By Corey Weir
Humber’s new app, the Guardian, is now available for all Blackberry devices.
Screenshot of Guardian App
The app was developed by Humber College’s Department of Public Safety and it was released in the fall of 2013. The Guardian was designed for Humber’s students, staff and faculty.
Some features of the app include the ability to set a personal emergency alarm, have quick access to a flashlight, and one touch calling to Humber security and emergency services.
If you are a new student on campus and need directions to where your class may be, the Guardian has maps of the campus that can take you there.
Keith Pua, public safety coordinator at Lakeshore Campus, said the reception of the app has been decent but they are wanting to spread the word as much as they can.
“We’ve put up posters around the school, along with ads on our website and Humber TV,” said Pua. “It’s a free app and from what I hear the people that do have it, love it.”
Guardian is now available for all Blackberry devices as well as all Apple and Android devices. “It is available to all handheld devices now,” said Pua. “The thing I noticed before making the app is that people always knew security is around, by the yellow jackets, and students know where the yellow emergency boxes are around campus but I always got, how do I get a hold of you guys so I thought why not make an app that can help with that.”
Rob Kilfoyle, director of public safety and emergency services at Humber College, said from the feedback he has been hearing, he thinks it’s been going very well.
“When we got the idea to do the app, we had heard about other colleges and universities doing much of the same sort of thing,”said Kilfoyle. “Ours is similar to York University’s but I think ours is a little more functional.”
“One day we had a round table discussion about what we wanted the app to look like, sifted through some ideas and just talked about features that could be useful to our staff and students,” said Kilfoyle. “It was great, we put it together and launched it, were able to self fund the project and it’s been out now for a few months.”
The Guardian App is available for free on the App Store, Google Play, and now Blackberry App World.