MU to release multiple smart phone apps
Individual apps will later be consolidated into one large app.
Published March 9, 2010
The MU smart phone app will be officially released in the fall, but individual functions will be released as separate apps throughout the semester, said Dale Musser, department of computer science information technology director.
The individual apps include communications services, dining services, a campus map and campus tour applications.
"It's almost easier in a way to have different apps maintained than making it one large app," Musser said.
Once all the pieces of the app are prepared, the Division of Information Technology will consolidate them into one app suite, DoIT Customer Support and Services Director Kevin Bailey said.
The app suite will include all the functions originally requested by the Missouri Students Association except the sports component. Other components include an online directory, a news consolidation app and a calendar of events. Course schedules will not be available on the app suite's first phase, Bailey said.
MU's iPhone app development class is designing some of the apps, which will work on several devices besides the iPhone, such as the Blackberry, the Windows smart phone and the iPad.
"We will not write an app for just one phone,” Bailey said. “It will work across as many phones as possible.”
The app suite does not have a name yet, though the development team decided not to use "i" in its title, because it works on more than just the iPhone, Musser said.
DoIT has been asking data sources to contribute information the apps need, such as menus from Campus Dining Services and news from the MU News Bureau, Bailey said. Musser said the athletics department would not contribute to the app because it has its own information outlets.
The separate apps are being designed by different groups of students, except for the campus tour app, which is being designed by the whole development team, Musser said.
"I have a group of students that were funded by the IT innovation fund, who are doing a set of location-based services that will be available on the Web and the iPhone," he said.
This service will be a separate app that should be released by the end of this semester, he said. A group of students in the iPhone development class is designing the app for CDS, which should also be released this semester.
"At this point it's just planning," said senior Paul Schwinn, one of the CDS app developers.
Ideas for the app so far include menus, nutrition information and food ingredients for each dining hall.
"On top of that, we were thinking of ways you can plan your meal," Schwinn said.
The app could provide information, such as calorie and sugar counts, for each meal.
A news-consolidating app might be released this fall if news organizations agree to contribute to it. Musser said they might be more willing to do so after they've seen the other finished apps.
A group of students and staff at DoIT will consolidate the individual apps. Provost Brian Foster approved funding for the group as part of an effort to use the student IT fee for more strategic-based initiatives, Bailey said. It will consist of four full-time staff members, one part-time staff member, two graduate students and four undergraduate students.
DoIT is also contributing to the app's development by providing hosting and helping with the defining stage.