Mobile apps target different audiences, have different functionalities, and purposes. But with how saturated the mobile app market is, the possibility of there being an app for everything is quite high. It’s quite a surprise sometimes when out of the blue, great mobile app ideas pop out of seemingly nowhere. How does one just come up with ideas like that (This post can give you a clue)? Most importantly, how do great app ideas turn into great instruments of a big change?
Great App Ideas for Promoting Social Responsibility
Beyond profit, an app developer should think of their users’ welfare. But what if the main goal of the app is to promote the welfare not only of its users but also the welfare of society? You earn some income from the app and you’re actually a socially responsible human being. Let’s take a look at how some app developers went about doing just that.
Apps for Getting Rid of Vices and Bad Habits
What if you find help in getting rid of a bad habit like chain smoking, overspending, and much more? And there’s more, not only will help balance your life, you can also help improve society. The premise is simple and the execution is mostly reward-based. Sometimes, the reward itself is seeing positive change in oneself.
Example: Get Rich or Die Smoking, Swear Jar, Forest
Apps that Help Companies Do Good
A lot of apps are now used as channels in which companies or organizations can give back to the community. The apps usually entail subsidized contributions or “donation matching”. These apps also team up with establishments wherein the app incentivize continued patronage, therefore promoting and increasing the business prospects of the establishments. In return, the app or the cause behind it receives a certain amount or item.
Examples: Check-in for Good, Tinbox, Flashfood
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Apps that Enable People to Help in Their Own Way
Not everyone has the capability to donate money or even their efforts. Apps that enable users to contribute even something as simple as a message for someone are amazing self-worth enhancers. It gives users the validation that no matter their wealth, or health status they can also help others in need.
Examples: HTC Power to Give, Pet To Give, Donate a Photo for Charity
Apps that Facilitate Community Involvement
A lot of organizations ask for monetary donations or for volunteers to contribute some of their time and efforts. A lot of organization-backed apps enable this to happen but there’s also other ways to encourage donations and volunteerism without being affiliated with any charitable organizations or without any resources. There’s no need to monitor anything and just let the sense of community run the cause. The app just needs to facilitate crowdsourcing, organization, and communication.
Examples: LeftoverSwap, SeeClickFix, GoodSam Alerter
Apps that Make Helping Fun
You can gamify everything these days, even charitable causes. The gamification brings not only the factor of entertainment but also the factor social proof. If one as much as shares that they are supporting a cause financially, it would immediately appear conceited or “humble-braggy”. But with this gamification approach, the sharing of any contribution is an invitation to join with the consequence of being left out from the trend.
Examples: Charity Tap, Involver, Budge
Apps that Help the Environment
There seem to be lots of tree huggers in social media. But not everyone can easily access the wonders of nature. So why don’t you let these people contribute from the comfort of their own homes? Environmental apps can either educate or empower users to make a contribution. There are different approaches but most of the time organizations either plant a tree for every donation.
Examples: Dropcountr, JouleBug, Recology
Though the apps cited contribute to the betterment of society and in extension, the world, a lot of these apps appear inactive. Take the Leftover Swap app, for example, it did not gain traction and did not publish any updates for two years now. A lot of great app ideas like this become lost to obscurity all because of poor or flawed execution.
So even if your great mobile app ideas are already taken, there’s still a possibility that your execution of the idea is better. At the end of the day, the one that leaves a mark – makes a real change in society is a tool that moves many.
