It only took Mike Kane, a self-taught programmer from the Philly suburbs, three weekends to design his ChristmasPrism app. Late on Friday nights and early on Saturday mornings, before breakfast.
The app allows homeowners with Christmas light displays to upload a photo of their home to the ChristmasPrism app. People out hunting for cool Christmas light displays could then pull up the app and map them out. The app was originally just to showcase Delaware County which borders Philadelphia, and he expected about 50 users by Christmas. The user count just a little more than two weeks later: 55,000.
There are users in 40 states, including Alaska, There are even users in Puerto Rico.
The ChristmasPrism app is still only available in the Apple Store. But Kane was able to put together a website in all his spare time that allows Android users to map out Christmas lights in their browsers. You just can’t add houses on the website interface.
Kane also insists on approving all the images uploaded to ChristmasPrism, as a form of quality control and keeping the site clean. “So it’s been me and my wife late into the night with a bottle of wine doing all the approving,” he explains.
We used the app for the first time and loved it. I was not quite sure what all the different icons meant, but it seems that based on the number of likes a house gets, the icons change.
An elk means you have just a few likes. A snowman means you’re getting better. And it goes on from there up to a giant snow globe, which indicates you have more than 25 likes.
Here’s a house that has a giant inflatable Grinch (30 feet tall by one estimate).
I don’t know if driving around looking at Christmas lights is just a Philly thing, but it doesn’t sound like it. And if you like doing so, I can highly recommend this app. #DelcoStrong
*the picture up top is from a house that must have had a few hundred inflatables in their yard.
Sources used:
Delco Dad’s Christmas Lights Map App Goes National
A Philly-Area Dad Just Built an App That Lets You Find Houses With Awesome Holiday Lights
Christmas lights app by Delco resident offers pandemic-safe entertainment
I wqs just telling my husband last night that we needed to drive around and see Christmas lights. What timing you have! 🙂
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You may want to check out this app then…
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We just set-up simple lights in our front porch… Clearly none near as these. Thanks for sharing this!
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our lights are pretty basic as well, not worth putting on the app!
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What a great idea, and he was able to create the app himself!
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yes, very impressive!
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Sounds pretty cool. We take the grandkids out to view the Christmas lights here. There are competitions for the best Christmas lights here. Some of them are amazing.
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people do get carried away. and sometimes the lights are coordinated with music…
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I’ve seen that too. 🙂
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I think it’s a great idea, but isn’t part of the joy of driving around, coming across some unexpected finds? Some things thrive on the treasure hunt principle.
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I agree. So while we picked a few houses from the app to go to, we certainly discovered some others along the way…
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It is nice to see a local guy do well. It still amazes me a bit just how hard it is to gauge the response to something new. He has become a victim to his own success. Great post, Jim, and perfectly timed!
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and he has no desire to make a any money from the app…
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what a great use of technology. we still love to drive around and look at the lights!
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I guess a lot of people like to do so!
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I’m looking forward to his next app, the one that shows all the car crashes caused by people too busy looking at lights to keep their eyes on the road 😂
All that electricity being used to power lights, all that fuel to power the cars driving around. Why?
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There were a few slow moving cars checking out the lights, but everyone seemed to be driving carefully.
But yes, I can’t imagine what the electricity bill must be for some of these light displays.
perhaps you can partner with him on your app idea 🙂
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I still don’t get the fascination with light displays or travelling to see them. Don’t you guys have other forms of entertainment that might be less damaging to the planet? We have people here who do that but they are generally thought of as idiots 😂
I doubt my app idea would take off 😉
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I’ve done lots of idiotic things in my life; I guess this is just one more. 🙂
I prefer Christmas lights to fireworks, which do nothing for me…
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Each to their own, I guess.
Fireworks are great in a well organised display, otherwise they’re just a nuisance.
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Jim, it is amazing how you find fascinating and interesting items such as this. Our world is filled with some wonderful creativity. The human mind is priceless.
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well said, Richard!
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That looks like a fun app. We drive around every year, looking and admiring. Our town is so small, I don’t think we need an app, as we already know where the best displays are.
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you may need to go for longer drives 🙂
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Like Jim said, maybe you need to go for longer drives! We have amazing lights here in Pennsylvania! 🙂
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We see pretty good stuff here. And we decorate, too. My wife made a Covid tree in our front yard.
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LOL! I am sure you do!
A Covid tree? Masks all over the tree??
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No, it’s a round, leafless shrub that she threw a few icicle garlands around. It looks pathetic.
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Haha! A Charlie Brown tree!😄
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Yeah, except this year we’re calling it our Covid tree. It’s kind of symbolic of the year.
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Makes sense!
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sad, but true…
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🙂
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are you going to post a picture of the COVID tree?
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Heck no. Haven’t we seen enough Covid lately?
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you could capture it for posterity…
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I wouldn’t even capture it for my posterior.
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🙂
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three cheers for PA!
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YES! We are unique you know! No other state says its initials as its name. LOL!
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is that true?
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Have you ever heard anyone say I live in NY or IN or FL?? People abbreviate with initials but they don’t pronounce their state initials. 🙂
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that’s true. Now I feel special… 🙂
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You are welcome! 🙂 It was one of the first things my in-laws had brought up to me when I first met them. I really hadn’t thought of it before that. It was just so common to say Pa. that I didn’t think of it being strange! LOL!
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just like I don’t think the town I grew up in, King of Prussia, sounds weird. But to an outsider it must…
thanks for the fun fact!
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My daughter LOVED King of Prussia Mall when we took her there , while visiting friends. 🙂
Glad I could help increase your knowledge!
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I remember King of Prussia before there was a mall!
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Oooh you are old! LOL!! 🙂
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seasoned…
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Ahh! Ok! 😄
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What a great idea!! I love looking at Christmas lights! Thanks for sharing!!
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it is a nice holiday tradition…
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Christmas lights are not a big thing here.
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do at least a few houses have lights up?
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Our one neighbour did lights last night
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I guess as long as one person does it 🙂
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How cool! What an inventive way to spread the holiday spirit. 🎄
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We’ve used it a couple nights this week, and plan to use it again tomorrow night…
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I love that there are people who gives alternatives and making shopping a bit easier and stress free. But you know what? I love hunting for Christmas tree 😀
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and other things blindly hehehe
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🙂
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I like to get my tree shopping over in five minutes… 🙂
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