Helpful Information

Here you will find helpful information that may help you during this contest. Check back regularly, as content will be updated throughout the contest.

• Elaine Rising, Vendor Sponsorship
• Kimberly Waseta, Logistics Coordinator
• Ellie Kane, Participant Coordinator

Submission Criteria

The Contest is for Mobile App development by students of UNM and CNM. The submission process will require sharing access to your code repository to the appcontest@unm.edu . Any language, framework or library set is fair to use. For example, using HTML5 and PhoneGap, a binary can be built for the platforms you choose. Same with AngularJS + account. Ionic, React Native, jQuery Mobile and many others. Also, non-programing content management systems such as MIT App Inventor/Kodular, nomenproject.org, or others are accepted as well. The only requirement is that the project can be accessed and run on a mobile device (phone/tablet) of your choosing.

Code Repository Hosting

There are many different public hosting platforms for code repositories- GitHub and Bitbucket being the most popular. There is a list of public Git hosting sites at https://git.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/GitHosting that provides a range of free and paid, public and private repositories, as well as other supported source code management systems. With access to the code repository, the judges will be able to evaluate your code for the technical requirements and quickly see your supporting libraries and coding style.

Open Data Sources

Using Open Data in the app will earn you 5 extra credit points!

Here are some examples of local and government open data sources you can use for your project.

• UNM Open Data Repository
• City of Albuquerque Open Data Repository
• Data.gov

Public Data Feeds/Sources

Data from other sources are acceptable as well. For example, news stations, Yelp! and the Weekly Alibi have feeds and event calendars that you can pull into your app. However, be careful with private APIs and data, the format may change without warning.

Demo Day, Presentations and Pitch Sessions

In addition to coding, we are interested promoting professionalism. There are many contests, hack-a-thons and start up pitch events that expose coders to opportunities for networking, investment and financial backing. By preparing a demo and pitch for your app, you have an opportunity to talk about your work and skills that went into building the app.

Shortly after you submit your Mobile App on January 3rd, we will reach out to schedule a Demo Day session (date and time) for you to present your app to our panel of judges. The Demo Day will be virtual this year. You will be expected to narrate your video and answer follow up questions.

Methods of Screen Recording Your Mobile App

There are several ways to make a video recording of your Mobile App from the native OS or developer tools. There are also several free and paid applications that can help you record, edit and export a video of your app.

Your Demo Day presentation should be made up primarily of your team narrating a screen capture video of your app in action. This will cut down on set up time, and help you focus on the core features of your app.

Here are some resources to help you get started. Please note UNM and CNM has not vetted or tried all the suggestions below.

Android

• Android Studio: Record a Video
• How to Record a Video of Your Screen on Android
• 5 Best Android apps for Screen Recording and Other Ways Too

iOS

• How to Capture and Record an iPhone or iPad Screen
• How to Record Your iPhone's Screen: 5 Best Solutions

Windows (Web Apps)

• Windows 10 Has a Secret Screen Recording Tool - Here's How to Use It
• The Best Free Screen Recorder of 2017
• Top 5 Free Screen Recording Software for Windows

macOS/OS X (Web Apps)

• How to Record the Screen on Your Mac, iPhone, or iPad
• The Best 5 Screen Recorders for Capturing Mac OS X
• Your Mac's Built-in Screen Recorder

Minimum Viable Product and the Short Development Cycle

When starting a coding project for a short cycle (for a class project, contest or working prototype) it may be best to use a "Minimum Viable Product" approach. Minimum Viable Product is a product with just enough features to satisfy early customers, and to provide feedback for future development (from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimum_viable_product).

Articles & Video

• http://www.startuplessonslearned.com/2009/08/minimum-viable-product-guide.html
• http://grisanik.com/blog/minimum-viable-product/

Free Web Hosting

If you need a (free) place to host PHP/MySQL based web services for your application, UNM IT has space to spare on our development cPanel environment, which is well suited for this. The specifications of the hosting environment are:

PHP version(s): 5.6 or 7.1 (user selectable)
MySQL version: 5.6
Storage: 1 GB
Access: Web-based file manager, SSH/SFTP, WebDAV, phpMyAdmin
Cron jobs: yes
URL Style: something.unm.edu

And the process to request (for students/teams) is:

1. Go to Help.UNM (login, top right)
2. Make a Request
3. Web and Collaboration Services
4. Website Resource Change
5. Fill out the Description field accordingly (something like “need PHP/MySQL hosting for 2020-2021 App contest”)
6. Click Submit

Adobe XD (for Free)

• Download
• Getting Started
• Prototyping 101

Teaching Tools

Here are some resources to learn how to develop a mobile app:

• Lynda.com - Tutorials on coding. Free to anyone with a Bernalillo County library card.
• Coursera
• CS50: Introduction to Computer Science

CNM Courses

Any information requests can be made to appcontest@unm.edu.