked TikTok to make it go viral: ‘He worked so hard’

The app has now gotten more than 150,000 downloads

A father’s new navigation app, Argo, has soared to the top of the US App Store charts after his daughter helped it go viral on TikTok.

Earlier this week, Argo’s official TikTok account shared a video of its owner, Jeff Foulk, at the Chicago boat show. In the clip, Jeff’s daughter Megan asked viewers to help her father’s navigation app for boaters go viral.

“Help blow up dads boating app,” she wrote in the text over the video. “He’s worked so hard on it and just wants people to try it out.”

Throughout the 12-second clip, Jeff is seen standing next to his table and holding a flyer at the boat show as guests passed by.

In the caption, she explained what Argo does: “It’s a free navigation app for boaters. Please try it out and let captain Jeff know what you think. He’ll really appreciate it.”

As of 19 January, the TikTok video has more than 19.3m views with many users in the comment claiming that they downloaded the app.

“Got Argo for my dad and his boat!” one wrote, while another added: “Downloading Argo and I don’t own a boat. But I have a dad whom I love ..so this .. I get.”

A third said: “At least now I’ve got the navigation part covered... next step: Buy a boat.”

Other viewers shared their sympathetic reactions to the father and praised his daughter for helping him.

“This is so sweet. I never comment. But I always want to support hard-working people and loving families!” one wrote.

“Never again will I walk by someone handing out flyers without at least showing them I see them. This broke my heart,” another added.

As noted by an article shared on Argo’s site, Argo was the most downloaded navigational app in the app store just days after the TikTok went viral. Within a few days, the app had over 150,000 downloads.  As of 19 January, Argo is ranked as the fifth most popular navigation app.

In the article, Jeff shared his reaction to the boating app going viral, explaining: “Megan was updating me, but I didn’t realise the real impact we were having. Then she told me she had 1 million views, and I started paying attention. I was swamped on email and with comments in the app.”

Jeff also acknowledged how shocked he was by the downloads and thanked his TikTok viewers for supporting him.

“It will take us a while to sort it all out, so we hope all our fans — new ones and old ones — will be patient while we do, but we are so very grateful for all the support, from so many directions,” he added.

In another TikTok video shared to Argo’s page, Jeff is seen looking through emails and visibly stunned by all the responses he’s received. He’s also wearing a shirt reading : “WARNING: I will tell you about my app.”

Argo is a free app that helps boaters find routes to “new destinations, share knowledge, and connect with other boaters,” per the app’s official site.

The Independent has contacted a representative for Argo for comment.