Permit Log

Tyler Technologies in Maine sponsors an annual event called the Maine App Challange. Brian Austin, Noble Mushtak, and I participated in the challenged in 2017 and 2018. Our initial app was called Permit Log, and it was our most successful, winning first place and having over 2000 active users.

Maine has the strictest teen driving laws in the country, requiring 70 hours of logged driving on a lerner’s permit before gaining a license. I have no idea why this is. I constantly forgot to update my paper log, so it typical digital transformation fashion, we made an app. The UI was pretty simple, with just a start/stop button that allowed you to record the properties of the drive, and export it at the end.

The Firebase/Android combo made development super easy (along with having collaborators that are super good at it). I learned a ton about Android/Java development through this project, and some tough won lessons about not screwing up production databases.

The app ran for a few years, I know multiple people who used it to get their license, but eventually we didn’t want to keep being responsible for software updates, so pulled it from the store. I’m still very proud of the work we did, and thankful for the path it set me on, as it was one of the first time I was recognized officially for something I had made in such a public way.