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City staff demo new Harlingen mobile app; staff report shows modest early adoption, feature list and engagement plans
Summary
City staff presented a redesigned Harlingen mobile app with new citizen-request tracking, online building permits and push notifications. Staff reported fewer than 100 downloads of the new app and about 350 registered users on the new system, with roughly 5,000 combined downloads across legacy and new apps.
Sergio Mojica, a city staff member, gave a demonstration of the new Harlingen mobile app and described features intended to improve two-way communication between the city and residents.
Mojica said the new app requires users to sign in (including via social accounts such as Google or Apple), lets users submit and track citizen-service requests with status notifications, and offers quick links to city services (parks and recreation, animal shelter, library, online building permits, court payments, Harlingen TV and event tickets). It also integrates online building permits launched in August of last year, where users can apply for permits, pay fees, track plan-review comments and request inspections.
Mojica described a points system tied to requests (10 points per request) that staff hopes to convert into incentives later, and said the city receives roughly 1,000 citizen requests per year. He said the new app had fewer than 100 downloads so far, and 350 users with accounts; combined with the old 2018 app the city shows roughly 5,000 total downloads. Staff proposed pushing publicity through the city’s social channels, the City TV channel, and QR codes for town-hall meetings.
Commissioners encouraged more outreach to move users from the legacy app to the new version and suggested media posts, push notifications and in-person QR-code distribution at upcoming town halls. A commissioner noted that many routine service calls could be solved faster if residents used the app.
Staff said they will coordinate with the media department on weekly or biweekly releases to increase awareness and consider disabling the legacy app once the user base has migrated.
