ChristmasPrism App: Marple Grad Helps Bring Joy to the Neighborhood

Our Community Feature by Holly Stupak

Photos courtesy of Mike Kane

It’s hard not to find yourself in a festive mood when you’re driving through town looking at the homes decorated for the Christmas season. For many of us, it’s a tradition for the whole family to pile into the car, listen to Christmas music and look at the houses decorated with the best light displays. But what if you’re not sure where to find all of the extravagant houses or want to explore homes in other towns? Thanks to Marple Newtown High School graduate Mike Kane, there’s an app for that!

Mike said it’s a family tradition at his house to drive around and look at neighborhood light displays during the Christmas season. Last November, he was trying to get into the holiday spirit with his two young sons early in the season, but he wasn’t finding enough houses to entertain them.

My two-year-old son was crying because he wanted to find more houses with lights,” explained Mike. “My wife and I checked local Facebook groups and the Nextdoor app, but we weren’t able to find out where all of the best local displays were.

Mike, a professional coder, decided to take matters into his own hands and created the ChristmasPrism app, which helps users fi nd houses with the best holiday lights. He spent three weekends in a row perfecting the app, which launched in early December 2020. The app is user-generated, so anyone with an elaborate light display can upload a photo of their house with a title, brief description and location. For people looking for light displays, the app’s built-in map shows where these homes are. Just tap an icon and the information pops right up. The app also allows visitors to “like” the display and even add comments.

Although the number of users was small at first, the app really took off after Mike was featured in Philly Mag, 6ABC, NBC10 and Fox29. By mid-December 2020 they received well over 800 downloads. And while at first most of the homes were in the Delaware County area, they now have 2,000 houses and 70,000 users in all 50 states.

Stephanie and Mike Kane with their children Michael and Kyle

With last year’s holiday season happening in the height of the pandemic, Mike said the app was a great way for people to come together during a dark time.

With all the social distancing measures in place, going out for a drive to look for lights was a fun and safe activity for families to do,” said Mike. “People enjoyed being able to show off their homes, and it brought many people joy!

A self-taught coder, Mike graduated from Marple in 2003 and then entered a two-year informational technology program. But at the age of 21, he developed CIDP (chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy), a rare autoimmune disorder of the peripheral nerves that left him nearly paralyzed. For almost 10 years he was confined to his home, unable to work, and he said he spent a lot of time playing video games. By age 30, his CIDP was under control and his doctor gave him the all-clear to work again.

That year, he got himself into good physical shape, took up photography and began teaching himself coding. “I wanted to prove to myself that I could try something new, even if it was hard,” said Mike. He spent every day for a year studying and practicing coding. During that time Mike also reconnected with Stephanie, a fellow Marple graduate. They first became Facebook friends, exchanging messages for several months before finally meeting up in person. After that first date, they’ve never been apart and married in 2018. He and Stephanie lived in Broomall with their two sons Michael and Kyle for a few years before moving out to West Chester last year.

The ChristmasPrism App

Since April 2015 Mike has worked as a software engineer at Connectify, a Philadelphia tech firm. At his job, Mike uses his experience and skills to develop apps, including one called Speedify, a channel bonding VPN made for streamers that combines all available internet connections for speed, reliability, and security.

Although the ChristmasPrism app originally was only for iPhones, Mike has since created a version for Android users. He’s also partnering with PECO this year for their Holiday Madness Tournament, where PECO customers who decorate their houses in festive holiday lights can enter the contest to win prizes.

So whether you’re the neighborhood’s Clark Griswold or you’re just looking Stephanie and Mike Kane to drive around to get into the holiday with their children Michael and Kyle spirit, Mike says the ChristmasPrism app is the perfect community-driven place for people to show off their lights and for others to enjoy them.

Every single decorated home is amazing in its own way,” said Mike. “Each house is basically a representation of the owners, and each one brings me, and many others, so much joy!

ChristmasPrism is available on www.ChristmasPrism.com and free in your phone’s app store.