Elon University senior Tyler Anderson wrote major portions of the code for a new iPhone/iPod Touch application released by the Iconfactory, a graphic design and software firm based in Greensboro, N.C. The application was approved by Apple for distribution on its iTunes App Store on Oct. 13, following a rigorous quality review for compliance on Apple's mobile devices.
Anderson, a double major in computer science and computer information systems, worked as part of an Iconfactory team during his summer 2010 internship to produce Take Five, a music management utility. When dealing with interruptions, users of Take Five can pause their music playback, and the music will resume playing after a pre-set period of time.
Elon computing sciences faculty members, who developed one of the nation’s first college-level courses on writing computer code for mobile devices, believe this is the first time an Elon student has produced an iPhone app.
“It’s really nice to see that the mobile computing course is paying off for these students,” says Joel Hollingsworth, senior lecturer in computing sciences.
“The Iconfactory was pleased to be able to find a talented and dedicated student such as Tyler to help with our efforts,” said Gedeon Maheux, principal/designer for the Iconfactory. “The mobile development courses at Elon obviously prepared him well for the rigors of creating applications for the App Store. We’re gratified to have been able to support local resources such as Elon University and hope to do so again in the future.”
Take Five has already received numerous positive reviews from technology publications. Macworld magazine calls it “a clever iPhone app that aims to help you avoid the horror of forgetting to unpause your music.” Appadvice.com calls the app “brilliant” and praises its “cool user interface.”
Anderson is a senior from Elon, N.C. During the internship, he also worked on other projects and provided online customer support for the company’s products. As he completes his studies at Elon, he is continuing part-time work at the Iconfactory.
Iconfactory was founded in 1996 and became one of the leading studios in commercial icon design, including graphics for Apple, the Windows XP operating system and the Xbox 360. The company later expanded to produce software, including Twitterific, a popular program for managing Twitter accounts, and several iPhone games.