The goal of the day is to clean out the leaves from the culvets that line the carriage roads throughout the park. During the spring thaw, the leaves create “blow-outs” along the carriage roads, causing damage and delaying their seasonal opening in April. It was a bit chilly, but the rains held out and everyone got the job done!

The Chimani “Lite” version is here! Get a “taste” of a Chimani app for only 99 cents. It includes a shuttle bus schedules, ranger events, trails, restrooms and all the essential details for the park! We’re starting with Acadia National Park and will be rolling out all the others parks later this week.

After a couple of editorial hiccups, the Cape Cod National Seashore app should be available on the iTunes app store either today or tomorrow. It had to be pulled just as it was beginning the review process last week because we noticed a major content error. Unfortunately this meant it went to the back of Apple’s review queue – which is currently taking 7-8 days.

I’m really excited about the Cape Cod app. Although technically it’s not a national park but a national seashore, it’s still a remarkable place. I have so many childhood memories spending time on the beaches in and around the Seashore. Just like the Acadia app, it includes all original content, and focuses on many of the beaches in and around the Seashore. There are over 132 points of interest including details on 20 beaches, tidal and sunrise/sunset data for over a year, a complete auto/audio tour, and 16 different hiking trails. It will be available on the iTunes store for $4.99.

Acadia app update

Users should start to see an update appear for the Acadia app sometime tomorrow or Tuesday. There are two changes.

First, we reduced the memory request upon first installing the app to try an address reports of the app crashing. All the crash reports indicate this is a crash which happens outside the app and is related to Apple’s core iOS 4, however we’re hoping the reduction in memory usage with avoid any OS-related crashes.

Secondly, the images and audio files have all been reduced in file size in an effort to reduce the overall size of the app. We’ve been able to shave off 30MB!

Android version

I was fully expecting to release the Android version over a week ago however just as it was completed, we ran into an undocumented limitation with the Android Marketplace. Once we received confirmation from Google last week, we began the steps of redesigning it. My hope is that it’s available within two weeks. Keep those virtual fingers-crossed!

Schoodic Education and Research Center at Acadia National Park

Lastly, I have been invited by the National Park Service in Acadia for a two day meeting to discuss educational outreach and emerging technologies as it related to the future of the Park. It’s being held at the Schoodic Education and Research Center on Schoodic Pennisula section of Acadia National Park. Lots of exciting discussions with surely occur. More to come…

-Kerry

It’s odd to think that this website came after to the app. Ten years ago, the website would have been the product, but everything is mobile now. The product is an app, and the website is merely the marketing tool.

However my hope is to offer much more than just a pretty website for the Chimani apps. There’s a lot to share about the national parks, technology and the outdoors. It’s a fascinating intersection of topics, especially as we look to the future and consider what this means for how we experience the Parks – particularly the younger generations.

Be sure to subscribe to the RSS feed, or follow Chimani on Twitter or Facebook, so that you can learn about the new Chimani apps, and occasionally take a moment to read my virtual soapbox.

-Kerry