Project Description
App ideas #41-100
Published: May 29, 2019
Idea #41: Website that ranks common products and activities by their environmental impact and teaches people how to change their behaviors to make their habits more environmentally friendly. What are the highest-impact, lowest-effort changes that people can tackle right away?
Idea #42: App that compares my water, gas, and electric usage with all the other units in my apartment building to gamify the energy conservation process
Idea #43: Search for the name of a movie and get back a list of podcast episodes (with timestamps) where the hosts talk about that movie. Would be cool if you could stream these audio clips directly in a web browser one after another like a playlist.
Idea #44: Connect Plex and Letterboxd accounts so users can filter films in Letterboxd based on whether or not they’re available for streaming on any of the Plex servers the current user has access to
Idea #45: Podcast that publishes new audio workouts three times per week. It’d be like having a personal trainer in your ears. There could be different hosts and different shows for different kinds of workouts and different fitness levels of listeners.
Idea #46: Dixit-like game where users can create their own decks of cards to play with using royalty free photo/artwork sharing websites like Unsplash
Idea #47: Post-it notes that change color, so I can write my todo list on post-its and then visually change the status of things without having to re-write anything: todo, in progress, waiting for feedback, done, etc.
Idea #48: App that can analyze all the comments posted for a given URL and generate a word cloud so people can quickly visualize the main topics of conversation happening in the comments section on any website
Idea #49: Location-aware music streaming preferences so apps like Spotify can recommend music based on the user’s current location: gym vs. driving vs. office vs. grocery store, etc.
Idea #50: Plastic Easter eggs that are sticky so people can hide them in precarious or difficult to find places (like high up on ledges) without the eggs falling down or getting blown over
Idea #51: Automatically create a list of vocabulary flash cards based on the words I highlight to lookup the definition while reading on my Kindle
Idea #52: A clock but when it displays the time it also displays a quote from a book that includes that time. So if it’s 9:17am, the app will locate some use of 9:17am in a book and include that quote along with the time.
Idea #53: A bot that watches Twitch streams that currently have 0 or 1 viewers and starts watching and commenting to make the streamer feel good about themselves
Idea #54: Sometimes you see something cool outside that you want to point out to other people. An AR app to mark a location from my perspective that lets other people see what I’m pointing at even if they’re not standing in the exact same spot as me.
Idea #55: A microwave with an internal microphone that can detect when popcorn kernels are done popping and automatically turn itself off. No more burnt popcorn. No more having to babysit the microwave.
Idea #56: Something that detects when TV commercials start playing, mutes the TV, and starts playing back a podcast or an audiobook until the TV show comes back on
Idea #57: An app that goes through all of the video clips in a PowerPoint or Keynote presentation and makes sure there are no clips that are noticeably louder than the others. This will help prevent unexpected load noises during presentations.
Idea #58: Adaptive high beams for cars. Detect when other cars on the road might be affected by the high beams and automatically turn them off. Automatically re-engage them when the other vehicle has safely exited the high beam cone of influence.
Idea #59: Fines for traffic violations that change based on how frequently that kind of ticket gets written. If a violation is more common, then the cost rises and keeps rising until the penalty is high enough that it actually deters people from breaking the law.
Idea #60: Frame a shot with a digital camera and automatically cycle through various camera settings (ISO, shutter speed, etc.) so that I end up with a lot of photos of the same thing. One of them will probably be good even without a deep understanding of photography.
Idea #61: An app that monitors popular Google searches and trending hashtags and then automatically registers related domain names
Idea #62: Alarm clock that automatically shares the number of times you press the snooze button in the mornings on social media. Let’s shame people into better sleep habits.
Idea #63: A podcast player that lets users directly tip the creators of the show that they’re currently listening to
Idea #64: An app to itemize your packing list and track whether you overpacked or under packed for a trip. Reference past packing data before your next vacation to know how many pairs of underwear you should pack for real.
Idea #65: Waterproof speaker you can load music and podcasts onto so you don’t have to take your phone with you when you go kayaking or paddle boarding
Idea #66: Bath towel that keeps track of how many times it’s been used since it was last washed. We could attach a tiny waterproof tally counter to it.
Idea #67: AR app that measures window sizes to help users buy curtains that fit because pleats can be confusing
Idea #68: A heat map of 911 calls so you can see which areas have potentially higher crime rates based on where the highest number of 911 calls are coming from
Idea #69: Use drone technology to build a small wireless electronic pump for air mattresses. Why are air mattress pumps so big when drone propellers are so small?
