The idea

Not yet! I’m deliberately not building anything while the idea takes shape. But these are the constraints I expect:

  • Open source under a permissive or copyleft licence (to be decided).
  • Mobile-first — most sightings happen on the street; a cross-platform app or a Progressive Web App could cover iOS and Android.
  • Open, anonymised datasets for researchers and councils studying stray populations.
  • Low running costs so it can survive on donations and grants.
  • Owned infrastructure. Like this blog, it shouldn’t depend on a social network’s platform.
  • Quick to start. A nickname is enough to begin; no email or password until someone wants more (for example, to join a cat’s care network).
  • A real cat in every photo. The phone itself could check that a photo shows a real cat, before anything is uploaded.
  • Private by design. Exact locations stay on the person’s phone; only the neighbourhood is ever shared, and photos are never published as open links.
  • Works with a weak signal. Many street cats live where coverage is patchy, so meeting a cat should work offline and sync later.
  • Cards that travel. A cat’s card should be easy to send in a message, and open nicely for someone who doesn’t have the app yet.
  • Many languages from the start, beginning with English and Spanish.

Open questions

  • Native app, cross-platform framework, or PWA first?
  • Which licence — MIT, Apache-2.0, AGPL?
  • How much can happen on the phone itself (recognising a cat, matching it), so less data leaves it?
  • How should the project be governed and funded long-term?
  • Are you a developer or designer who’d like to help? Say hi!