New app, Murmur, lets users vote on Mummers Parade favorites

Alfie Hanssen is a big fan of Philadelphia’s yearly spectacle.

“I remember last year just sitting in lawn chairs in the freezing cold,” said Hanssen, a Philly native who now lives in New York. “Good view, sat there all day, had some drinks, some food, just chilled with people and appreciated what everyone in the parade had put together.”

He also saw that parade watchers had score sheets they’d printed out at home, keeping track of their favorite Mummers. The mobile app developer and a couple friends thought they could take that a step further. 

So for this year’s parade, they’ve created the Murmur app — available for free in the iTunes App Store.

Murmur lets you vote on the clubs participating in the parade, as well as comment, post photos and even upload video.

One video on the app now shows musicians — with tubas, umbrellas and all — getting some practice in. Hanssen says that’s validation enough for the just-for-fun, entirely unofficial mobile creation.

“We did it because we actually thought people would use it, and it’s really nice to see someone posting content like that,” said Hanssen. “I mean, just to see people having a good time at dusk, in North Philly, playing music and dancing.”

Hanssen says Murmur has already seen a few hundred downloads. He and his two co-developers (more information on them at NewsWorks partner site Technically Philly) already plan to release an updated version for next year’s parade.

Watch this space later tomorrow for whatever results Hanssen has available.