York College launches its own app

IF you’re of a certain generation, you may wonder what all the fuss is about apps. The closest you’ll have come is likely to be watching those wannabe entrepreneurs on The Apprentice trying to design their own.

For teenagers, however, life wouldn’t be possible without apps – or mobile phone applications. They use them to download music, or get on to Twitter or Facebook, or find their way around – there are map apps galore, including one where you can point your phone’s camera at a local landscape and it will tell you exactly where you are – or just to kill time by playing silly games.

Games such as Angry Birds, where you catapult tiny birds across a canyon to kill the baddies on the other side (“it takes over your life once you start”, a colleague of a certain age commented); bubble breaker, where you link up then burst bubbles of a certain colour; or Doodle Jump, where you guide a long-snouted creature up a series of levels.

“If there is an idea, there will be an app for it,” says Joe Armer, a 17-year-old York College student and app enthusiast.

No self-respecting teenager would be seen dead these days without an iPhone or its equivalent in their hip pocket, and an app within easy reach. It was only a matter of time before educational institutions cottoned on to the possibilities of developing their own apps.

And lo and behold, York College has become the first college in the region to do just that.

The app is, so far at least, aimed at teenagers starting to think about where they want to go to study for their A-levels or vocational qualifications.

Free to download from any Apple phone, it gives details of every course the college offers. Teenagers can search by subject, look for combinations of subjects, and even read statements from previous students about what they thought of courses, all on their phones.

There is a gallery of photographs, showing life at the college; a section for all the latest college news; and a contacts and directions page. There is also a section detailing transport links, including college coaches, although that page is still being built up.

It seemed the obvious way for the college to go, says marketing officer Gareth Murphy, who was involved in the development of the app. “If we didn’t do something, there was a danger that we would be left behind, and students would think of us as being slightly out of touch. But now, the app means they have all this information on their hip!

Ultimate Bubble Breaker Android Game Review by AndroidTapp.com ...

Ultimate Bubble Breaker . You objective is to earn points by strategically clearing the field of bubbles, and plan ahead to earn the most points and remain the High Score holder on your phone. Remaining bubbles will always fall and be affected by the phone’s orientation maintaining a true sense of gravity. Hint: After a move, bubbles will fall towards WHICHEVER side of your phone is facing the ground, keep this in mind and plan moves ahead of time!