Dedicated apps emerge for OWS protesters

Software developers sympathetic to Occupy Wall Street (OWS) are creating mobile apps and Web sites to help protesters communicate, says Bloomberg Businessweek. Some developers work alone, while others joined forces at 'hackathons' in New York, San Francisco and Washington DC in mid-October.

Jason Van Anden, a software developer for Tiffany & Co. and Citibank, has released a new app in support of OWS, The Daily Caller reports. 'I'm Getting Arrested' is available for free download from the Android app store.

The app allows users to quickly send a predetermined text message to their emergency contact lists in the event of an arrest. Van Anden, a self-described “artist/technologist”, created the app after one of his friends was arrested while protesting.

Relatively simple in design, the app has received generally positive reviews. One user even identified alternative uses.

A reviewer, who gave the app a poor rating, half-jokingly suggested the protesters should consider a different app altogether:

“Monster.com makes an app to help you look for a job. How about downloading that one instead!”