Out there, there are truckloads of social apps and sites, and it has become quite had to keep track of them. Both students and professionals alike are in luck because there is an app they can count on. There is an app that can give them the latest updates, news, and real-time information.

That app is none other than Wildfire.

The wildfire was created by four former students of the University of California – Berkeley. Their names are Hriday Kemburu (The Founder and CEO), Vinay Ramesh (Business Lead), Jay Patel, and Tim Hyon (Technology Leads) respectively.

Friday Kemburu came up with Wildfire’s idea in 2015 when he was nearly mugged outside of the library of the University of California – Berkeley. Two men wearing ski masks had jumped on him, but he escaped the area unharmed and later informed the campus police who acted accordingly.

Kemburu had later posted about it on Facebook, but he wanted to reach students outside of his social circle. The post did get the needed views but then again it did not reach everyone. There were limits on social media apps and sites, the reason he could not reach everyone.

Together with his friends, he proceeded to create Wildfire. The app is quite convenient for school & university campuses. Even professionals who graduated from universities can use it with ease. It helps them receive notifications about any happenings and events as well as incidents in their local areas.

When users download the app, it will ask them the following:

• The person’s first and last name.
• Their age.
• The person’s graduation date.
• The person’s pronouns.
• Turning on the notifications and location from the Wildfire menu.
• They’re university email if they are a student.
• The user’s phone number.
• Otherwise, they can use the ‘Not in College’ option.
• It also asks users to make a username and add a display picture.

Once the app is downloaded, it will offer users four features namely: Home, Directory, Alerts, Profile, and Activity.

When did Wildfire’s development start?

The idea for the Wildfire app came in 2015 when Hriday Kemburu, one of the app’s founders, was almost mugged outside a library of the University of California – Berkeley. After informing the campus police, he then posted about it on Facebook. His post did get views and he did post on student groups but there was a shortcoming.

Since he was not friends with everyone in the University, he wanted a platform where he could inform everyone in the University about it. He also realized that there were a lot of students at UC Berkeley who were not friends with him.

Despite posting on various student groups on Facebook, he was still unable to get everyone informed about the incident.

Upon realizing the lack of a clear and effective way in spreading the latest information (i.e. real-time updates within the local community), the founders decided to come up with an app that would help inform everyone of any incident happening around.  Hence wildfire was created.

Why was the app named Wildfire?

The app’s creators named it Wildfire because the app is aimed to spread technofuss news and notifications faster than anything. Wildfire is available on both Android and iOS. The app can be downloaded from the Google Play Store and Apple App Store with ease.

How can official accounts of Wildfire be verified?

Anyone working as a journalist or a law enforcement official (Or another related designation) needing verification about certain users can email the company at team@getwildfire.com with the needed details. The company will then look into verifying Wildfire profiles in need of verification, will also cooperate, and will thus provide other information as well.

Is there a likelihood of Wildfire getting used wrongly?

The likelihood of it getting used wrongly is uncertain. From one end, the app does seem spectacular but from the other end, it might be an endless game of Californication. There is uncertainty regarding the fact that whether Wildfire can be used to create panic.

Wildfire is regulated by its creators. They are always open to working with the law if something does go out of hand. Until now, there have been no bad incidents regarding Wildfire, and everyone hopes it remains that way.