MAKAYLA KINNEY
Staff Writer
“There’s an app for that,” was popularized by Apple and inspired millions of businesses and universities to create programs to promote themselves. MSU created an app not only for promotional purposes, but as a research opportunity for the computer science program.
Tina Johnson, computer science assistant professor, was one faculty member who helped develop the iPhone application.
A $5,000 faculty grant was used to fund the application.
The grant was used for hardware, a developer’s license, student salaries and the programming language for the iPhone, Objective-C. Johnson said she first saw the importance of having a mobile application during a 2010 iPhone workshop at a computer science conference.
Johnson said she believed that developing an app would keep MSU at the forefront of mobile technology.
“Most of the work was done in the spring semester, three to four months,” Johnson said. “The fall semester was used for learning the Apple programming environment.”
The application has six different features.
A master calendar is accessible to users with a selector for different sports events allowing reminders to be set for the events. A Google Earth map allows users to utilize their location in proximity to campus to get from one place to another.
Buildings are pinned to navigate users around campus in proximity to their location. Parking areas on the map are color-coded according to parking lot regulations.
In the band portion, a YouTube audio clip of the fight song is featured.
A photo gallery displays photos of the campus. Another link allows one-touch access to the MSU homepage. In the suggestions portion of the application, users can submit comments and feedback.
“The app was created to promote MSU and to give computer science students an opportunity to learn mobile programming,” Johnson said. “It allows students to look at and add athletic events to the calendar and look at a Google map of the campus.”
Terry Griffin, assistant computer science professor, and Shawn Seals, a computer science instructor, also assisted in creating the iPhone application.
Both said when they began creating the app, the group looked at existing university applications to get a feel for what they were going to create.
“We did a lot of research in looking at other school’s apps. We took what we liked and implemented it into ours,” Seals said.
Graduate computer science student Matthew Farmer is a new member to the iMustangs team this semester. His contributions to the application have been through the updates of the existing app. Farmer said the team has gained members each semester.
“The team has at least doubled. A lot more students have become involved and are able to do a lot more than we were in the past. As new students come in, it allows them to add their input,” Farmer said.
According to Farmer, the team is divided into three sub-groups, team iPhone, team Android and a background and database team.
This semester iMustangs have been working on updates for the existing iPhone application. Seals said the team is improving the speed of the app by using a server rather than pulling information from the Internet.
“We’re going to try to improve the speed on the app. The Internet access is the slow part. If you have to access data though the Internet, that’s what causes lagging. The server reduces the lag on the phone and improves the app’s speed,” Seals said.
Farmer said one addition to the application will be a media segment. He said the team hopes to add a Wichitan RSS feed, as well as other news sources. In addition to news, the team hope to allow users access to campus organizations through Facebook and OrgSync.
“We are trying to find a way to incorporate more social media into the app. We definitely want to get more student organizations involved in the app,” Farmer said.
Johnson and Griffin said the team has several ideas to add to the existing application.
“We are working on updates and a comparable Android app this academic year,” Johnson said. We would like to add a faculty directory and a trading post. Updates should be available in late spring or early summer.”
The staff directory allows users to access faculty and staff e-mails, office hours and office locations. Griffin said this addition will aid students in contacting and communicating with their professors.
“If a student can’t remember a professor’s e-mail or office hours, they can look that up through the staff directory,” Griffin said.
Seals said the team is creating a data base with all faculty information. He said the data base would improve the speed of the app as well as provide students with information about their professors.
“It’s going to scrape existing information from the website and create a data base,” Seals said.
The trading post section will allow users to trade books as well as other items on the application. Griffin said this could also be useful for students living on campus. He said if a student wants to sell or trade any article, the item can be posted on the trading post.
“If a student wants to trade books with another student this allows them to do so. It gives them the direct contact with other students,” Griffin said.
The team is also making the maps more user-friendly. Griffin said the current maps are not clear. The team plans to add another layer to the map in Portable Document Format to make the images easier to view.
Another feature the maps will have is a navigation system. Griffin said this will be helpful for new students, as well as new faculty and staff to help them find their way around campus.
“We’re going to add a search option to show you the quickest path to get there. It’s like driving directions except on foot,” Griffin said.
The event calendar is limited to sporting events. Seals said iMustangs is working on adding all campus events to the schedule. These events can be integrated into the existing calendar on the smart phone.
“We’re trying to add all campus events to the app. Trying to incorporate all the campus calendars is the challenge,” Seals said.
The update will require changes to the existing look of the application. Farmer said the entire app will be overhauled.
The iMustangs group is working on an application for the Android market this semester. Griffin said creating an application for the Android market is different than creating an app for the iPhone.
“It’s not as easy as people think. Apple and Android are two very different programs. The Android app will have the same functionality as the iPhone app,” Griffin said.
Even though the programming for the two operating systems varies, Griffin and other team members said the applications for both phones will virtually be the same.
“Obviously there will be minor differences. Overall, we’re going to maintain consistency between the two apps,” Seals said.
Farmer has worked with the iPhone portion of the application more than the Android segment. He said the two applications have the same goals and the same features.
“We want to make them as close to each other. A lot of the goals of the iPhone app are the same goals for the Android app,” Farmer said.
Griffin and his team have discussed the app and the direction it will be taking, but he said they have not received the feedback they anticipated. Farmer said he did not believe the application has received many downloads thus far.
“I don’t suspect many apps have been downloaded yet. It’s still in its infancy and we’re still making improvements,” Farmer said.
The team used other university applications as a model when creating MWSU2U. Seals said the team downloaded many college apps to find what interested them and to see what they would be creating.
The MSU iPhone app has been downloaded a total of 634 times,” Seals said.
Many students are unaware the smart phone application even exists. Griffin said he is open to any new ideas and welcomes anyone to give their opinion or suggestions to the team.
“We will definitely take every idea into consideration. The more people that use it, the more ideas we will get. The more feedback we receive, the more bugs we can fix. It can only help us,” Griffin said.
Seals said advertisement of the application would help students become aware of its existence. He suggested a banner for the MSU home page, advertisements in the school paper along with posters in the student center to make the app more popular.