iPhone app 2012 updated with The Rockford app holiday specials features

The city of Rockford is upgrading its iPhone application to include several new features – maps, sharing tools and a new interface.

The Rockford app

The best part about the upgrade, however, is businesses no longer have to pay a fee to take out a listing on the app, said developer and local resident Jeff Lewis of Fluis, Inc.

“We are hopeful that by removing that barrier we will receive more businesses than before,” Lewis said.

The original app only had about 50 businesses sign up and pay the approximately $100 fee, he said.

Any restaurant, retail, service-based, industrial or manufacturing business can submit relevant information about its hours of operation, location and a description of what it does. Nonprofit organizations, such as the Rockford Area Arts Commission, Chamber of Commerce, museum and North Kent Community Services also are encouraged to sign up for a listing.

The 2.0 app will be easier to update with new info, be less data-driven and more interactive, Lewis explained.

“The last one was created in the very early stages of the smart phone app,” he said. “(Apple) opened up its (app) store to outside developers and we got to work. So the first app was basically like a slideshow with pictorials of the businesses. With this one, there will be more to click on.”

He added businesses can feature holiday specials, as the 2.0 version will be launched in time for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Users can download the app and immediately share content from the app to their social media sites through a new, readily-available share feature. There also will be a map attached to each business and the capability of easily calling or emailing that business.

A detailed calendar feature will remain from the first version.

Fluis hopes to create a Google Android app by early 2012, Lewis said. The Rockford app currently is available only on iPhones, iPads and iPods.

According to GigaOM, an online organization specializing in technology news and trends, Google Android users surpassed iPhone users for the first time in 2010.

The Rockford app was launched in 2009 and was the first local government app in the world. Lewis clarified the statement by adding, “that we could find.”

“We did a press blurb with WGVU and they sent a bunch of people out on a search,” he said. “The closest thing they could find to what we had was an app to report potholes in Boston.”

The city of Grand Rapids now has a similar pothole app available. Rockford’s app has a form for notifying officials of any type of issue or problem residents observe within the city.

Lewis said although the current app is more than 2 years old, every week there are still five to 10 new downloads.

“And there are a lot of other travel apps out there now,” he said. “I think that really speaks to the enduring love people have for the city of Rockford.”

Applications for the Rockford 2.0 app are due by Nov. 4. The app is part of the Rockford Economic Development Corporation’s “Rockford First” campaign.

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