Access Irvine, The City of Irvine’s First Mobile App
I'm happy to tell you that the City of Irvine has come out with their own mobile app. Seems like everyone's making an app nowadays. Most people or businesses don't need an app, but this is different. Irvine decided to be ahead of the curve and created this cool Android and iOS app. When it first came out it was only available for Android. Now there is an iOS version. The app is useful I think because it makes the city's facilities and services more accessible.
Living in Irvine gives me an insight into the culture that we have, and I know most people have smart phones so this is a great move. You can use the phone to find and connect you different places. You can email or call the police officers in charge of the different high schools around town. If you're social and want to go out and mingle with other city dwellers you'll find a cool section that shows you events coming up so you can join.
One thing that I thought was really interesting is the crime tip tool. You can actually report a non-emergency crime directly from your phone. That's pretty neat, you can just send and alert to IPD if you see a crime taking place and you don't even have to dial the police department or 911. Though you're still reminded to call 911 if there is an emergency. Something that was a bit unexpected for me, is the "Teen Events" and "Youth Action Team" social media icons, in fact there's a whole section related to Teens and I just found that odd. Why isn't there a "seniors" section, or "entrepreneurs"? Perhaps Teens is the demographic that the Irvine Company determined is using mobile devices with these kinds of apps.
I got the app as soon as I heard about it and I like it. It's a bit rough around the edges when it comes to design. The functionality of the app although limited, is well done. The icons and menus make sense and you are able to do what you are being offered. The app hasn't crashed on me or given me any problems. If you want to try it yourself, just head to your respective markets and Download for Android, or Download for iOS.
At last, a few screenshots of the app to give you a better idea of what it looks like. So far it's been great and you should get it if you live in the area. I'm guessing that cities like Costa Mesa, or Tustin, Newport or even south of Irvine will start their own apps soon, especially if enough people download and use the Access Irvine app.
