Testing out Ohio State’s upcoming mobile app is only a touch away.
The Undergraduate Student Government is presenting an exclusive first look at the new OSU Mobile app in the Great Hall of the Ohio Union from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday, said Christina Sladoje, USG associate director in academic affairs.
Androids, iPhones and iPod touches will be provided for testing so students can preview the new app before it is officially released on July 1, Sladoje said.
The new app is designed to provide a grid-style home screen with icons such as class schedule, grades, events, traditions, feedback, news, BuckID, transport, athletics, Buckeye Stroll and more, Sladoje said.
“Viewing grades and viewing your schedule are the two things students find hardest to view on their phones,” said Christina Sladoje, USG associate director in academic affairs. “We want this to be a seamless student experience on your mobile device.”
The schedule icon is planned to provide students with walking directions to the building their class is in. The background of the app should also change in accordance to where a student is on campus. For example, if one is near the Wexner Center, the background will be the Wexner Center.
“It was really overwhelming as a freshman trying to get to class and not having a clue where buildings were and even know what room I need to be in. The fact that you can pull something up so simply on an app is awesome,” said Seth Myers, a fourth-year in finance and accounting.
The transport icon is designed to provide bus routes and the current locations of busses.
“I used to use the bus every day and it was extremely frustrating to stand there for 15 minutes and know you could have walked to class in that time. If I had something that would have let me know that a bus was however many minutes away it would have been a lot more useful,” Myers said.
The purpose of the traditions icon is to show Ohio State traditions as the user walks by them, such as “The Long Walk,” the path down the middle of the Oval.
“When you are talking to another Ohio State student or alum you can show a little bit of your OSU experience,” Sladoje said.
The BuckID icon is designed to bring up any BuckID vendor that is near, such as Marketplace or Panera Bread.
The Buckeye Stroll icon should provide OSU’s history. For example, if the user walks by a certain building, Buckeye Stroll could show an old picture of the building and its history.
“We’re one of the first schools to offer that level of detail and that feature for class schedules and grades,” said Jim Burgoon, Senior Web Designer of university communications.
The project has been ongoing since Fall Quarter.
“We want to have it be functional, but also attractive,” Burgoon said. “We’re pretty proud of it so far. I’m anxious to get it in the hands of students.”
The app will also have an alert system that should warn students of bomb threats and inform students of snow days.
Downloading the app is free, Sladoje said. Since volunteers created the app, its production was free also. Friday’s preview, however, is budgeted at $900, which includes food and an ipod touch that will be given away.
Every time students log out of the app, it will not save security information, Sladoje said.
“Unless there is a safe way to store information on a device, we won’t do it,” Sladoje said.
