North Texas App to shut down next month
Andrew Freeman / Staff Writer
The North Texas App for iOS and Android will no longer be updated with timely information as of Dec. 1.
The application, created and run by a couple of UNT alumni under the limited liability company “smallToast,” will be discontinued after a recent proposal to partner with UNT “just fizzled out,” smallToast co-founder Trey Tartt said.
“UNT has been really good with supporting us,” Tartt said. “There were just so many questions, and we lost steam.”
The app was created when Tartt was in his last semester of his master’s at UNT. Both he and smallToast co-founder Cesar Ferrigno received their bachelor’s in computer engineering from UNT.
“Being students, we knew what students wanted from an app,” Tartt said. “Cesar had worked with Java, so I got with him and he rolled out the Android version.”
Since its creation two and a half years ago, the app has received more than 28,000 users and over 700,000 launches.
“I think it’s fairly disappointing that it’s shutting down,” English sophomore Lynn Okon said. “I use it on a fairly regular basis for bus routes, dining plans – small things like that.”
The app’s information will still be accessible, however it won’t be in app form.
“All the information we got came from the UNT website,” Ferrigno said. “We just made it friendlier to access.”
They chose Dec. 1 as the drop date because they can’t keep the app running for free forever, Tartt said.
“We get emails from people all the time thanking us for the app,” Tartt said. “But the business aspect we hoped to achieve just hit a brick wall. Eventually, we have to relieve ourselves of the responsibility.”
SmallToast insists UNT wasn’t a factor in their decision.
“They didn’t push us away, it was just our own decision,” Tartt said. “The challenge came not from technology, but business – turning it into something profitable and sustainable.”
While smallToast doesn’t plan on doing anything else right now, Tartt and Ferrigno said they appreciated its run.
“The support, the emails and the Tweets have all been great. It really motivated us to reach further,” Tartt said. “For an app that was unsponsored to get 27,000 users by just word of mouth is an achievement I’m really proud of.”
For now, UNT students will have to look elsewhere for help on campus.
“I guess I’ll go through the website and take the longer route,” Okon said. “Hopefully something comes out soon that is of equal convenience. That would be nice.”
Feature photo: North Texas App Logo. Photo courtesy of smallToast.
There are no comments at the moment, do you want to add one?
Write a comment