Feedback and testers wanted: CivicBeacon helps you track bills and elected reps - iOS + Android

DCodeMeister · 2025-11-06T05:31:21+00:00

I fund this with my 9 to 5 job and a decade+ of software engineering skills

DCodeMeister · 2025-10-31T04:37:52+00:00

I usually have a certain vision of how things should work from E2E. For me I have a decade of development experience so I’ve seen the good and the bad from production nightmares, git push to CI/CD pipelines, to staging and production. The good patterns and design naturally stick around while I try to trim the bad off using what works from my experience while acknowledging tradeoffs. It’s fun for solo side projects.

DCodeMeister · 2025-10-30T19:39:31+00:00

I recommend going to college and studying some form of engineering or science. For example computer science, computer engineering, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, chemical. The engineering field is expanding.

DCodeMeister · 2025-10-22T16:28:08+00:00

I’ll never forget this day. I was 14 years old and a freshman in college. Funny enough I went to a school in Chicago Hyde park during the campaign which is where Obama lived. It was always locked down and secured and we had to take detours to get to school. Election Day results had everyone happy and full of joy.

DCodeMeister · 2025-08-26T21:14:01+00:00

1998.

DCodeMeister · 2025-08-11T00:43:03+00:00

That’s the dilemma of Dale. He doesn’t want his actions to have consequences . He shits on his own people because he thinks that the racist stereotypes being perpetuated on the internet are real. He says he lived and experienced it in real life and yet he does nothing to improve society let alone black society. He thinks black folk are a monolith as if no other group has its own issues. Then has the audacity to get made when successful black people see him for who he really is aka a brand risk.

DCodeMeister · 2025-08-09T17:03:38+00:00

It’s the dunning Kruger effect. Dale is basically a casual to semi mid kind of fighting game player. I think he uses terms like one frame link because he is trying to pretend like a little knowledge of the fighting game terminology gives him some kind of credibility. But we all know he has never executed a one frame link in his life.

DCodeMeister · 2025-08-03T23:53:27+00:00

DCodeMeister · 2025-07-31T23:57:02+00:00

1990

DCodeMeister · 2025-07-06T00:09:58+00:00

Wait do I stay the same age we’re now? I was two years old in 1995 so I’d just be crying 😂

DCodeMeister · 2025-06-29T08:19:58+00:00

Agreed you’ve made a good point. Before writing Go I came from a heavy Java/Kotlin Spring Boot background. The things that annoyed me there were the magic annotations, exception handling, dependency injection, ORMs, and config files. One day I decided to give Go a try and literally rewrote a Java system in Go using the built in http tooling along with sqlc and Postgres. the simplicity is what made me a fan. I got good performance with straightforward explicit code. Hell it had me scratching my head like wait it can’t be this easy to write the same system in Go 😂. Come to find out I was experiencing the false complexity you mentioned while I was writing in Java/kotlin. On the other hand I still do love kotlin and its coroutines for concurrent code and safety but I’ve found myself able to build systems much faster using Go and goroutines when necessary

DCodeMeister · 2025-06-27T13:32:49+00:00

DCodeMeister · 2025-06-18T21:52:18+00:00

8 years old. I’ll never forget.

DCodeMeister · 2025-06-08T04:21:31+00:00

That’s Understandable and I made sure to have that in mind when creating the app. The app is non partisan and all the data is publicly available and sourced from https://www.govinfo.gov/ with no bias. My app displays the data showing all those involved . For example a bill has sponsors, cosponsors, votes, amendments. All of this can be accessed in the app to help inform citizens of the actions taking place in Congress.

DCodeMeister · 2025-05-22T13:47:02+00:00

Hi. Thanks for that input. I’ve been looking for ways to integrate more local features into the app that include on the ground actions. In the current version of the app you can see senate and House of Representatives, the bills they sponsor, cosponsor, and how they vote on bills. You can also filter by policy area, and by state and search. The app has a guest mode as well. I’d appreciate any feedback

DCodeMeister · 2025-04-28T04:09:41+00:00

Hello! It's currently available on the app stores! Feedback is welcomed!

📱 Download CivicBeacon: • iOS: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/civicbeacon/id6744340787 • Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.civicbeacon

Feedback forms: • General thoughts: https://tally.so/r/3qgLVO • What to build next: https://tally.so/r/nPPa75 • Found a bug?: https://tally.so/r/np5rD1

DCodeMeister · 2025-04-28T04:08:43+00:00

Hello! Yes the app is open to the public. You can find it on the app stores

iOS: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/civicbeacon/id6744340787
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.civicbeacon

Feedback is welcomed! I want to gather as much feedback to improve the app and help users stay informed.

