University Launches Updated iPhone App
The University has unveiled an improved version of the UT app for iPhones, complete with upgraded maps, visuals, and event schedules to connect students, staff, and alumni to everything on the Forty Acres.
“The app hadn’t had any major changes in four or five years,” says Mike Horn, director of digital strategy for UT. “As a staff member and an alum, it was frustrating to me that the old app had an entire page of icons that weren’t relative to me,” Horn says. “So in designing the new version I wanted it to have a standard, modern, simple feel while also having a personalized dashboard.”
With the updates, users can personalize dashboards with the topics most relevant to them. Available categories now include the UT directory, maps, news, buildings, events, and athletics so it has a wider appeal, Horn says.
The team relied heavily on user input for the changes based on reviews in the Apple Store, and used an Austin-based app development firm, thirteen23, to build the app.
“We knew if we wanted to have a modern app, a group that was working on big consumer apps would deliver something with all their expertise,” Horn says.
Students can now keep track of class schedules, grades, and transactions in a single portal, instead of being separated by several icons in the last version, and there is also a comprehensive map of UT bus routes.
The app is supported on iOS 6 and will be updated again after the release of iOS 7, but is not yet available on the Android marketplace. There are talks between Student Government and ITS to pull together a budget to build an Android app, Horn says.
Photo courtesy University Communications.
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