A mobile app for the Z apocalypse?

diyeys

Hey there,

Let's assume that the mobile networks are fully functional and hopefully electricity networks as well, what would you think a mobile app should do to really help people in that situation?

I am not talking about whatsapp or existing apps, more like a custom survival app for the apocalypse or prepping.

Any ideas? I can work on that

RiderOnTheStorm

Great idea for a thread!

Well, my first thought is a map app where I can note / pin interesting things, and then use gps to navigate back to them. Maybe with an option to show where I am o the map, and have a closed group so that only my village / clan / tribe can see me & my pins (and I can see them & theirs), so that we can explore & hunt and share finds, but not give away info to every raider in Ireland!

diyeys

RiderOnTheStorm wrote: »

Great idea for a thread!

Well, my first thought is a map app where I can note / pin interesting things, and then use gps to navigate back to them. Maybe with an option to show where I am o the map, and have a closed group so that only my village / clan / tribe can see me & my pins (and I can see them & theirs), so that we can explore & hunt and share finds, but not give away info to every raider in Ireland!

I think the idea of having a closed group is brilliant, so all the group can share info about the exploring in real time like you said. Also would be handy to have a panic button to aware all the group about your location in case somebody gets in trouble.

Maybe also some videos about learning basic skills, info about poisonous food, etc

RiderOnTheStorm

diyeys wrote: »

.... Also would be handy to have a panic button ...

+1 .... yup, good one

To expand on your other idea about videos, how about a wiki (or link to appropriate site) for whats edible in country side? Mushrooms are always a head scratcher for me ... maybe (in ideal world) take a pic of the mushroom, and then a lookup to a databse tells you if its edible.

Ref guides / How-to for first aid, electronics, water purifyer / pumps, mechanics, etc would be good.

Another idea .... you know how your phones wifi can detect wifi signals in your area? How about an app that can detect other phones nearby (by their wifi, or signal, or something) and at same time, not show your signal. Would be good to be able to observe others before deciding to run or make friends ...


How long do folk think the networks would stay active after they were left unmanned? They clearly wont go down on the day of the Apoc. The satelites will stay in correct orbit for a long time. I reckon the loss of power on the earth/servers side will be the decider. And the internet is just a tool to link other servers / sites .... so it is possible to link directly to far away sites if you have address / know how. How about an app that you can load up before hand with the hard address / emulators of your fav sites? That way, when the internet goes, you might be able to get to your much loved wiki for a bit longer ....

diyeys

RiderOnTheStorm wrote: »

Mushrooms are always a head scratcher for me ... maybe (in ideal world) take a pic of the mushroom, and then a lookup to a databse tells you if its edible.

That is definitely a good idea, really handy while gathering food, but we would have to rely on any existing database which I am not sure if that exists.

RiderOnTheStorm wrote: »

Another idea .... you know how your phones wifi can detect wifi signals in your area? How about an app that can detect other phones nearby (by their wifi, or signal, or something) and at same time, not show your signal. Would be good to be able to observe others before deciding to run or make friends ...

Although this good be priceless, I am not sure if that would be possible.

Also would be nice to have some sort of video streaming or some radio features to contact other people/groups.

RiderOnTheStorm

diyeys wrote: »

... radio features ...

Now that is another good one. Phones currently can pick up FM signals. How about an app that you can use to listen to radio broadcasts.... it would need option to manually tune the radio (ie not pre-set stations) as folks might be x-mitting on whatever freq they can cobble together. Can current smartphones pick up other freqs? VHF, UHF, LW? Can smartphones actually pick up radio waves or is it a 'trick' where they are actually sreaming the radio over the internet (by going to the radios website)?

ScumLord

The internet should survive for a good while. It was designed to survive nuclear strikes and all sorts of problems. With less people using it, it should be pretty fast and reliable. Automated systems could shut down some of the servers when they're not needed which would mean there are replacement servers available when there's breakdown.

The problem might be connecting to it. If the phone companies do one thing before they shut down it should be to make their networks open so anyone can connect to them without passwords and accounts.

If we had access to google maps, it would tell you where most things of worth are. Most businesses are listed in it. But apps that depend on user generated content would become pretty useless. If people were going around broadcasting their status and location, I think you all know how I'd make use of that.

RiderOnTheStorm

ScumLord wrote: »

... If people were going around broadcasting their status and location, I think you all know how I'd make use of that.

Ah yes, so thats why its a closed group for only people in my clan.



....of course, if you capture one of my hunter-gatherers and use his phone to get access to our info, well, thats just dastardly! ;-)

Tzar Chasm

The thing about modern cellular communications is that it would be relativley simple to set up your own local network.

Once the whole licencing and frequency issues go away in an apocalypse situation the possibilities become rather exciting.

Fallschirmjager

picture comparison for pioson plants maybe?

also a location to the nerest charging station

herd alerts, kinda like weather alerts except for Z. hell you could even have your own scale as a warning

aeriel shots from satellites maybe in near real time, okay thats a big ask i know

a way of marking what building you have already raided or where stockpiles are left, password protected obviously.

Tzar Chasm

The herd would have to be fairly big to see it with a live satelite feed.

The nearest charger should be a solar unit in your pocket.

A decent local intranet would suffice for the rest.

Wabbit Ears

I have a Z Apoc app.

What it does is distract you with a huge dump of funny images, Like the entirety of imagur to the point that you fail to even notice your face being ripped off.

Its called the darwin app, for obvious reasons.

southcentralts

I am in favour of the app, though if it uses notifications with sounds I would kill it and burn it with fire!

TheWarChicken

An issue with all these apps is hacking. RIP anyone who puts their base on the map with mobile forums. Guard switch 2 A.M. Fine then, I'll go in at 2 and get them off guard.