# Obserc Safety Hackathon
**Build the future of personal safety. Win a spot on the Obserc team.**
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## What is this hackathon?
Obserc is a personal safety app for iPhone that keeps you quietly connected to the people who matter most — Circles, Night Out Mode, SOS Beacon, Drive monitoring, and a real-time Circle Map. We launched on the App Store in 2026 and we are building the next layer of safety infrastructure for everyday life.
For two weeks, we are opening the doors to builders, developers, and designers who want to work on something that genuinely matters. This is not a corporate hackathon with a buzzword theme. It is a focused, founder-led event where the best work gets real recognition — and where winners do not just take home a prize, they join the team.
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## Two tracks. One goal.
### Track 1 — Build for Obserc
Design and build a new feature, improvement, or integration for the Obserc iOS app. This track is for SwiftUI and iOS developers who want their work to ship in a real product used by real people.
Ideas to get you started:
- A home screen widget or Live Activity for glanceable circle status
- An Apple Watch companion with one-tap SOS
- An App Clip for frictionless circle onboarding
- A richer Drive dashboard with event visualisation
- A smarter Night Out check-in flow
- Anything else that makes Obserc better
Before building, read the full Obserc user manual — it covers every feature in detail:
https://github.com/ElishaSeruma/obserc-manual
Download the app and spend time inside it:
https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/obserc/id6759740570
### Track 2 — Build a safety app or tool
Build any app, tool, or service focused on personal safety. Platform and stack are fully open — iOS, Android, web, hardware, AI. If it makes people safer, it belongs here.
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## Prizes
**Track 1 — 1st place**
Invitation to join the Obserc team + Lifetime Obserc Pro access + featured in the App Store release notes and across all Obserc social channels
**Track 1 — 2nd place**
Lifetime Obserc Pro access + shoutout across Obserc's App Store page and social channels
**Track 2 — 1st place**
Invitation to join Obserc as an advisor or collaborator + Lifetime Obserc Pro access + featured across Obserc's social channels and build-in-public community
**Track 2 — 2nd place**
Lifetime Obserc Pro access + shoutout across Obserc's social channels
---
## Schedule
**Day 1 — Hackathon opens**
Registration closes and submissions open. Read the brief, download the app, explore the user manual, and start building.
**Day 3 — Check-in**
Optional progress update on the Devpost discussion board. Share what you are working on, ask questions, get feedback from the Obserc team.
**Day 7 — Halfway point**
One week in. Post a work-in-progress update if you have one. We will highlight standout projects on X.
**Day 12 — Submissions close**
All projects must be submitted on Devpost before midnight on Day 12. Late submissions will not be accepted.
**Day 14 — Winners announced**
Winners are announced on Devpost and across Obserc's social channels. Track 1 winners are contacted directly about joining the team.
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## Judging criteria
| Criteria | Weight |
|----------|--------|
| Impact — does it genuinely improve safety? | 35% |
| Technical execution | 30% |
| Design and usability | 20% |
| Originality | 15% |
Track 1 submissions are additionally evaluated on product fit — how naturally the feature sits within Obserc and how close it is to being shippable.
---
## Who should enter?
- iOS and SwiftUI developers who want to build something with real-world impact
- Developers, designers, and makers who care about personal safety
- Solo builders and small teams of up to 4 people
- Students, indie developers, and professionals — all are welcome
- Anyone who has ever worried about getting home safely, or worried about someone else getting home safely
---
## About Obserc
Obserc is a solo founder project. Every design decision, every line of code, and every product choice has been made with one goal: make safety infrastructure that people actually use, because it is so low-friction they barely notice it until they need it.
The app is live on the App Store. The manual is on GitHub. The team is small and the product is real.
We are running this hackathon because the best ideas for keeping people safer are not all going to come from one person — and because we want to find the builders who care enough to prove it.