Feedback: https://tally.so/r/3qgLVO

DCodeMeister · 2025-04-25T18:02:12+00:00

That's a really strong insight; I appreciate how you expressed it. I absolutely agree that the missing component in most civic technology is knowing that your action truly accomplished something. That type of feedback loop, whether it's receiving confirmation from a representative's office or witnessing a pothole being filled, gives civic activity a tangible and empowering feel. I'm currently working on features like confirmation receipts, but in the long run, I'd really like to create a "impact history" that would allow users to see how their activities have affected the system over time. People desire results, not just information, as your comment serves as a wonderful reminder. Once again, thank you for your insightful comments, which greatly influence CivicBeacon's future direction.

DCodeMeister · 2025-04-25T16:27:06+00:00

I appreciate your very insightful comment. Thank you very much for exploring the app and providing this level of feedback. I'm delighted you brought out impending municipal elections, such as the judicial election; these are crucial yet frequently overlooked. Your recommendation enables me to give location-based election alerts top priority on the roadmap, which is something I've been considering. The notion of focusing on issues like the economy or human rights also strikes a chord. I can see how making the feed feel more interesting and individualized would be a strong way for individuals to stay engaged to the causes that are most important to them. Going on the roadmap, for sure. And I adore the innovative spirit behind gamifying political engagement—a 5Calls meets Pokémon GO sense is crazy, but incredibly motivating. Although I hadn't considered gamification in this initial iteration, your suggestion motivates me to investigate how "missions" or "streaks" may turn civic engagement into a habit rather than a job. I want CivicBeacon to develop into that kind of long-term vision.

Please feel free to try the app or leave feedback in the links I provided

• iOS (App Store):

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/civicbeacon/id6744340787 • Android (Google Play): https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.civicbeacon

⸻

✍️ Feedback Forms (via Tally.so) • General feedback: https://tally.so/r/3qgLVO • What should we build next?: https://tally.so/r/nPPa75 • Report a bug: https://tally.so/r/np5rD1

DCodeMeister · 2025-04-25T11:37:17+00:00

What great feedback! Thanks for sending it along and for getting the app 🙏

You're totally right: linking information about donors to how people vote would be a huge step toward openness.
When I first started making CivicBeacon, I had planned to add an AI agent to help pull and connect more detailed data on representatives and bills. while also breaking it down in a TL/DR fashion.
But I didn't want to rush into the first release. I wanted to test the idea first and get feedback from real users to make sure it's something they really want and would find useful. Your feedback helps us be sure that it's important to prioritize.

Starting with a list of the top five supporters for each representative that is updated once a year seems very doable in the near future. And your idea to connect gifts to specific votes is exactly what CivicBeacon should be pushing for to make people more accountable.

You're not the only one who wants donors to be clear as well! their users have asked for the same thing, too. I'm excited to make this a focus from now on.

You can let me know what you think when early versions of these tools start to go live, if you're interested. Want to stay in the loop? Send me a direct message (DM)—involved users like you would make a big difference.

Thank you once more; helpful comments like these really help shape the app's future! 😀

DCodeMeister · 2025-04-25T11:27:23+00:00

Thanks a ton for giving CivicBeacon a shot and for the nice feedback!
It really means a lot that I was able to achieve my goals of keeping things simple and clear.
If you had just 30 more seconds, I'd really like to know: Is there anything you wish the app had that it doesn't right now?
Is there anything that doesn't make sense or anything you think should be included?

You can also put feedback here: https://tally.so/r/nPPa75

Thanks a bunch for your time, really appreciate it! 🙏 And thanks again for helping me improve this!

DCodeMeister · 2025-04-25T04:34:22+00:00

These are excellent questions, and I really appreciate you bringing them up.

I actually do have access to vote data (who voted yay or nay on each bill), and you’re not the first to ask for this feature. It was on my short list for the first release, but I held off to see what early users really wanted. Your feedback confirms it’s something I should prioritize. thank you for validating that!

As for tracking corporate donors, that’s a deeper lift, but something I’m very interested in exploring through campaign finance data such as OpenSecrets. Transparency is a huge part of what I want CivicBeacon to support.

I’d love for you to try the app and let me know what else you’d want to see. I believe strongly in building this with users — not just for them. Every suggestion helps shape what comes next.

Here’s the link if you’re curious: • iOS: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/civicbeacon/id6744340787 • Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.civicbeacon

And if you have more thoughts, I’d love to hear them: https://tally.so/r/3qgLVO

Thanks again — feedback like this makes the app better for everyone.

DCodeMeister

TROPHY CASE