Idea #70: Video database of firework explosions that people can reference while shopping for fireworks so that they can preview everything before they buy anything
Idea #71: Car tires that can measure how bumpy a road is while driving and automatically send pothole reports to the people responsible for fixing potholes and maintaining road quality
Idea #72: A chair that gets more uncomfortable the longer you sit in it to encourage you to stand up and take regular breaks from long stretches of sitting
Idea #73: Setup Slack channels behind a paywall as a service (or a Discord server, email list, Facebook group, etc). This could be a super simple and low effort way to start generating revenue for a side project. Build a community and get paid to give users access to that community.
Idea #74: Bump your phone against a liquid container (water bottle, glass, jar, etc) to track your water consumption instead of having to manually enter the number of ounces that you drank
Idea #75: A mobile app that can listen to a conversation and keep track of how many seconds every person spends talking. Could be used by teachers to keep track of class participation or by businesses to make sure all voices are being heard during meetings.
Idea #76: A browser extension that removes view counts from YouTube videos because people often inflate popularity with quality which pollutes our viewing habits
Idea #77: A marketplace for story ideas. Instead of writing complete scripts before shopping them around, people can post in-progress stories and movie studios and publishing houses can browse early drafts and decide to option them before they’re finished.
Idea #78: iPad app that people interact with when entering a yoga class to indicate which body part they want the yoga instructor to focus on that day
Idea #79: Solar panels that are the same size and shape as leaves that can be installed on existing trees because that seems more aesthetically pleasing than big black panels on roofs
Idea #80: Trashcans that weigh their contents before getting emptied and maintain a history of trash info so that you can visualize how much garbage you and your family produce every year. Also an AR app to visualize all that garbage next to a family member.
Idea #81: Website where people can log in with their Airbnb credentials and order a physical scrap book that includes all of their past Airbnb rentals. A coffee table reminder of previous adventures.
Idea #82: Enter your address to generate and print out a map of your hometown, but the app replaces key landmarks with Pokemon RPG map assets so that you can have a poster of your neighborhood that looks like it came out of a Pokemon game
Idea #83: Mobile app that uses image recognition to help find objects in Where’s Waldo and I Spy style books. Could help parents play hidden object games with their kids without turning into rage monsters.
Idea #84: Machine learning car radio thing that learns the music preferences of a driver based on what they listen to so that when they go on a road trip and leave familiar radio stations behind, the car can automatically tune into similar radio stations in new areas.
Idea #85: Offline Stack Overflow. Wikipedia lets you download a database for offline access. I want to be able to do the same thing with Stack Overflow. Pick a programming language, download questions, and get answers to tech questions while in the middle of the woods.
Idea #86: App that tracks average checkout line wait times at your local grocery store so that you know when it’s busy and when it’s a good time to go buy food. Would be cool if the app showed real time data and historical wait times.
Idea #87: Chrome extension that grays out YouTube videos that you’ve already watched. Could be useful when trying to work through a channel’s back catalog of videos.
Idea #88: YouTube should show users a ranked list of the channels they spend the most time watching. I want stats. I want to know exactly how many minutes I’ve spent watching the channels I love the most.
Idea #89: Community sourced database of noisy streets, intersections, and neighbors that people can reference when trying to find a quiet place to live
Idea #90: Google Flights that takes Lyft/Uber costs to the airports into account. This would mostly benefit people who live within driving distance of multiple airports, like NYC.
Idea #91: An intro to programming book that reinforces all of the lessons with real world examples from Stack Overflow
Idea #92: LED lights on library floors that lead people from the computers they use to search for books to where the books actually live on the shelves. Maybe this could be an AR app. I want the same thing to exist at grocery stores.
Idea #93: AR app for museum tours that can direct me where to go by projecting lines on the ground, show me where to stop to listen to info blurbs, and highlight features in the real world similar to how a real tour guide might use a laser pointer.
Idea #94: Toothpaste that changes color after you’ve been brushing for 2 minutes so you know when the stop. Or, toothpaste that changes flavor after 2 minutes so you know when you can spit it out.
Idea #95: Internet of things decibel level detectors that you place around your home to notify you when you or your roommates are being too loud
Idea #96: Stairs that light up to help you workout. The lights help set your pace and provide variety by skipping stairs and stuff. Kinda like how electronic pianos light up the keys to teach people how to play songs.
Idea #97: App that tells me what time I need to leave my apartment to make it to my gate in time for my flight. Takes drive time, ride sharing pickup time, security line time, and domestic vs. international gate time into account. Waiting around at airport sucks.
Idea #98: View a stream of Instagram stories based on the locations you’re interested in, not based on the people you follow. Setup alerts to get notified when someone posts a popular Instagram story about Iceland for instance.
Idea #99: Like a light pollution map but for plant data. Which species are blooming right now? Which species were blooming this time last year? Would be a cool resource for people planning trips outside.
Idea #100: A website that reviews DVD director commentaries so that I know which ones are worth watching/listening to
900 to go!
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