We wanted to explore some of the capabilities of the popular React Native framework, which allows simultaneous development of iOS and Android based native applications, so we developed ’20 Mattters, a mobile guide to the candidates running for President of the United States in the 2020 General Election. Here’s what we built.
Creating a central candidate information api
Because there is no single source of Presidential candidate details available via API on the internet (that we found or know of), we built one using a customized WordPress platform and its JSON data API. We sourced (and verified) our information from Government data sources and Wikipedia to build a central database of all US Presidential Candidates by party. While there are more parties running than Democrats or Republicans, we’ve chosen to only list those who will appear on the debate stage per election regulations.
INTEGRATING WITH GOOGLE AND MICROSOFT API SERVICES
We wanted to detail relevant news from verified sources for each candidate as well as providing local election information such as polling location and current elected officials at the local, state and federal levels. For “smart news”, we integrated with Microsoft’s Cognitive API Services and created our own algorithm for relevant news for each candidate as it relates to the 2020 election. For local election information, we integrated with Google’s Civic Info API and the users location either through an address they entered or by geolocation (the users choice).
FEATURES
Users can browse detailed information about each 2020 US Presidential Candidate including their early life, education, experience, political views, stances and family life.Â
Each candidate display page also lists campaign details such as the campaign video, information about donating, volunteering and contacting. Users can see each candidates latest tweet and news from verified sources relevant to that candidate and the 2020 election.
Lastly, users can lookup by address or geolocation, their local polling center and representatives that serve them in local, state and federal governments.
What does this demo showcase in terms of real-world projects for businesses or organizations?
In our ’20 Matters demo we’re displaying US Presidential Candidates by political party, but we could have easily displayed houses by city subsections, vehicles by make/model or any other type of relational data. The ’20 Matters app shows how a real-estate, automotive dealership or similar type app might look and operate like. You can download the ’20 Matters app from the Apple App store or Google Play store by clicking the appropriate link below.
Apple iOS
Android
Learn more about keystone web studios mobile application development services
We develop custom mobile applications for Apple iOS and Android devices. You can learn more about our mobile development services or contact us for more information.
