Request For Proposal to build Mountain Project mobile app

Mountain Project would like to offer a mobile app that our users could take to the crag and use offline. We've been tinkering with this for years but realized we need to outsource the development if it's going to get done. Many of our users have expressed a significant interest in building such an app, and now we'd like to open up that possibility.

A first round of features might be pretty limited, but we would add more if it goes well.

• Download data "packs" (maybe a US state, or, more likely, an area just under the state level, or even better.. any area) that contains all the areas and routes within that area.
• Update those data packs periodically.
• Browse and search across however many data packs you have downloaded. View all data, including text, comments, etc.
• Photos are large and numerous, and we will need a strategy to be efficient with their downloads/storage.
• If online, login to your account and manage ticks and to-dos.
• Screen templates might include:

      * Home: search box, a browsable list of areas you have downloaded, with update controls
      * Search result page
      * Area page
      * Route page
      * Your to-dos page
      * Your tick lists

• App must work for Android and iPhone, ideally with one code-base.

Our tentative plan is to charge small subscription fee for this app and share a portion of it with the developer (we haven't decided how much or what percent). You will not get rich doing this, so you would need to be primarily motivated by the glory of developing for Mountain Project and the climbing community :)

We are asking anyone interested to send a note to Nick Wilder (one of the MP owners) with:

• A list of your past mobile app projects and links to those that are publicly available (iphone and android links),
• A description of your interest level and availability,
• Ideally, links to a few UI mockups that you might propose ( balsamiq.com is a good way to do this).

We will only consider developers who have previously released public apps that we can review. If you have not published apps before, please do NOT apply.

Feel free to post FEATURE REQUESTS here (whether or not you are a developer).

How about the ablity to add new routes and Areas.
-upload pictures
-write description
-gps cords by a push of a button.

I sent Nick a message and he is aware that the following "one codebase" requirement is not really doable unless you were to use a toolset like PhoneGap :

Nick Wilder wrote:* App must work for Android and iPhone, ideally with one code-base.

Developers planning on using such a tool, or taking a mobile web approach, might want to be explicit about it in their proposals.

(NOTE: I am not affiliated with MP in any way, nor am I submitting a proposal. Just tryin' to help.)

Based on my elevation, position, and selected route I would like the application to determine if I'm at the crux or not -- and once at the crux the application should shout beta at me.

Sean Wolf wrote:Based on my elevation, position, and selected route I would like the application to determine if I'm at the crux or not -- and once at the crux the application should shout beta at me.

+1 Best idea ever! Can you imagine rifle with a bunch of cell phones yelling beta from the climbers hip? It would add to the current symphony of euros and and boulderites beautifully! And I want to be able to choose a sexy voice like on my car's GPS.

Seriously though... this app is a great idea. My climbing buddies and I assumed it hadn't been made due to some deal with guidebook authors/ publishers. Great news to find out that isn't the case. I am so looking forward to it. I would have no problem paying some money for it. Maybe $0.99/ area? EG. The packets could be Boulder Canyon, Eldorado Canyon, Lumpy Ridge, etc. Even if you bought most areas in the state, it would still be cheaper than a guidebook. Plus the info is already arranged like that on the site (I have no idea if that is at all useful to an app developer).

Ok I'm finished with my fairly unhelpful ramble. Tech guys GO!
Looking forward to it
Nikolai

Arthur Nisnevich wrote:I sent Nick a message and he is aware that the following "one codebase" requirement is not really doable unless you were to use a toolset like PhoneGap : Developers planning on using such a tool, or taking a mobile web approach, might want to be explicit about it in their proposals. (NOTE: I am not affiliated with MP in any way, nor am I submitting a proposal. Just tryin' to help.)

A single codebase could also be achieved with something like MonoTouch *(and MonoDroid). I've used MonoTouch to build iPhone apps before, and I'm interested in participating in this project.

Dave F wrote: A single codebase could also be achieved with something like MonoTouch *(and MonoDroid). I've used MonoTouch to build iPhone apps before, and I'm interested in participating in this project.

I was looking at MonoTouch/Droid originally. Waiting for them to process my beta request. F Objective C.

How about an app with some of the rules like " stick clipping the first bolt is cheating and no pulling on gear"

I'd really like to be able to view crags by their location in the state as well as their name. Often times if I haven't been to a state before I'd rather see where the crags are rather than what they're called so I can plan a trip accordingly.

Jeffrey LeCours wrote: I was looking at MonoTouch/Droid originally. Waiting for them to process my beta request. F Objective C.

I think MonoDroid is still in beta, but MonoTouch is live. You should be able to just download a demo (not sure about Droid though). I have a licensed copy of MonoTouch.

How about a way to search by city nearby. I'm always scouring the internet to find climbs in areas I plan to travel. It's surprisingly difficult to find any information ahead of time if I'm off to visit non-climbing friends/family out of state, as everything is listed by crag name only.

It would be awesome to incorporate location and mapping functionality, so that a traveling climber can just click a button, and the app then gives a list of nearby climbing areas by distance and travel time, and then routes you to the parking areas. But this would probably require alot of work. Maybe the a subsequent version can reach this level of functionality if enough people subscribe.

Maybe it could somehow feed GPS coordinates to googlemaps to then map out a driving route, or use googlemaps code to calculate driving distances so that the user can select an area which then opens up googlemaps to display driving directions.

Bumpity bump....

Great idea but for those of us too poor to buy an ifondle I'll still be using a printer and some paper...those poor trees

First had an iPod touch and now an iPhone that this worked with....I would just scroll to find the description or route and pull it up. Once loaded on your device there is an option to make it a home page...do this. It will now pull up that page every time, even without wifi access. I ve done this a bunch and it works but I would love to see an app do all the work for me

I try to do this when out exploring new routes so if my iPhone beta fails me I call still call for a major rescue on my slick phone!!

I'd also be willing to geomark the major lcc spots and climbing areas and download it here if the admins could use it, sorta bored right about now

Some existing iPhone apps (maybe one could be adapted to interface with Mountain Project):

Canada, Red River Gorge, El Potrero Chico (6900 routes):
climbitapp.com/

Arizona:
deuce4.net/web/RockNRoadAZ/
supertopo.com/climbers-foru…

Red River Gorge, Joshua Tree, etc.:
wolverinepublishing.com/app
itunes.apple.com/us/app/red…

French:
climbingaway.com/

GPS coordinates of rock climbing areas and hot springs:
colororange.com/

climberbeta.com/

I personally would be a lot more interested in an API. There's a good way to make some money off of it too - charge users to access premium features of the site thru the API.

This is Chris, one of the developers of Climb It. It looks like your app wishlist is almost identical to what we've already built into Climb It, and the direction the next couple of versions are heading in. We should definitely talk

Please see ?? for an update.

It's true that Climb It's route list is a bit limited right now but we have expanded it beyond Canada since perhaps you last looked at it. We now also include routes in the RRG and El Potrero Chico and we're working on adding much more.