Entering the iPhone era

July 17, 2009

By Mark Ferguson

A crowded room of curious onlookers gathered in the Thorvaldson Building recently for a sneak peek at the newest version of iUSASK – the new U of S application for the iPhone that will be the first of its kind in Canada.

About 15 people were involved in the development of the application and most of them were on hand for the demonstration June 26. Chad Jones, one of the developers, said the idea to create the iUSASK application seemed logical, given what was already happening in the Department of Computer Science.

“We offered iPhone workshops during the year and they were extremely popular,” said Jones. “We thought, why don’t we develop a real application for students?”

The popular iPhone by Apple has sold more than 21 million units since it was introduced in 2007. The iPhone uses touch screen icons or applications, known as ‘apps’, that can be downloaded from Apple’s online App Store. Apps can range from poker games to restaurant reviews to music players to Facebook. Some apps cost a few dollars but many of them, like the iUSASK app, are free.

Stanford University was the first to offer an iPhone application for students. About a year after it was made available on the online Apple App Store, nearly 20,000 people had downloaded it – more than the student population of its campus.  Jones said this certainly raised curiosity about the potential for an iUSASK application for this university.

The iUSASK app features a number of different buttons that link to U of S sites and services. The University of Saskatchewan Students’ Union (USSU) was the first group on campus to jump at the opportunity to have a button on iUSASK to keep students updated on USSU activities and Place Riel construction. Jones expects 16 buttons by fall. Other buttons include a real time map, news feeds and even a button where students can check their grades.

The momentum from the iUSASK application has prompted the department to offer a class on developing iPhone applications. Teaching the class will be Jones, Department Head Eric Neufeld and Associate Professor Ralph Deters.

“We wanted to demonstrate that, right here at the U of S, we have the same kind of vision for the student experience and the technological prowess to implement it as Stanford,” said Neufeld. 

The application will be available for download from the Apple App Store by August, assuming approval from Apple. But Jones, who worked for the computer giant for three years in Silicon Valley, says the U of S should have the inside track and there should not be any snags getting approval.

Jones said he enjoyed his time with Apple where he worked as a code developer. Perhaps his fondest memory was eating lunch in the same room as Steve Jobs, the famous Apple CEO. “He’s a very messy eater,” says Jones laughing.