The new Cal Poly application for the iPhone and iPod Touch, created by aerospace engineering freshman William Sidell, hit the Apple App Store on Oct. 20. The Cal Poly application features Cal Poly sports information, Mustang Daily articles, local maps and lyrics to the Cal Poly fight song, among other tools.
Sidell has been developing applications since the end of last school year and saw a need for the Cal Poly application, so he began working on it on a whim one weekend. After two weekends of work, the Cal Poly Application was created.
The most valuable feature to Sidell is the Campus Dining information. The application shows which restaurants are open and closed. Also noted is the amount of meal dollars allocated for each meal of the day.
“For freshman that could be a pretty useful thing,” said business administration junior Alyson Boehm.
The application is a great thing for iPhone users who are Cal Poly students with the ability to download the application, Boehm said.
“As a freshman this year, there were various things I thought would be nice to have,” Sidell said. “One of those things was the map.”
There are two maps available to the Cal Poly application user. One is the campus map, which pinpoints buildings and campus landmarks. The other is of San Luis Obispo, which will pinpoint the iPhone’s location in comparison to the rest of the city when started.
So far, the rating for the application is at four with only seven ratings to date. As of Oct. 29 the application had been out for more than a week and had 60 downloads per day on Oct. 27 and 28.
Nathan Mock, a current iPhone user and computer science junior, thought the app was a great idea but wanted to see a few additions.
“I would check it out if it had the (Cal Poly) portal,” Mock said. “Also, if PASS was on there and I could register for classes, I would definitely use it.”
Sidell is already thinking about ways he can make the application better and more convenient for Cal Poly students.
“I hope to integrate Blackboard someday,” Sidell said. “I want people to be able to click on their class (on Blackboard) and have it map the location.”
Sidell is also taking note of other suggestions students have made, including the addition of the hours for each mealtime for those who have dining plans.
Another suggestion from Boehm was adding an actual schedule of sporting events for the week as well as a schedule of major-related symposiums.
“I also think a link to the career center would be a good addition,” Boehm said.
Despite all the things that students want for the future update of the application, all seem to be pleased with the things that are already offered.
“I’m actually surprised that he’s a freshman,” Boehm said. “The application is such a good way to bring recognition to a relatively small school.”
Another featured part of the application is the soundboard, which stores voice recordings of different phrases such as “Go Cal Poly” and “Go Mustangs.”
“The idea is to use it at a game, to cheer on the team,” Sidell said.
This application was developed as a simpler way to see what is going on throughout the Cal Poly campus, Sidell said. He wanted students to be able to obtain the information they want in one easy-to-navigate place.
“I just wanted to do something for the Cal Poly community that is beneficial for the students,” Sidell said.