---
## Links
User manual: https://github.com/ElishaSeruma/obserc-manual
App Store: https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/obserc/id6759740570
Website: https://obserc.com
Requirements
## Submission requirements
Every project submitted to the Obserc Safety Hackathon must meet the following requirements to be considered for judging. Read this carefully before you start building.
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## What you must submit on Devpost
### 1. Working prototype
Submit a working prototype of your project. It does not need to be polished or production-ready — but it must be functional enough to demonstrate the core idea.
- **Track 1 (Build for Obserc):** A working iOS feature or integration built in SwiftUI. Testing on a real device or the iOS simulator is both acceptable.
- **Track 2 (Build a safety app or tool):** A working app, tool, or service on any platform. The prototype must demonstrate the core safety use case in a functional state.
A concept, mockup, or design-only submission without working code will not be accepted.
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### 2. Public GitHub repository
All submissions must include a link to a public GitHub repository containing your project's source code.
- The repository must be a new repo created specifically for this hackathon
- Commits must be dated within the hackathon window — work done before the start date will disqualify your submission
- Include a README.md in your repo explaining what the project is and how to run it
- The repo must be public and accessible to judges at the time of judging
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### 3. Written project description
Your Devpost project page must include a written description covering all four of the following sections. There is no minimum or maximum word count — write as much as you need to make your project clear.
**What problem it solves**
Describe the safety problem your project addresses. Who experiences this problem? Why does it matter? How does your project make things better? Be specific — "it makes people safer" is not enough. Tell us exactly how.
**How you built it**
List the tools, languages, frameworks, and services you used. For Track 1 submissions, explain how your feature would integrate with Obserc's existing stack (SwiftUI, Supabase, PostHog). For Track 2, explain your architecture and any key technical decisions you made.
**Challenges you faced**
What was the hardest part of building this? What did not work the way you expected? What would you do differently? Honest reflections on challenges carry more weight with judges than a polished story with no rough edges.
**What you would build next**
If you had more time, what would you add? What is the version of this project that ships to real users? This section tells us how clearly you have thought through the full problem — not just the two-week prototype.
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### 4. At least one screenshot
Include at least one screenshot of your working prototype on your Devpost project page. This can be from a real device or the iOS simulator for Track 1, or any platform for Track 2.
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## Checklist before you submit
Before hitting submit on Devpost, confirm all of the following:
- [ ] Working prototype is complete and functional
- [ ] GitHub repo is public, new, and contains only work done during the hackathon window
- [ ] README.md is included in the repo
- [ ] Devpost write-up covers all four required sections: problem, how you built it, challenges, what's next
- [ ] At least one screenshot is uploaded to your Devpost project page
- [ ] Submission is made before the deadline
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## Disqualification
Submissions will be disqualified if:
- The GitHub repo contains commits predating the hackathon start date
- The prototype is non-functional or is a design-only submission
- The written description is missing one or more of the four required sections
- The repo is private or inaccessible to judges at the time of judging
- The project was not built by the submitting team
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## Questions?
Post on the Devpost discussion board and we will respond within 24 hours. For anything private, reach out via https://obserc.com
User manual: https://github.com/ElishaSeruma/obserc-manual
App Store: https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/obserc/id6759740570
Website: https://obserc.com
Prizes
Track 1 — Build for Obserc
Join the Obserc Team + Lifetime Pro + App Store Feature
Track 1 — Build for Obserc
Lifetime Pro + Social Shoutout
Track 2 — Build a safety app
Join Obserc as Advisor + Lifetime Pro + Social Feature
Track 2 — Build a safety app
Lifetime Pro + Social Shoutout
Devpost Achievements
Submitting to this hackathon could earn you:
Judges
Elisha Seruma
Founder
Judging Criteria
-
Judging Criteria
Impact (35%) · Technical execution (30%) · Design & usability (20%) · Originality (15%). Track 1 submissions also judged on product fit with Obserc and how close the feature is to shippable.
Questions? Email the hackathon manager
Invite others to compete
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