I know I’ve been waiting for this one for a long time–Petfinder.com has a great mobile site, but I was always hoping they’d come out with an app for the iPhone (I think Droid, Blackberry, etc. are not far behind).
One of the things I do for a living is develop iPhone apps, so I can tell you two things: this is NOT an easy process, and I’m sure they’ve been working on this for a loooooong time (it takes several months just to get approval from Apple), and this is a GREAT app. Their developers did a fantastic job.
The interface is intuitive, attractive and clear. You can search for animals in all the same ways you can on the web site, only it’s easier! Breed, location, size, age, sex, etc. it’s all there. It geolocates so it knows where you are. Right off the bat you select what animal you’re interested in, and it shows you a sampling of that species closest to you.
For those of us in the animal welfare field, this is SUCH GOOD NEWS for us! It makes it that much easier for people who are looking to adopt an animal to find one easily. Any barrier we can remove to adoption is great.
I’m not finding info on the Petfinder.com site just yet, but you can read more from the developer of the new Petfinder iPhone app here. Info is available on the iTunes store and, of course, on your iPhone in the app store. It’s a free app, which is also great because apps that cost money (even just 99 cents) are downloaded far less than free apps.
Kudos to Petfinder for recognizing the need for an app, and taking the time and money to develop it the right way. This is a solid, functional, much-needed app. Download it, tell your adopters about it, put it on your web site. Let people know that they can search for adoptable cats, dogs, rabbits, horses, llamas, birds, reptiles and pretty much any other kind of animal using this app! If you like it as much as I do, go to the iTunes store and write a review.
What do you think of the Petfinder iPhone app? Do you have ideas for other iPhone apps? Here at TheSocialAnimal.com, we are working on a few mobile device tools like this one to make things easier for adopters and for those of you doing the work behind the scenes. What would make your life and work easier in terms of technology?
Emily Garman is COO of
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