This is the archived website for the 2014.1 ACApps Challenge.
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Photo of a women with a light bulb above her head and the caption: Have you ever thought to yourself, I wish there was an app for that?

Give us your APP IDEAS!

Are you a resident of Alameda County and would like to suggest an app idea for the coders to develop?

Are you a developer and want to suggest an idea for your fellow coders to "chew on"?

Can't come to the hackathon but you still want to contribute?

Have you ever thought to yourself, "I wish there was an app for that?"

Send us your app ideas and be a part of the hackathon!

  • "Mobile app using ESRI software showing restaurant inspection results (green, yellow, red) on a map within a half-mile radius of your current location." - Debi
  • "Hot spot analysis map of ambulance runs." - Debi
  • "A map showing layers of police stations, fire stations, polling places, BOS district boundaries, city council member boundaries, public schools, public libraries, community/youth/senior centers, health facilities. Example: City of Boston.Gov" - Debi
  • "Create a website that shows solar, wind and other alternative energy sources similar to Solar Boston at: SolarBoston" - Debi
  • "create something like "Citizens Connect" in Boston: "Citizens Connect is the City of Boston's award-winning effort to empower residents to be the City's "eyes and ears." Now you can alert the City of Boston to neighborhood issues such as potholes, damaged signs, and graffiti." - Debi
  • "I would like an app that tells me about police action or emergencies that are happening nearby, so that I can take another route. It could send me an alert, or be linked to google maps. It would have to tap into first response data. As I type this it is sounding like a lot of work and perhaps opening a can of worms, but here's why I wanted it: Recently I walked through what looked like many police officers (like 5 cars worth) holding rifles looking for a sniper in Embarcadero center. Quickly followed by a number of emergency vehicles responding to SOMETHING, SOMEWHERE nearby. If I had known, I would have taken a different route! This would keep the public safe by asking them to take another route." - Anonymous
  • "A map of all the charging stations located in Alameda County for electrical vehicles would be very helpful." - S.D.
  • "A map of the Alameda County Fairgrounds on your smartphone. Ideally it would be modified for the different events. So there would be a map of the County Fair, a map of the Scottish Games, a map of the GoodGuys events, etc." - Nancy
  • "To support green businesses, you could make an app that shows which of the businesses in the Alameda County SLEB (local vendor) database are Certified Green Businesses" - Emily S.

Here are some of the best ideas from our previous hackathons...

  • "I want an app that explains the county budget." - Anonymous
    Update: Alameda County now has a budget website. Check it out: budget.acgov.org
  • "I want to check out books from the library using my smartphone." - Wei-min
  • "Build a mobile app that shows a restaurant's health inspection ratings." - Annonymous
    Update: A team at our first hackathon developed an app for this. Check it out: 510eat.org/
  • "How about an app to help me be more green. - Annonymous
    Update: Alameda County developed a mobile website that lists businesses in the County that have been certified "green" by the Green Business Program. Check it out: Green Businesses
  • "I would like a mobile app (lets call MyHome) which has 'one stop shop' info for local alameda county residents. Information should include Local Schools, Parks, Hotels, banks, entertainments, Maps, Local events based on the alameda residence address. Taking this concept further, the app should also include homeowner's property related information such as Property assessment, Property taxes amount & due dates with reminders, Trending of local home values in their zipcode and other related mortguage related info such as HARP, FHA, Refinance, Rates etc." - Mack S
    Update: The second place winning app from our first hackathon displays info about parks and recreation areas in Alameda County. Check it out: ACPR Finder

    Update: Another team at the hackathon developed an app that finds points of interest in Alameda County. Check it out: ACPOI

    Update: Alameda County staff have built an app that allows you to lookup and pay your property taxes right from your Apple mobile device. You can also lookup property assessment as well as parcel maps. Download it at: AC Property
  • "I would like to report street lamp outtages and pot holes from my smartphone and the system automatically detects my location using the gps receiver in my smartphone." - Wei-min
  • "A site that shows all the schools in my neighborhood: from pre-school to high school, public, charter and private, by radius (1 mile, 2 miles, 3 miles)" - Annonymous
  • "A county map app that tells us when we're in an incorporated or unincorporated part of the county based upon GPS. Also, highlights local county resources and historical landmarks with facts." - Dexter C.
  • "Create a map of senior services available, including their hours and location, contact info, etc." - Deena

Send us an idea...

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