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Students develop MyIIIT App

The institute launched the first version of the  My IIIT  mobile app developed by a team of students on 23 October. The app is designed to offer a user-friendly interface, providing seamless access to key institute resources, particularly the IMS system, without requiring a VPN for students, faculty, and staff. Notably, it also introduces the first digital version of the institute’s faculty and staff contact directory – IIIT Soochika.

Students can access their general profile information, apply for leave, track the status of previous leave requests, and view their bank details within the IMS. They can monitor course attendance, check overall grades, and access important documents, including the academic almanac and curriculum for all branches. Additionally, the app provides resources such as the mess menu, club events, and an e-ID card for non-academic identification on campus.

Faculty and staff members can view their profile details and access IIIT Soochika, the first digital version of the contact directory shared by the Institute with faculty and staff. They can also access miscellaneous useful resources such as the almanac and club events.

The History

The My IIIT app began as a project for the Design and Analysis of Software Systems (DASS) course in the spring 2024 semester, under the guidance of Prof. Raghu Reddy. The initial development was carried out by Abhiram Tilak, Jakeer Hussain, Hemanth Sunkireddy, and Samyak Mishra (from the 2k22 batch). The project culminated in a basic version of the app, which lacked essential features like a dedicated user authentication and authorization system, and a more intuitive interface. 

Recognizing the app’s potential, the Institute WebAdmins team decided to take over its development. Three students from the original DASS project—Abhiram Tilak, Hemanth Sunkireddy, and Samyak Mishra—along with Bhav Beri (from the 2k21 batch) joined the WebAdmins team to further enhance the app, adding new features and improving existing functionalities.

The app was developed in collaboration with the Institute’s IT team and underwent its first round of beta testing in July 2024, involving around 60 students. The team received valuable feedback from beta testers, as well as from the Registrar, TRC Chair, Dean of Academics, and various staff and faculty members. Based on this feedback, the team made improvements, and the app was officially launched in October 2024.

Testimonials

The app quickly gained traction, with over 500 logins within its first week of launch, and the numbers have continued to rise each day. It has been warmly received by the IIIT community, with students praising the ease of access to resources and the app’s user-friendly interface. Faculty and staff members have also found the app beneficial, particularly appreciating the digital version of the contact directory.

Raghu Reddy, the faculty advisor for the DASS project and Chair of the Technical Resources Committee, shared: “This is a testament to IIIT’s uniqueness. I am really happy to see our community proactively solving its own challenges rather than waiting for external solutions. Initiatives like My IIIT app should motivate more students to develop solutions that can address the problems and needs of IIIT community.”

Sriranjani K, the IT Head, commented: “Seeing our students take the initiative to develop this mobile app is truly inspiring. It reflects our institutes’ spirit of innovation and problem-solving, demonstrating how technology can directly benefit our community. I am confident that this app will continue to evolve, adding even more features and encouraging greater participation.”

Several students have also shared their feedback:

– The app is quite great. The UI is welcoming, and the app facilitates a nice route to check basic academic and leave records.

– I think the app is really great. It would be much more convenient to access IMS via mobile app rather than website

– Great experience! Having a dedicated app instead of using a VPN and navigating through a webpage is a major upgrade. Plus, having commonly used features readily accessible is always helpful.

– Great initiative. I have heard of similar apps being used in different educational institutions like IIT G, would be great to have many of the daily use features easily accessible on the app.

 Future Plans

New features and updates (including bug fixes, if any) will be released periodically. The team is working on adding more features to the app, such as a feature to view the timetable, to access sports attendance and bringing in mess registrations. All members of the IIIT community are encouraged to suggest new features or improvements to further refine the app.

Public documentation, including detailed information about the app and a comprehensive user guide, is available at https://gitlab.iiit.ac.in/instituteapps/docs.

November 2024