Dad Creates App to Spread Christmas Cheer

The holiday season is that time of year when the world takes part in a million little traditions. Unfortunately, just like everything else in 2020, COVID has to make its mark on Christmas. Restrictions have made it difficult for people to take part in many traditions like shopping or seeing Santa.

Fortunately, there’s one tradition that is stronger than ever: Christmas lights! Putting up Christmas lights outside of your house and driving around to see the lights of the neighborhood is one way to infuse some much-needed holiday cheer. One Dad took it upon himself to make looking at Christmas lights a little easier.

Michael Kane of Delaware County, Pennsylvania developed an app to help people find houses in their neighborhood with Christmas Lights. ChristmasPrism is designed so that people can list their homes on a map for other users to find. They can upload pictures of their display and add a little caption so that people know what to look forward to.

Once users pick a light display on the app, they can use the built-in navigation feature to get directions to the location. Users can use the app to like and comment on the different displays to show their appreciation for the festivities. Users can also search the map based on the number of likes a property has received, presumably to find houses with the highest rating.

Kane came up with the idea when he and his family had trouble finding all the best displays in their neighborhood. He noticed that people on Facebook and the Nextdoor app were having the same problem. He set out to fix it.

Kane, a software developer, designed the ChristmasPrism app in his spare time on the weekends in between time with his family. The app debuted on November 30^th. Kane intended it for his local town. “I figured maybe I’d get to 50 downloads by Christmas,” he said.

The app quickly took hold all over. By the end of the first week it had already 800 downloads. Today the app has upwards of 55,000 users.

“It’s been insane,” says Kane. “… I even saw Alaska pop up.”

ChristmasPrism’s map shows light displays in over 40 states including Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Florida, and California. Kane said that he, along with his wife manually approve houses that people submit to the house. ChristmasPrism is free to download and there are no ads.

“I just want it to be pure,” Kane says. “Nothing is driven, it’s just community-driven, I hope everybody enjoys it and it will stay that way.”

Born out of family man’s need to share the Christmas spirit with his wife and children, ChristmasPrism has grown into a tool for people all across the country to enjoy. Looking at Christmas lights is a great tradition that, thankfully is COVID proof. Thanks to Michael Kane, it’s easier than ever.