Smart train of thought
LITHA Soyizwapi, the creator of the Gaurider app, is living his childhood dream.
The developer and programmer has always been fascinated by gadgets, and spent his teenage years learning about technology.
Soyizwapi wanted to create the perfect, glitch-free app.
So, he enrolled for an online course at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the US s leading science and technology university.
When I was learning codes, I downloaded a lot of tutorials from MIT courses.
I also downloaded some Stanford University courses on inter-network operating systems,” Soyizwapi says.
He had to pay $99 (R1 089) to Apple to be registered as a developer, and later learnt to refine the app on the actual app he had built.
Like all Gautrain users, he wanted to have easy access to information on the departure and arrival of trains.
I looked at the Gautrain app and compared it to a few free apps. They all seemed to have the same design he says.
The 32-year-old then compared them to the ones that the New York subway used and they all looked similar.
It just felt like there has to be a better way to have a user experience and that is what I wanted to simplify.
In June 2012, he started working on the Gautrain app.
Within two weeks, he had the prototype ready and was blown away by how well it worked.
The courses he had downloaded from two of the world leaders in science and technology helped him to refine his app.
Usually Apple is very strict when it comes to the quality of the application and I wanted to make sure that I follow what they required.”
The long nights paid off when his first submission was approved by Apple.
I wanted to make sure that my first release was polished and the technology behind it wouldn t crash.
Unlike with most apps, all the information is on one screen and the user does not need to link to many windows for information on specific things.”
Gaurider is a drag and drop and all the information comes on to the screen.
Also on one screen, it mentions the minutes left to the train s departure and the fare.
I wanted to make it simple for the user and focus more on the user s experience.
The app also works offline and doesn t require any data usage. It stays on even when the train goes through a tunnel and one can browse the next available train and bus.
His work has
already been sampled by Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs when he built a game modelled for the teams.
It was like playing ping-pong, but with Pirates or Chiefs tokens. It also has a soccer theme to it to show the teams rivalry, he laughs.
Gaurider was designed and developed exclusively for iOS 7 and at the moment is only available on iPhones and iPads, for R33.